On-campus meal plan changed to unlimited swipes, with 10 guest swipes per semester
Housing and Dining recently revealed a new dining plan for the upcoming semester. The required on-campus meal plan now has unlimited meal swipes, compared to 375 meal swipes last year. H&D said the previous on-campus meal plan was for students who intended to eat on campus 15 to 25 meals a week.
The price for the required on-campus meal plan was raised to $3,200 from last year’s $3,050.
Beth Leaver, the interim assistant vice president for housing, dining and hospitality, said that the cost increase was unrelated to the new unlimited swipe program.
“The cost increase is part of our regular, anticipated annual adjustments driven by inflation in food, labor, and operating expenses,” Leaver wrote in an email to the Thresher. “The decision to move to unlimited swipes did not prompt the increase—it was made independently to enhance the student dining experience and address long-standing concerns around access, equity, and wellness.”
Leaver said that the unlimited swipe program was introduced as part of a plan to make dining more accessible at Rice. With unlimited swipes, Leaver said that students would not have to worry about tracking meals.
“The previous plate-per-swipe model often led to rationing behaviors, stress around usage, and increased food waste,” Leaver wrote. “Moving to unlimited access removes that barrier, aligns with best practices at peer institutions, and reinforces our commitment to student wellness and equitable access to meals.”
In addition to the changes to the on-campus meal program, H&D also implemented across the board cost increases to off-campus dining plans. H&D is also introducing a new 10 to 11 a.m. snack period. Leaver said that the change was a pilot for expanded non-peak access, with the future goal of a continuous dining model.
In a campuswide email, H&D said that students would be provided with ten guest swipes per semester and that additional guests could be covered with tetra points. Leaver said that the guest swipes did not apply to family members, who could be swiped in using regular swipes.
The email also said that “flexible guest swipe options are included,” and that students could use Tetra points for additional guest swipes. However, it is unclear if students will be able to purchase more guest swipes as part of their meal plan.
It is also unclear how the unlimited meal swipe plan will be enforced. On Facebook and Fizz, rumors circulated among students and parents expressing concern for a “cooldown period” for swiping into the serveries, to ensure students use only one swipe per meal. Some parents of Rice students expressed concern that they would have to purchase larger off-campus dining plans for their students if the swipes were more strictly enforced and off-campus students could no longer get swiped in by their on-campus friends. The H&D email or website currently has no mention of a “cooldown period.”
“We recognize that some off-campus students previously relied on shared swipes from friends, which was not an intended feature of the capped plan,” Leaver wrote. “Under the new unlimited model, swipes are tied to individual use, and guest access is managed separately through a defined allocation.”
The meal plan options for off-campus students remain at the same finite number of swipes as last semester. Fall 2025 registration for meal plan enrollment opens on Aug. 1 at 6:00 a.m.
In previous years, a common dilemma among on-campus students was that their 375-swipe meal plan was too excessive, with some having hundreds of unused swipes left over at the end of a semester, as they do not roll over. The Student Association partnered with H&D to create a meal swipe donation program in 2020 as a solution to this issue, allowing students to donate fixed numbers of their swipes to off-campus students in need.
Last year, the Student Association’s meal swipe donation program saw record successes, providing 16,905 meal swipes to off-campus students in its first donation round, according to former SA president Jae Kim. The program was expanded with a mid semester donation period in March.
Although it is unclear how the meal swipe donation program will change with the new meal plans, SA President Trevor Tobey said that he is advocating for the program to continue, and plans to meet with H&D to discuss the changes
“While we’re still in active conversation with H&D, we anticipate that the meal swipe donation program will continue,” Tobey wrote in a message to the Thresher. “Our priority is to ensure that students who rely on the program remain supported."
Leaver said that H&D was working with the Student Success Initiative to update the donation system in what she described as a more streamlined process.
“Instead of relying on donated swipes from other students, H&D will allocate meal swipes directly based on student need,” Leaver wrote. “We will continue to collaborate with SSI to ensure that every student who applies for assistance through their office receives as much support as we can provide.”
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