On-campus meal plan changed to unlimited swipes

By James Cancelarich     8/26/25 10:18pm

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.

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“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. After the rollout, the guest swipes were increased to 15.

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 website denies the addition 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.

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.

Leaver said that H&D is working with Student Success Initiatives 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.”

According to a campuswide email from Housing and Dining, the Rice Swipe Support System provides a block of meal swipes at the beginning of the semester free of charge for students without meal plans. The program is intended for students facing barriers to meal access, either due to “financial or personal hardship.”

The form to request swipes, which was open until Aug. 20, notified students by Aug. 26 to let them know whether they will be receiving swipes.

The program is funded by H&D and managed in partnership with the Student Success Initiative, with support from the Student Association, according to the campuswide email. 

Students can also now donate their unused Tetra points to “expand” the new SSI program, the email reads.

Taylor Breshears, the associate director of the SSI, said that students can expect to receive a similar number of donations with the new program.

“We prioritize students who are Pell [Grant]-eligible and on need-based scholarship, live off campus, and do not have a meal plan,” Breshears wrote in an email to the Thresher. “My hope and intention are for students who are recipients of the meal swipes in fall 2025 to have a comparable experience to recipients in the previous two semesters.”

This change comes two weeks after students raised concerns about the new on-campus meal plan providing unlimited swipes for the student on the plan, but only 15 guest swipes. 

Breshears wrote that her team will take into consideration the limited ability for students to swipe in their friends when determining need.

The email also encouraged students interested in advocating for food insecurity to join a new student group called Stock the Nest. The group will support initiatives aimed at fighting food insecurity, such as assisting with the Rice Food Pantry, which is an anonymous resource that provides food and hygiene products.

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