Dining Dollars
Dining Dollars are a small debit card-like account that are a part of your weekly board plan. You use Dining Dollars to buy extra meals, snacks or food from any of the campus dining halls or dining locations. Dining Dollars are a required part of your weekly board plan. You start with $50, $75, $100, or $150 for the semester and spend it down to $0. When you use your Dining Dollars, you will receive a 15% discount on items/meals bought in either Esker Dining Hall, Prairie Street Market, Drumlin Dining Hall, or Drumlin Erbert & Gerbert's. You will receive a 10% discount at all other on-campus dining locations.
When you want to use your Dining Dollars, just tell the cashier "Dining Dollars" when handing your HawkCard to them for payment. You can't get cash refunds from this account. To see how to budget your Add-on, Full or Mega Dining Dollar Plan over the semester, go to our Dining Dollars Usage Guide. Meals and food on campus, paid for with Dining Dollars, are not charged the 5.5% sales tax so you save money every time you use your account.
Dining Dollar Meal Plans
Please Note: Although freshmen are eligible for a Full/Mega Dining Dollar Plan we do not recommend it because of the large amount of budgeting they will have to do.
Dining Dollars are flexible funds that accompany a traditional weekly meal plan or our Full and Mega Dining Dollars Plans.
Students can spend Dining Dollars at any campus dining location. Dining Dollars provide additional flexibility for weekly meal plans. They provide for purchases at any campus dining location, at any time of day, for yourself or an accompanying guest. $50 in Dining Dollars is the same as $50 cash, and you can buy items from any menu or at any market (convenience store). They are accepted at all campus dining locations.
Students have the opportunity to choose from the Full Dining Dollar Plan or the Mega Dining Dollar Plan. With the Full or Mega Dining Dollar plans, students receive discounted prices at campus dining locations or dining halls and do not pay sales tax.
If a Full Dining Dollar plan or Mega Dining Dollar plan runs out before the end of the semester, a student will need to purchase another meal plan at its prorated price.
Dining Dollars are accepted at any UW-W Dining Services location (Esker Dining Hall, Prairie Street Market, Drumlin Dining Hall, Drumlin Erbert & Gerbert's, CAfé, Food for Thought, Deloitte Café, The Kettle, Ike Schaffer Commons, Down Under, Willie's, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Sideline Café, Food Trailer, & Rockin' Grill at Rock County).
| Meal Plan | Price Per Semester | Redemption Value Per Semester | Avg. Weekly Redemption | Average Meals Per Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Dining Dollar Plan | $1,375 | $935 | $58.44 | 6-7 |
| Mega Dining Dollar Plan | $2,010 | $1,475 | $92.19 | 10-11 |
The difference is an overhead charge that is incorporated into all dining plans including the traditional weekly meal plans (10, 14, 19, or 24). This charge covers bonds, utilities, maintenance and custodial services for the residence dining program in Esker Hall and Drumlin Hall. The charge is more apparent in these plans because they are dollar for dollar.
Meal plans offer students the option of selecting the number of meals they wish to eat each week or over the course of an entire semester.
- The weekly meal plan starts on Monday with breakfast and runs through Sunday late night meal period.
- Every Monday morning at 4:00 AM the computer resets all student weekly meal plan accounts for the next week.
- Students signed up for a meal plan must present their HawkCard (ID card) to the UW-W Dining Services cashier prior to entering the Esker Hall or Drumlin Hall serving areas.
- Unused meals do not transfer over from week to week.
- "Guest Meals" can be used from Thursday dinner thru the Sunday late night meal, provided the account holder has enough weekly meals left to use.
- Individual meals may also be purchased with Dining Dollars, Purple Points, cash, check or credit card.
- Meal Plans are not transferable.
- HawkCards are not transferable. Misused HawkCards will be confiscated.
- Final plan pricing reflects allowances for partial weeks when fewer meals are offered.
At the end of the fall semester, any unused Dining Dollars will roll over to your Dining Dollar account for the spring semester and be combined with your spring semester Dining Dollar deposit. Any Dining Dollars remaining on your account at the end of the spring semester will expire. Dining Dollars have to be used during the school year for which they were purchased. Students should carefully consider how much they will use their Dining Dollars over each semester. Generally, lower Dining Dollar amounts are best. You may always purchase more as long as you have a meal plan.
There is a summer Dining Dollars meal plan available. If you would like to sign up and charge it to your student bill, you have to be enrolled in a summer class, or working on campus over the summer. If you are not enrolled in a summer class or working on campus, but are enrolled for fall semester, you can still sign up for the meal plan, but you cannot charge it to your student bill.
What are the benefits of signing up?
- Fast checkout for on-campus food purchases since you just need your HawkCard.
- Cost savings of 10-15% and no sales tax for on-campus food purchases.
- No need to meal prep or do dishes! This plan will save you time, so you can focus on other things.
Please call or email the HawkCard Office for pricing and more information.