Residential Meal Plans

What does a meal plan cost you?

For students living in the UCSB Residence Halls, the cost of your meal plan is included with your room and board. Room and Board fees are calculated using a combination of your selected Meal Plan and your room type. Please refer to the Room & Board Rates for details. Students living in the residence halls sign up for meal plans when they register for housing.

Learn more about how we design meal plans.

For students living in UCSB apartments or off-campus, please refer to Off Campus Meal Plan.

Changing Your Meal Plan

If you reside in a UCSB Residence Hall and would like to change your meal plan, you may submit your request using our meal plan change form. Requests to increase or decrease meals may be submitted at any time and will be processed to begin the following week, whenever possible. Please note that this applies ONLY to students who live in the residence halls. Off Campus meal plan holders please visit the Off Campus Meal Plan page.

Please note: Billing transactions generated due to a meal plan change will be posted to a student’s BARC account.

CHANGE MEAL PLAN

Approximate Rate Differences

19 meals per week vs. 14 meals per week = $54.00 less/mos.
19 meals per week vs. 10 meals per week = $97.00 less/mos.
14 meals per week vs. 10 meals per week = $43.00 less/mos.

Types of Residential Meal Plans*

program	details
Gaucho Platinum	Up to 19 swipes per week during meal periods in the four all-you-care-to-eat Dining Commons. Ideal for students who want to eat most of their meals in the Dining Commons
Gaucho Gold	Up to 14 swipes per week during meal periods in the four all-you-care-to-eat Dining Commons. If you’re always on the go, or if breakfast seems to come too early, consider this alternative plan that gives you the flexibility to purchase meals elsewhere on and off campus.
Gaucho Silver	Up to 10 swipes per week during meal periods in the four all-you-care-to-eat Dining Commons. Do you have a job off-campus? Do you go home every weekend? Perfect for students who cannot always eat all of their meals on campus.

FOR MORE INFORMATION & BALANCES

*THE FINE PRINT: If you want to enter the Dining Commons after you have used all of your allotted weekly swipes, you will be billed via BARC at the guest meal rate for each excessive entry (currently $15/meal). Meal entries are re-set Monday morning and unused entries do not roll forward.

Meal Plan Pilot

Through collaboration with student leaders, Campus Dining will implement a series of changes to meal plans for the 2024-25 academic year. These modifications address student needs and provide more flexibility for resident and non-resident meal plan holders. Providing a world-class dining experience for our students has always been our priority, and we appreciate the opportunity to partner with student leaders to improve our meal plan options.

LEARN MORE