First Years

Dining Points Usage Charts

The Dining Plan Points Usage Chart can help you keep track of your Dining Points spending rate, so you won’t unexpectedly run out of Points or end up with a huge surplus at the end of the year.

This information can also help you to know whether you will need to add Dining Points to your account or take advantage of the Dining Plan Change Period to lower your Plan level.

2009/10 Plan Contracts

One of our missions is to enhance the undergraduate experience and foster a sense of community through dining.

The first-year dining plan is designed to enhance the residential experience on East Campus. That’s why first-year students at Duke are required to have a dining plan with food points.

The first year dining board plan works like this:

  • You get 12 total meals within a week (five for breakfast; seven for dinner or brunch).
  • Each meal is paid for with a swipe of your DukeCard.
  • You can eat breakfast, dinner and brunch at the Marketplace on East Campus, or if you yearn for a change of pace, have dinner at the Freeman Center for Jewish Life,  which specializes in kosher, vegetarian and vegan selections.
  • Here’s a tip: All 12 meals must be used within a week or they become invalid. They do not carry over.
  • If you miss breakfast, served Monday through Friday in the Marketplace, you may apply the meal equivalency (valued at $6) on the same day one of  two ways: toward a made-to-order breakfast in the Great Hall on West Campus or toward an a la carte lunch selection in the Marketplace on East.
  • The plan comes with food points; each point is equivalent to $1 and can be used at any on-campus eatery, Merchant on Points vendor, campus convenience store or vending machine. You may add more food points during the semester in $25 increments. 
  • You receive four complimentary guest meals each semester at The Marketplace.


2009-2010 First-Year Dining Board Plan Options
(Cost per academic semester) 

Plan Total Cost
Plan G $2,445 (includes $370 in food points)
Plan H
 $2,485 (includes $410 in food points)
Plan I
 $2,535 (includes $460 in food points)

Tips to help select a meal plan and food points:

Do you FLEX?

Deposit money in a Flexible Spending Account (FLEX), which is accessed through your DukeCard and virtually eliminates the need to carry cash on campus. You can use FLEX to buy food on campus or for some food deliveries from Merchants on Points vendors. Learn how to add money to FLEX.