Northeastern will implement new meal plan options of seven, 12, 17 and unlimited — up to three per day — swipes per week at the beginning of the fall semester, as announced Monday by the Student Government Association, or SGA.

Higher amounts of dining dollars will also be included with larger meal plans. This new system will replace the old meal plan options of five, 10, 15 or 19 meal swipes per week. Other than prohibiting students with unlimited plans from donating their unused swipes, the Swipe2Care program will remain unchanged.

“I’m super happy about this,” SGA President Dylan Balcom said. “I think it can really impact student lives in a great way. I just remember my freshman year when I was on the 15 meal plan. I just, week after week, had so many unused meals. And now, I think it’s really good that we’re trying to cut down [waste], to better cater to student needs.”

Balcom said the push for reform was prompted by student demand and that according to data collected by SGA, most students will have fewer unused swipes at the end of each week under the new system.

Along with the changes to meal plan options, students will have an additional week at the beginning of each semester change their meal plan. Meal plans for resident assistants will remain unchanged at 19 meals per week.

The semester prices for the new meal plans range from $2,260 to $4,120 with the price per swipe ranging from $11.59 to $19.11. The old plans ranged from $1,630 to $3,970, with the price per swipe ranging from $12.63 to $19.69.

Balcom also said the old meal plan system was catered to the needs of commuters, and he is happy to see the system updated to fit the residential university Northeastern has become.

“Students will not [often] be paying for meals that they don’t end up using, because that was the biggest complaint with the old model,” Balcom said. “The receptiveness to making this change will just open the door for the longer conversation about the affordability of our meal plans.”

Corey Dockser and Avery Bleichfeld

Click and drag the slider to compare the average costs of an individual meal between the two meal plans.