The 20 meal plan is Carleton’s full board plan. This plan offers 20 guaranteed meals per week in either Burton or East Dining Hall, three per day Monday through Saturday and two on Sunday, with $75 in dining dollars that may be used in the Snack Bar or the dining halls. A new feature of this plan fis the option of using one of the week’s 20 meals as a meal equivalency in the Snack Bar. See below for a complete description of how a meal equivalency works.

The student who purchases the 20 meal plan is the only person who may use the meals on the plan. Dining dollars may be used to make purchases for guests. All first-year students are automatically assigned to this plan for the year, but may choose the 12 meal plan or the Block 130 meal plan for winter and/or spring terms (the Change Your Meal Plan form for this purpose). Unused meals do not carry over to the next day, week, or term. Unused dining dollars are also not carried over from term-to-term.

$4,770 for the year, $1,590 per term

What is a meal equivalency?

A unique feature of the 20 Meal Plan is the meal equivalency. THIS IS NOT AVAILABLE WITH THE 5, THE 12 OR THE BLOCK 130 MEAL PLANS. Meal equivalencies are intended to provide more choice options for the 20 Meal Plan user, especially if all $75 dining dollars have been exhausted.

A meal equivalency allows you to buy food in the Snack Bar by using one of your weekly meal plan meals. The 20 meal plan allows the use of 1 meal per week as a meal equivalency. If you use a meal equivalency in a given week, then you have 19 meals available to use in the dining halls. If you don’t use a meal equivalency in the Snack Bar in a given week, then you have 20 meals available in the dining halls. There is no carryover of meal equivalencies that don’t get used.

Dining Services offers a choice of food combinations for the meal equivalency. Check the box on the left for a list of these options.

Meal equivalencies are meant to provide an alternative if scheduling or distance makes it difficult to get to a dining hall for a given meal. For example, if a person misses breakfast because they oversleep or have a conflicting meeting or class, they can use the meal equivalency to purchase food in the Snack Bar to replace the breakfast they missed anytime until the lunch meal period begins at 11:00 AM. The same thing can be done for a missed lunch up until the dinner meal period begins at 4:00 PM. If dinner is missed in the dining hall for similar reasons, a meal equivalency can be used in the Snack Bar until it closes at 12 AM. If you have breakfast, lunch or dinner in the dining hall, you can’t use your meal equivalency in the Snack Bar during the same meal period. You need to wait until the next meal period begins.

To review the math: you have the potential of using one meal equivalency per week if you purchased the 20 Meal Plan. If you use the meal equivalency, then you have 19 meals available for use in the dining halls. If you don’t use the meal equivalency, it’s gone. You can’t bank meal equivalencies. But you don’t have to use your meal equivalencies either. It’s just an option for those who think it’s useful.