NYU meal plans, compared
Going down the NYU tiers does not simply buy fewer meals at the same rate. What each plan costs per swipe, and how much of its price is bundled dining money.
Published 17 August 2026. Figures from New York University's published Washington Square meal plan prices for fall 2026.
The tiers are not one plan in eight sizes
NYU lists its Washington Square plans in one column, ordered by the number of swipes. Read that way, choosing is easy: decide how often you expect to eat on campus and pick the row that matches. It is the wrong reading, because the swipe count is only half of what you are buying.
Every plan splits its price between the swipes it buys and the dining dollars bundled with it. Step down a tier and you are not simply buying fewer meals at the same rate. Some of the money moves out of the meals and into the balance instead, and the two plans either side of that step are different products rather than different sizes.
Where each plan's price goes
Each bar below is one whole plan price, split into the part that buys swipes and the part that is bundled dining dollars.
What each plan's price buys at NYU
Each bar is one plan's whole price, split into the part that buys swipes and the part that is bundled dining dollars.
- 200 Flex$3,455 total$3,055 of swipes, $400 bundled
- 225 Flex$3,455 total$3,155 of swipes, $300 bundled
- 300 Flex$3,455 total$3,205 of swipes, $250 bundled
- 175 Flex$3,187 total$2,687 of swipes, $500 bundled
- 120 Flex Plus$2,505 total$1,955 of swipes, $550 bundled
- 120 Flex$2,397 total$1,947 of swipes, $450 bundled
- 95 Flex Plus$1,838 total$1,538 of swipes, $300 bundled
- 95 Flex$1,732 total$1,532 of swipes, $200 bundled
buys swipesbundled dining dollars
Recorded for New York University and not yet verified against a published agreement.
Read the position of the divide, not the length of the bar. Every bar is the same length on purpose, because each one is that plan's own price rather than a share of a common scale, and the price itself is printed beside it. A divide far to the right means most of what you pay is buying meals. A divide further left means you are buying spending money with meals attached. Where two plans are sold at the same price, that divide is the entire choice between them.
Every plan, with the figure that is left
The same plans as a table: the price, the swipes, the bundled dining dollars, and what one swipe works out to once that money is taken back out of the price.
NYU dining plans, per semester
Every plan in the catalog, with what one swipe works out to once the bundled dining dollars are taken out of the price.
| Plan | Price | Swipes | Bundled dining dollars | Per swipe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 Flex | $3,455 | 200 | $400 | $15.28 |
| 225 Flex | $3,455 | 225 | $300 | $14.02 |
| 300 Flex | $3,455 | 300 | $250 | $10.68 |
| 175 Flex | $3,187 | 175 | $500 | $15.35 |
| 120 Flex Plus | $2,505 | 120 | $550 | $16.29 |
| 120 Flex | $2,397 | 120 | $450 | $16.23 |
| 95 Flex Plus | $1,838 | 95 | $300 | $16.19 |
| 95 Flex | $1,732 | 95 | $200 | $16.13 |
Recorded for New York University and not yet verified against a published agreement.
The last column is the one to compare. It is the only figure on the page that answers what a meal costs you, and it does not have to follow the order of the first column, because a plan can hold its cost per swipe steady while shifting money into the balance around it. If you will spend the dining dollars anyway, that shift costs you nothing. If you will not, you are paying meal prices for a balance you do not use.
What these figures do not include
Two things sit outside the table, and both are absences rather than omissions.
The allotments above are the per semester figures NYU publishes, and the page they come from states no expiry date, so this article carries no deadline and no countdown. If your plan has one, it is not in these figures. Every row is from the Washington Square list, which is the only price table these figures were read from.
Everything else we know about NYU
The school page carries the public data, the plan catalog, and the count of students here who have signed up.