Two students dining together
Welcome Second-Years

Supporting your growth, fueling your success

Welcome Back! Penn Dining's cafés are places to build community, enrich the student experience, and enhance student wellness.

Reasons to get excited

  • More Flexibility for Second-Year Students
  • Quality Ingredients
  • Memorable and Meaningful Experiences
  • Convenient Options 
     

Second-Year Options

The Second-Year Dining Initiative is part of our commitment to build community on campus while working closely with the programs of the dedicated Second-Year Experience. Incorporating student feedback, we are offering a dining plan designed specifically for second-year students, bringing you variety, convenience, and value with a lower cost per swipe. In addition, second-year students can also choose either of the two first-year plans.

  • Best for:

    Smaller tailored meals and grab-n-go options.

    Second-Year 156

    • 156 swipes per semester
    • $300 Dining Dollars per semester
    • Averages to 10 meals per week
    • Priced & contracted annually, billed per semester
  • Best for:

    Eating the majority of your meals at our all-you-care-to-eat locations.

    First-Year 296

    • 296 swipes per semester
    • $125 Dining Dollars per semester
    • Averages to 19 meals per week
    • Priced & contracted annually, billed per semester
  • Best for:

    Eating more meals at our retail locations.

    First-Year 187

    • 187 swipes per semester
    • $400 Dining Dollars per semester
    • Averages to 12 meals per week
    • Priced & contracted annually, billed per semester

Important Information

Second-Year Need to Know

Second-year students are required to sign-up for one of three dining plans - either of the two First-Year Dining Plans or a specially designed second-year plan. Students sign up for their plans when they apply for their housing assignment. Students wishing to change their dining plans may do so once during the Fall Change Period, August 27 to September 17, 2024, and once during the Spring Change Period, January 15 to February 5, 2025.

Aug. 21 Dining Plans begin 
Aug. 27 Fall Change Period opens
Sep. 2 Labor Day - limited operations
Sep. 17 Fall Change Period ends
Oct. 3-6 Fall Break - limited operations
Nov. 28-
Dec. 1
Thanksgiving Break - limited operations
Dec. 19 End of Fall Term - All cafes closed and Fall swipes/visits expire

Guest Swipes allow you to share a meal with friends and family. All first and second-year dining plans include 10 guest swipes per semester.  (The guest swipes are counted in the total semester allocation.)

Dining plans represent contracts for the entire Academic Year, but are allocated/billed per semester.  Fall 2024 billing will begin in July 2024.  Dining plans purchased prior to July 1, 2024 will be posted to students’ bursar bills by July 2024.  After that date, charges will be posted to students’ bursar bills on a rolling weekly basis.  Spring 2025 billing will first appear on students’ bursar bills by November 2024.  Spring 2025 plans purchased after that date will be billed on a rolling weekly basis.

To see all of our FAQs about Dining please click here.