Frequently Asked Questions

Students living in the residence halls have three meal plan choices:

• Bronco Gold Plus—unlimited meals per week, plus $100 Dining Dollars and 8 Guest Passes
• Bronco Gold— unlimited meals per week, plus $50 Dining Dollars and 4 Guest Passes
• Bronco 14—14 meals per week

There are three components to WMU meal plans, which are automatically loaded onto your Bronco Card: 

• Weekly meals—access to a Dining Center during serving hours or once a meal period to Late-Night Carryout or Meal Exchange at a Campus Cafe
• Dining Dollars—pre-loaded “cash” on Bronco Card that can be used at Campus Cafes or to pay the door rate entrance to a Dining Center
• Guest Passes—pre-loaded onto Bronco Card and able to use along with meal plan holder 

The two Gold meal plans allow unlimited access to the dining centers during serving hours each week. The Bronco 14 provides the student with 14 meals each week, beginning on Monday morning and expiring Sunday night—unused meals do not carry over each week. 

Bronco Gold is chosen by the majority of students. The unlimited meal plans allow students to eat care-free, without having to worry about running out of meals over the week or weekend or making each meal “count.”

Meal Plans are loaded directly onto the student’s Bronco Card, which is swiped every time the student enters a dining center. Once inside the dining center, students may select from any of the plated or self-serve choices available. After eating, the student returns their dishes and utensils to the dish return area. 

Please note that dining centers offer dine-in only; for carryout options, students can utilize Meal Exchange at select Campus Cafes or Late-Night Carryout  at Café 1903 and Market. 

Students may make one change to their meal plan at the beginning of each semester or session, defined by the dates posted on the Meal Plans page. 

Once the student changes their meal plan, a credit or charge will be applied to the student’s account based on a daily proration of the meal plan cost. If the dining plan change has a lower cost than the original choice, the student may be entitled to a refund for the difference. To receive a refund, all University fees must be paid in full. If not, the credit from the dining plan change will be applied to any outstanding balance on the student account. Once all University charges are paid, the refund will be processed according to the Accounts Receivable processing schedule. For more information on your student account contact Bronco Express at (269) 387-6000.

Dining Dollars are a prepaid account to make purchases at WMU Dining Services locations. Campus cafés, which are retail locations throughout campus, accept Dining Dollars (along with cash, MasterCard®, Visa® or Discover®). Additionally, students can use their Dining Dollars to purchase a meal for a guest at the dining centers. Dining Dollars are loaded on the student’s Bronco Card. The guest meal rate is deducted from the student's Dining Dollars account for individually purchased meals.

To use Dining Dollars, the student presents their valid Bronco Card to the cashier. The purchase amount is deducted from the Dining Dollars account. The balance remaining in a Dining Dollars account is displayed on the cash register screen or card reader as the purchase is completed. Dining Dollars that are included with a meal plan roll over from fall to spring semester, but do expire on June 30 of each year.  

Additional Dining Dollars can be added at any time Dining Dollars included with a meal plan are utilized before additionally purchased Dining Dollars are used. Dining Dollars that are purchased separately from a meal plan continue to roll over from semester to semester until the student graduates or leaves the University.

Guest Passes are automatically loaded onto your Bronco Card at the beginning of each semester, just like Dining Dollars.  To use, notify the cashier at the entrance of the dining center that you want to use your Guest Pass(es). 

Guest Passes expire at the end of each semester. If you run out of Guest Passes, you may purchase a meal at the door rate, using Dining Dollars, cash or credit card. 

Students living in the residence halls are required to have a meal plan as part of the Residence Hall and Dining Contract unless the student is living in Britton/Hadley Hall, which is designated by Dining Services as not requiring a meal plan. 

Students living off-campus or in WMU Apartments purchase meal plans by the semester; please note that all meal plans expire at the end of each term. In addition to the meal plan options available to students living in the residence hall, these students may also choose from Block 100, Block 75, Block 50 and Block 25 meal plans. The block meal plans include the designated number of accesses to the dining center, Meal Exchange location, Late-Night Carryout or Grab'n Go location when available during the semester. Dining Dollars are also included in the Block 100, Block 75 and Block 50 meal plans. Dining Dollars from these plans will roll over from fall to spring but expire on June 30 every year.

Students can purchase commuter meal plans online. Commuter meal plans may be charged to a WMU student account or purchased online using an accepted credit or debit card. Find more information about these payment options through Accounting Services.  

Students may purchase an additional commuter meal plan by calling the Dining Office at 387-4844. The meal plan will be charged to your student account.

Student can also purchase Dining Dollars with credit card or student account and use them to pay the guest meal rate at the door of the dining center.

With the many choices offered in Dining Services, almost all dietary accommodations can be met. Given the unique needs of students with food allergies or medically required dietary accommodations, individual consultation is encouraged. For assistance or guidance with food choices, ask to speak with the dining manager or call the dietitian at (269) 387-4888.

If you test positive for COVID-19 or have another contagious illness, you can still use your meal plan, but please utilize the sick tray carryout, and wear a tight-fitting mask (like KN95 or N95) at all times in public spaces. Please be respectful of the community and do your best to wash your hands before arriving, refrain from standing close to others when possible and don’t remove your mask until you have returned to your room. You may also ask a friend or your RA to pick-up your sick tray; please give this person your WMU Bronco ID card to get your meal.

• While wearing a tight-fitting mask, request a sick tray from the cashier stand.
• Please be sure to bring your ID!
• Make your selections (verbally) from the options available on the sick tray slip.
• A Dining Services employee will collect your items while you wait in the lobby area. Your selections are dependent on what is available at the time of your request. [No special requests are possible].

No, all meal plans are non-transferrable, meaning that the meal plan may only be used by the purchaser or the student the meal plan was purchased for. Do not transfer your WMU Bronco Card to another person or allow your card to be in another person's possession. If your card is transferred to another person, with or without your consent, it will be kept by the cashier and a $25 fine will be charged to the legal cardholder. The legal cardholder, and the person using a Bronco ID card that does not belong to them may be processed in accordance with the WMU Student Code. If your card is lost or stolen, call WMU Dining Services immediately at (269) 387-4844.

You can find a student dining application online!

Service Animals

If your animal is a service animal and is required because of a disability and has been trained to perform a task or work that mitigates their handler’s disability, your service animal will be allowed within Dining Services locations. Service animals are not required to wear identification or a vest and Dining Services may not request documentation showing they are a service animal. Please be mindful of the following expectations:

• Service animals are required to be housebroken and under their handler’s control.
• Service animals must be on a harness or leash unless this would interfere with the animal’s task, or the handler’s disability prevents the use of these devices.
• Service animals should not use any food or beverage containers from a Dining Services location, nor consume any food or beverages from the Dining Services location. All food and beverages are intended for customer use only. 
• Animals that fail to meet these behavioral requirements may be removed at any time.

The U.S. Department of Justice does not require food service establishments to provide containers for food or beverages consumption by the service animal, which are for the customer's use only. Dining Services does not allow beverages, food, containers and utensils to be used by a service animal because it introduces unnecessary risks into Dining Services and is a health concern. Guests with a service animal need to provide their own containers and their own food and beverages for their service animals; food or beverage consumption by the animal should take place outside of the Dining Services location. 

This policy is in place due to Section 6-501.115 of the Michigan Modified Food Code (MMFC) which restricts the presence of animals in businesses that sell, prepare or serve food. The allowable exception under 6-501.115 includes service animals that are controlled by a person with a disability. This Food Code exception aligns with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.

Emotional Support, Companion or Therapy Animals

Animals that are classified as emotional support, companion or for therapy purposes are not allowed in foodservice establishments. This follows the policy in the Michigan Modified Food Code section 6-501.115.