A new alternative to dining halls or cooking meals at home is available to students of the University of Wisconsin: a debit card for State Street food vendors.
Students who apply for a State Street Meal Plan can put money into an account which can be used every time they buy food on Madison’s pedestrian mall. Several State Street vendors are participating in the program, in which students swipe an account card much like a debit card at restaurants.
Off Campus Access, a nationwide student meal service company that brings off-campus meal plans to college students across the country, brought the State Street Meal Plan to Madison this summer.
After surveying UW students and the amount of support they receive for food from their parents, the company determined last summer that Madison would be a good place to market their plan because of the abundance of restaurants as well as a social, fun student body.
Off-Campus Access launched the program this summer, with more than 200 students participating.
Program directors say between 40 and 60 students now start a Meal Plan account each day, with students ranging from dorm-living freshmen to seniors who live off-campus.
Mike Dolezal, regional director for Off Campus Access, said the company’s meal plan idea was designed to help students fit mealtimes within their budgets and busy schedules more efficiently.
“Our goal is to give students better options,” Dolezal said. “We work with students’ budgets as well as their schedule.”
State Street establishments currently involved in the program include Charley’s, State Street Brats, Amy’s Café, Subway, Taco Bell, Pizzeria Uno, Jamba Juice and Kollege Klub, with more restaurants added each week.
The Meal Plan will also offer discounts at certain “Restaurants of the Week” starting Sept. 15. Later in the month, the program plans to add additional discounts to cardholders at businesses that provide services such as haircuts, clothing retail and video rental.
It is still unclear how popular the plan has become among UW students, however.
Misty Stoehr, manager of Amy’s Café, said that about two to three students per day use the card, but said she believes that next year after the program is underway more students will take advantage of the card. Other State Street food service workers agreed that the program has potential to become a more popular means of eating out.
UW students can sign up for the plan online, by phone or by mail. Accounts roll over from semester to semester, and Off Campus Access’s website provides a calculator that estimates how much money a student needs in their account based on the frequency of meals per week.