Meal plan & FinAid

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of South Florida
1

<p>One of the policies that struck me as really odd was USF's policy of applying for a meal plan as a requirement to get your housing assignment. It's odd because there are certain meal plans depending on your assignment (you can't use meal plan A with area B, in Layman's), therefore it's weird to submit the contract for a meal plan based on housing in order to receive your housing; especially if everything is late.</p>

<p>That being said, that's exactly what happened to me. I applied for the meal plan of "area A" and got "area B" as my assignment.</p>

<p>Now what I want to know is - as USF already answered my question that I MAY be able to fulfill my room request change to "area A" - is: what happens if I can't or don't pay the meal plan payment by the deadline?</p>

2

<p>Your meal plan will be locked until you do, and depending on how late you pay, you may also have to pay a late fee.</p>

<p>I’m guessing you purchased a level 1 meal plan, but got assigned to an apartment?</p>

3

<p>Actually, the other way around: I was assigned a suite, but applied for a Level 2. Is that all that will happen? I will only be able to pay the meal plan by the time financial aid comes around…</p>

4

<p>You can always change your meal plan to a level 1, but you’re saying you don’t have the money to pay for it now, and you haven’t been awarded a meal plan deferment, correct? </p>

<p>There is a payment plan option you can do that only requires you to pay about $500 now and the rest over the semester. Maybe that’s a good plan for you. </p>

<p>If you absolutely can’t pay until financial aid disburses, I am fairly certain those are the only things that will happen. Of course, you will have to see that you eat something before your meal plan is set straight, which probably won’t be until the second week of classes. You will lose about two weeks of your meal plan that way.</p>

5

<p>Yes, exactly. I called USF Dining and they told me the only way to change the meal plan was to be there in person, and I have no transportation to get there not only before the deadline but before school starts. I will definitely use the payment plan when I get financial aid; all my funds are pretty much coming from there. Especially since I’ll be doing work-study, I’ll be able to use that money to pay for the meal plan. Guess I’ll have to bring some money for two weeks worth of food!</p>

6

<p>That seems like the best course of action you can take at the moment.</p>

7

<p>Did this work? I’m an incoming freshman and am having the same problem…</p>

8

<p>To change your plan, you need to re-fill out a contract. Perhaps they can fax it to you and you can fax it back within the same day?</p>