Campus Choice – New Meal Plan for A-State Students

JONESBORO – Assistant Vice Chancellor Craig Johnson has announced a new meal plan option called Campus Choice this fall for Arkansas State University students.

Campus Choice allows undergraduate students living on campus who are not currently required to have a meal plan, as well as those who regularly work on campus, to have access to A-State's dining options through the use of Flex dollars.

$150 in Flex dollars per semester was approved earlier this year and takes effect in fall 2023 for eligible students.

Johnson said, "Besides the convenience, one of the big advantages for students is that any purchase made at on-campus retail locations such as Starbucks or Chick-fil-A using Flex dollars is tax-exempt. That can be a savings of more than 10% on prepared foods."

Because the prepaid flex package is not subject to traditional sales tax, students with a Campus Choice plan will not pay sales tax at on-campus convenience store or food locations.

Students eligible for the plan will receive email notification about the plan in the coming days, and if they wish to opt out of the plan, they may do so. Currently, only A-State undergraduate students paying the normal student tuition rate for at least one class are eligible.

Johnson said, "That's why we call it Campus Choice. If students don't want to participate this fall or spring, they can click the link in the email we sent. They'll miss out on the savings and the tax exemption, but we wanted to give students this choice."

Students who opt out before August 1 will not see a charge on their account. Students may still opt out until the start of the fall semester. For those students, they will see the meal plan removed from their student account within 3 to 5 business days.

"We know that students and their families are looking for ways to save money, and for students who have used a debit or credit card to purchase food or drinks on campus, the tax-exempt aspect will help save some money," Johnson said.

Unused Flex dollars from the fall semester will automatically carry over to spring, and students have until July 31, 2024 to use all of their Campus Choice Flex dollars.

Johnson said he expects some students may want to add money to their meal plan or reload during the school year.

He said, "We are working on the system to have the capability to add funds to the Campus Choice meal plan on campus later this year. We are also looking at ways that other groups, such as recent graduates or employees, might have the opportunity to participate."