Meal Plans
Pepperdine offers nine different meal plans during the academic year and three different summer meal plans. The meal plans are designed to provide easy on-campus access to meals, snacks, and beverages for both residents and commuter students. In addition to providing nutrition, eating at our dining locations provides the opportunity to hang out with friends, strike up a conversation with someone new, meet with professors, and participate in Pepperdine.
Purchase a Meal Plan
Log into your student account through the Housing Portal or email our office to purchase a meal plan. Students can check their remaining balance at any time by clicking on "ID Card Deposit" on their WaveNet homepage or at any cash register in a dining area.
Please note that enrolling in a meal plan means that a student will receive a meal plan for both fall and spring semesters (e.g., students who enroll in Meal Plan E will receive a Meal Plan E for the fall semester and will be automatically re-enrolled in another Meal Plan E for the spring semester).
Dining Locations and Hours of Operation
- Hours of Operation
- Waves Cafe (Tyler Campus Center)
- Nature's Edge (Tyler Campus Center)
- Lighthouse (Tyler Campus Center)
- Starbucks (Payson Library)
- Oasis (Tyler Campus Center)
- Drescher Cafe (Drescher Campus)
- Cafe Fresca (Center for Communication and Business)
- Caruso School of Law Cafe (Caruso School of Law)
- HAWC Cafe and Store (Howard A. White Center)
- Concessions Stand (Firestone Fieldhouse)
Introducing Grubhub Campus Dining!
What is "Grubhub campus dining?"
Grubhub campus dining is a service provided by Grubhub and Pepperdine which enables students, faculty, and staff to order and pay for meals ahead of time from on-campus dining venues. With Grubhub's campus dining app, you can place orders using your Pepperdine campus meal plan, Global Waves Cash, or your personal credit/debit card.
Get started now by visiting our Grubhub Campus Dining FAQ webpage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are meal points?
One meal point is equivalent to one dollar. For a complete list of offered meal plans, please visit our Meal Plan Rates page.
How do I use meal points?
Your student ID acts like a debit card to access your meal points. Present it to a cashier at one of Pepperdine's dining locations when purchasing food or drinks. The cashier will swipe the card and the appropriate amount of points will be deducted from your balance. You can then view your remaining balance on the screen to help you keep track. The fastest way to pay in line is using an ID card.
How do I check how many meal points I have left?
Check the remaining balance of your meal plan by going to your WaveNet > ID Card Services. Once you log into your card services account, you will be able to see the balance of your remaining meal points for each respective semester. Please note that if you have a spring meal plan, your spring meal points will not activate on your ID card until you have depleted your fall meal points.
Do meal points carry over the academic year?
All fall meal points carry over into the spring semester. Any meal points remaining at the end of the spring semester will expire and are non-refundable.
Who can purchase a meal plan?
All enrolled students including both resident and commuter students are eligible to purchase a meal plan.
Am I required to have a meal plan?
- Per the University Residency Requirement Policy, all new undergraduate residents are required to have a meal plan for their first two academic years living on campus.
- All first and second-year residents must enroll in the minimum required meal plan
or higher. For more details on meal plan requirements, please visit our Meal Plan Rates page.
- New first-year students are required to purchase a Waves "E" meal plan, or higher, each semester.
- Students who do not enroll in a meal plan but are required to have a meal plan will be automatically enrolled in Meal Plan E.
- Second-year and upperclassmen apartment residents with in-unit kitchens are not required to have a meal plan and may purchase any of our offered meal plan options.
- Commuter students are not required to have a meal plan and may purchase any of our offered meal plan options. Commuter students interested in purchasing a meal plan should email housing@pepperdine.edu from their Pepperdine email account with their meal plan request.
Can I use my meal plan during academic recesses, such as winter break or spring break?
Yes, however, during academic recesses some dining locations may be closed or have shortened hours of operation. Refer to the Dining Services website for more information.
Can I increase my meal plan?
Yes. Students may increase their meal plan at any point in the semester simply by sending an email to housing@pepperdine.edu from their Pepperdine email account with their CWID and preferred plan.
Can I decrease or cancel my meal plan?
- The deadline to reduce or cancel a meal plan (if eligible) is the University-wide Add/Drop deadline for each respective semester.
- First-year student residents may not decrease their meal plans below Meal Plan E.
- Incoming transfer students may opt down to purchase a minimum of Meal Plan D.
- Second-year and upperclassmen residents of Rockwell Towers, Seaside Hall, and Drescher W Block may opt down to purchase a minimum of Meal Plan D.
Summer Meal Plans
Students are welcome to choose one of three meal plans offered over the summer.
- Undergraduate summer meal plans roll over from session to session until they expire at the end of Summer Session 3 and are non-refundable. Summer meal points do not roll over into the academic year.
- Graduate student meal plans expire at the end of their summer schedule and are non-refundable. Summer meal points do not roll over into the academic year.
- Students who wish to cancel or reduce their summer meal plan must do so before the University-wide Add/Drop deadline of each respective summer session. After the Add/Drop deadline, requests to reduce or cancel meal plans will no longer be accepted.