Inflation has made on-campus meals more expensive for students living on the Hill, according to a recent analysis of price data.

Beginning fall 2025, UCLA Dining and ASUCLA updated their meal swipe policies so that only ASUCLA-operated restaurants and a few third-party vendors would continue accepting meal swipes as a form of payment between 11 a.m. and 3:59 p.m. Additionally, for the participating restaurants, individual swipes would be valued at $10, an increase from $9 in the 2024-25 school year.

Given these changes in meal swipe policies between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, the Stack examined how they were reflected in menu item prices at different restaurants on campus.

Theoretically, increasing the value of a meal swipe should boost students’ purchasing power. However, in many cases, student purchasing power has declined. The prices of most items at UCLA restaurants increased, often by more than $1. For instance, the price of the Caprese Panini at Northern Lights increased from $8.75 in fall 2024 to $10.99 this year.

UCLA Media Relations did not respond in time to a request for comment on the real-term price increases.

This pattern suggests that, while meal swipe adjustments were framed as a way to maintain value under the updated dining system, the practical effect is more complicated.

Rising menu prices outpaced the increase in swipe value, causing the real value of a swipe to decline for many high-demand items. This decline has affected where students eat on campus. Tamanna Suria, a second-year business economics student living on the Hill, has stopped eating at certain restaurants as often because of these changes. 

“There’s a reason I don’t go to Veggie Grill as much,” Suria said. “The Caprese at Northern Lights got bumped up to $10.50, so I have to pay an extra 50 cents every time. I’d rather go somewhere else on campus where I can just use a full swipe”. 

Suria’s experience reflects how students relying on swipes during the restricted 11 a.m. to 3:59 p.m. window receive less purchasing power than the policy change seems to allow. 

At Anderson Café, most entrée items saw noticeable price jumps, with prices increasing by amounts ranging from $0.24 to $1.24. Bowls such as the Chicken Shawarma, Harissa Salmon and Falafel Bowl now cost between $11.99 and $12.99 instead of between $10.75 and $12.75, placing them well above the $10 swipe value. Even meal combinations such as the Half Sandwich and Soup increased by about a dollar.

Only smaller items: bagels, muffins and some basic sandwiches remain close to swipe value, but these do not offer the same nutritional level as full entrees. This means students who rely on swipes for full meals face a larger out-of-pocket cost at Anderson Café than they did last year.

Similar patterns appear at Blaze Pizza, where signature pizzas and build-your-own options mostly increased by around $0.75 to $1, solidifying their position in the $13-$15 range. Because Blaze Pizza menu item prices were already above the previous $9 swipe value last year, the move to a $10 per swipe conversion does little to bridge the gap. Students must still supplement their swipes with money to afford a full pizza, which diminishes the practical benefit of the swipe increase.

Khan Tran, a third-year chemistry student on the 14P plan, said the $10 swipe value often falls short of covering a full meal under the updated dining system. Tran pointed to smaller items that now consume an entire swipe without providing adequate nutrition. 

“You can get one pretzel for that one swipe,” Tran said. 

She added that drinks alone can also use up a swipe, noting that a boba drink now costs the full $10 conversion. 

“That’s very costly just for one swipe,” Tran said 

Tran added that the gap between swipe value and menu prices disproportionately affects students who pay for their meal plans out of pocket. 

“It affects a lot of students that are not on financial aid,” she said, noting that, when a swipe fails to cover a meal, students without extra funds are often forced to spend additional money or settle for less filling options. 

Lu Valle Commons shows slightly more moderate price inflation, with burritos, bowls, quesadillas and loaded items increasing by roughly $0.40-$1.00. Some items fall just over the $10 threshold, making them closer to swipe coverage than items at Anderson Café or Blaze Pizza. Even so, most entrees still exceed swipe value by anywhere from 50 cents to several dollars, and add-ons such as extra protein had some of the steepest increases. While Lu Valle Commons presents the smallest gap, it still reflects a campus-wide trend of menu inflation outpacing the increase in swipe value.

One restaurant that remained extremely consistent between years was Lollicup Fresh, where prices only increased by four to nine cents. Items that had prices ending in zero or five cents were now hiked up to end in a nine.

Interestingly, there were a few items that decreased in price. At Lollicup Fresh, the Strawberry Sunrise Tea used to cost $7.50 and now costs $7.29. The chips and salsa at Epazote Mexican Grill in Lu Valle Commons, which used to cost $3.40, have dropped to $2.99: a 41-cent decrease.

Generally, many menu items went from prices being multiples of 10 cents to ending in nine cents, such as $.49 or $.99. For instance, a single meatball at Cafe Synapse dropped slightly in price from $1 to $0.99. 

The $1 swipe value increase therefore does not match the scale of the menu price increases. Generally, entree items that previously exceeded swipe value now sit beyond it, and many items that were once close to affordability with a single meal swipe now require more coverage.

Although the university nominally increased the value of a swipe, rising menu prices have eroded that benefit, resulting in a net decrease in the effective value of meal swipes for students.

About the Data 

The Stack compared the prices of individual menu items in fall 2024 and fall 2025 at the following restaurants that continued to accept swipes: Anderson Cafe, Blaze Pizza, Cafe Synapse (representing all ASUCLA cafes, which share menu items), Greenhouse, Lollicup Fresh, Lu Valle Commons, Northern Lights, Sambazon, Taco Bell and Wetzel’s Pretzels.