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Bear Bucks for Students

Bear Bucks Update

Bear Bucks can be used as a purchasing option exclusively at on-campus establishments and campus stores. View all official on-campus Bear Bucks locations on our website here. Additionally, Bear Bucks can be used to conveniently pay for orders from any Grubhub merchant nationwide, via pick-up and delivery through the Grubhub app. 

SEE ALL MERCHANTS THAT ACCEPT BEAR BUCKS
FAQs

Enrolling in Bear Bucks

Opening a Bear Bucks account is free of charge and no minimum balance must be maintained to keep the account open. Your account will remain open as long as you are a student, faculty, or staff member of Washington University in St. Louis. Please see the Terms of Service below for more information.

Why enroll in Bear Bucks?

While enrolling in Bear Bucks is 100% optional, most students do sign up for an account.

  • Bear Bucks, like Meal Points, are tax-free for on-campus dining purchases.
  • Once you exceed your Dining Services Meal Plan, on-campus dining locations will automatically charge your Bear Bucks account instead.
  • Bear Bucks can be used to conveniently pay for orders from any Grubhub merchant nationwide, via pick-up and delivery through the Grubhub app. 
  • If you exceed your printing balance, PaperCut will automatically charge your Bear Bucks account instead.
  • Bear Bucks can help you and your parent budget your spending while at WashU.
Access your Account

Adding Funds

Students may add Bear Bucks by signing in to Atrium Connect using their WUSTL Key. You can view the Atrium Connect User Guide here. If you wish to grant a parent, guardian or other person access to your account, you can find instructions to do so in the Atrium Guest Access Guide here.

Payment Methods

Students may bill their Student Account or Tuition Statement by selecting the “Charge Bear Bucks via Student Account” option after logging in. A maximum of $1,000 can be billed per student per semester.

Students may add funds using a domestic credit/debit card by selecting the “Deposit Bear Bucks via Credit Card” option after logging in. Please note that a 3% convenience fee will be added to all credit/debit card deposits.

Students can add funds by cash deposit, check, or international credit/debit card in-person at the Campus Card Services office.

When my WashU ID Card is swiped…what is it paying with?

Your WashU ID Card contains 3 spending accounts attached to your card’s A-side swipe:

  • Meal Points are loaded onto your card at the start of each semester by Dining Services based on your purchased Meal Plan. You cannot independently add points by billing your student account nor by credit/debit card. Gifting points to another student is possible with limits. See Dining Services for more details. Meal Points can only be spent at WashU Dining Services Locations which do not include Bauer Cafe, Bauer Starbucks, Medical School dining locations, and any off-campus businesses.
  • Printing Credit is loaded onto your card at the start of each semester by your academic division and can be accessed through PaperCut. Please contact your school for more details. Printing credit can only be used for printing on-campus, and is non-refundable and non-transferable.
  • Bear Bucks is your final spending account, the fallback for when you’ve exceed Meal Points and/or your printing credit. You may add to your Bear Bucks balance at any time by billing your student account, credit/debit card, or making a cash deposit in-person. See the above section on adding funds for more details. Bear Bucks can only be spent at locations that accept it like WashU Dining establishments, certain on-campus vending machines, and both on and off-campus Bear Bucks merchants.

Terms of Service

Charging Bear Bucks to a Student Account:

  • Up to $1,000 in Bear Bucks can be charged to a student account per semester (July 1 – December 31 and January 1 – June 30). After this $1,000 semesterly limit is reached, additional funds may be added online via credit card or in-person at the Campus Card Office via credit card, check, or cash.
  • Billing to a student account is unavailable during the summer semester.
  • Those with a financial hold on their student account will not be allowed to add Bear Bucks using this charge feature. Deposits via credit card are still allowed in this case.
  • The University College has made the decision not to allow Bear Bucks deposit via Student Account for their student body. Deposits may still be made online via credit card or in-person at the Campus Card Office.
  • Bear Bucks are nonrefundable and nontransferable.

Surrendering of Funds:

  • While an active student, Bear Bucks account balances will roll over year-to-year indefinitely. Any unused balance in the Bear Bucks account will be surrendered 1 year after the student’s graduation date or separation from the university without graduating.
  • Students on a leave of absence will retain their balance for 1 year after their last active semester. In the event that the student returns from leave before 1 year has passed, they will return to active student status and funds will roll over year-to-year until 1 year after graduating or again taking leave.