Payment for Meals
Adult Pricing Guidance
Office of Nutrition Services | Adult Pricing Guidance for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) | School Year 2026-2027
Breakfast $3.25
Lunch $5.50
Snack $1.38
Adult meals cannot be offered free of charge or subsidized with federal funds. Therefore teachers, administrators, staff members, and any other adults must be charged a higher price than the federal reimbursement rates to children, even if the meal is the same, to cover Michigan sales tax and any United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Entitlement Value. School Food Authorities (SFAs) have the option of charging all A la Carte prices or setting an adult unit price for the whole meal. The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) does not cap prices for adult meal prices or ala-carte items; however, the prices must cover all costs at the same level as your student meals, achieving equal revenue for adults as you do for students. Use this Adult Pricing Guide to determine the minimum required adult prices for the new school year. Items purchased and served without revenue to cover the cost are unallowable to the Non-profit Food Service Account (NFSA). Please refer to the Allowable Funding Sources for Program Meals and Non-Program Foods document.
For More Information:
If you have any questions, please contact the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Nutrition Services (ONS), Fiscal and Administrative Services Monitoring Team at
517-241-5380 or by email at MDE-Fiscal@Michigan.gov.
This MDE Adult Pricing Guide and other resources on Revenue from Non-program Foods are available on MDE's website at www.michigan.gov/mde-fast or by request through email at MDE-Fiscal@Michigan.gov.
