First Year Student FAQ

A Vanderbilt Spending Account is a debit spending account that functions in much the same way as a bank debit card. Funds are added to a debit spending account, which can be used at a number of campus locations to purchase various products and services. When a purchase is made using the Commodore Card, funds are automatically deducted from the debit account balance.
Vanderbilt offers students two types of debit spending accounts:

• Commodore Cash is a debit spending account that can be used anywhere on or off campus where the Commodore Card is accepted for payment, which includes food and non-food purchases, such as books and supplies, vending, laundry, printing, and athletic events. Commodore Cash balances can be carried over from year-to-year on your student’s debit spending account.

• Meal Money is available only to meal plan participants and is used for food purchases. Meal Money must be depleted by the end of each spring semester as it is a “use it or lose it” plan. If a meal plan is canceled or removed during a semester, Meal Money is forfeited.

Differences between Commodore Cash and Meal Money

Click here for a list of the locations where the Commodore Card is accepted.

The deadline to have funds pre-loaded and included on your August billing statement is July 25th. If you would like to add funds so they are available for use when you arrive on campus click here. The funds will be added immediately and billed during the next billing cycle.

If you elect not to have funds pre-loaded or select $0, and later elect to "Add Funds for Immediate use", a $35.00 deferred payment fee per addition will be added to the amount between July 26 and September 15  and again between November 22 and January 15.

You may add by check at any time without incurring a fee. Please make checks payable to Vanderbilt University and include the student's name and Commodore ID on the check.

VUMeal Plan options for students can be viewed on the Vanderbilt Dining website.

If you lose your Commodore Card or if your card has been stolen, you must report it immediately! You may do this anytime by clicking here and following the "I lost My Card" link on the website.

You may also contact the Commodore Card Office at 615-322-2273 (On-campus dial 2-CARD) between the hours of 8:30am to 4:00pm, Monday through Friday.

Lost Commodore Cards for are reissued at the Commodore Card Office only. There is a $25.00 fee for all replacement cards.

For your protection, all Commodore Cards used by someone other than the cardholder will be confiscated. Unauthorized expenditures of up to $500.00 are the responsibility of the cardholder for lost or stolen Commodore Cards not reported within 24 hours.

Your Commodore Card contains a magnetic stripe on the rear of the card like a debit or credit card. It also contains a microchip for use with contactless card readers. As a result you must not bend or punch holes in the card as this will damage the antenna embedded in the card. There is a $25.00 replacement charge for damaged cards.

If you find your latest Commodore Card that you have previously reported lost then you can simply return to the Commodore Card website and mark your card found. Click here to mark card found.

Before funds can be added to your Commodore Card and charged to your student account, acknowledgement of the terms of a Student Account Agreement form is required.  All Vanderbilt University students are required to acknowledge the terms and conditions of an online Student Account Agreement form when logging into the YES portal. Please note that the acceptance of these terms and conditions is mandatory, and will be required on an annual basis.

Yes. Vanderbilt will not release any account information to a third party. Information will only be provided to the student and the guarantor(s) of the student account.

Guest access is no longer available.  However, there are two ways your parent or guardian can receive this information.

• The student may generate a transaction report for the parent/guardian. Log in to the Get Funds site. Click on "View All Transaction History".  From here you may choose to print, email or export your transactions to a .pdf file.

• Your parent or guardian may contact the Commodore Card Office at (615) 322-2273. If they are the account guarantor on the Student Account Agreement form, we will supply them with the desired information.