WashU Campus Card Services WashU Campus Card Services WashU Campus Card Services

WashU ID Card

A WashU ID Card is your gateway to life at Washington University in St. Louis.

Sunset over Brown & Hillman Hall

What can I use my card for?

Your WashU ID card verifies your identity and affiliation with the University, holds your personal access to buildings, labs, and suites, allows you to pay using your Dining Meal Plan(undergraduate students only), printing allowance, and Bear Bucks accounts, and lets you utilize the WashU shuttle system as well as Metro STL Transit with a U-Pass from Parking & Transportation.

Bear Bucks

Your Campus Card Account, Bear Bucks, allows you to make tax-free purchases at on-campus dining locations in addition to being the primary payment method for campus vending, and printing machines.

What does my ID display?

Your WashU ID Card shows your name, relevant ID numbers to your student record and payment accounts, a personal portrait, and your primary affiliation to WashU.

How do I use my card?

Swiping…

  • Locate a card entry station located in the general area of its corresponding door.
  • Swipe your card in a downward motion with the back of the card and its two magnetic strips facing your RIGHT.
  • See below for which strip-side to use, A or B…

The A side…

  • Access to your authorized buildings within their operating hours.
  • Paying with Bear Bucks
  • Paying with your Dining Meal Plan (for Undergraduates only)

The B side…

  • Entry into standalone locks (e.g. special labs, multi-purpose rooms, restricted thoroughfares, or departmental doors)
  • Most University members won’t need/can’t use their B side, and use of this side required special encoding on a card-to-card, person-to-person basis.

WashU ID Terms & Conditions

The ID card is administered by Washington University Campus Card Services. Terms are subject to change.

Your WashU ID card’s magnetic strips are essential for card usage. Magnetic fields may demagnetize these magnetic strips. Protect your ID card by taking a few precautionary measures:

  • Keep your card away from computers, cell phones, TVs, stereo equipment, microwaves, and other magnetic devices.
  • Do not store your card where it may bend or come in direct contact with other magnetized cards. Damage or misuse of the card may render it unusable

While your card provides a link to your Bear Bucks account, no value is stored on your card. If you lose your card or it becomes demagnetized, your account is not lost. If you lose your WashU ID card, you may obtain a new card in the University Services Center on the ground floor of Mallinckrodt Center, next to the Bank of America ATM. The University Services Center is open 8 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday. 

Note: The lending, selling, or illegal production of identification cards is strictly prohibited. Washington University in St. Louis identification cards remain the property of the university. The use of a WashU ID card by anyone other than that student is prohibited and may constitute a violation of the University Student Conduct Code (the sanction for fraudulent use of an ID card can be a fine of $250 or greater). Students are encouraged to guard their student ID card as they would a driver’s license or credit card. The university reserves the right to deny card privileges to a student if Washu ID cards are repeatedly lost.