Midnight breakfast is a generic term for a

communal meal A communal meal is a meal eaten by a group of people. It often but not always serves a social, symbolic and/or ceremonial purpose. For some, the act of eating communally defines humans as compared to other species. Communal meals have long been of ...

served at some American

college A college ( Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

s and

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

, often served during finals week. Menu items that are generally considered breakfast foods are served in the school's

dining hall A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or sch ...

late at night (hence "

midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours ...

") as a study break before or during

final exam A final examination, annual, exam, final interview, or simply final, is a test given to students at the end of a course of study or training. Although the term can be used in the context of physical training, it most often occurs in the a ...

s, or as a traditional community-building event. Sometimes food is served by faculty and staff. Midnight breakfast is an occasional event and should not be confused with school dining facilities that operate 24 hours a day on a regular basis.

References

{{Breakfast topics Breakfast Academic meals Student culture in the United States