Membership & Dues


UCSA was founded on the principle that, together, UC students have the power to make change. As a membership-based coalition of undergraduate and graduate student governments of UC campuses, UCSA strives to invest and engage many students in our work.

Some of the benefits of UCSA membership include:

  • Choosing UCSA's Action Agenda Campaigns at Congress;
  • Leading direct action organizing and advocacy tactics throughout the year;
  • Statewide leadership opportunities such as being a systemwide committee member or Regents meeting "Whiteliner;"
  • Training at our three annual conferences and on campus;
  • Lobbying Regents and elected officials to increase affordability, accessibility, and quality of UC; and
  • A voice in deciding the official UC student stance on important issues facing the University.

To ensure accountability directly to members and not external funders or administrators, UCSA is funded almost entirely by membership dues.  These dues keep UCSA strong during tough financial times and ensure that students will have resources to fight for access, affordability, and quality when they need them the most. Membership dues are based on the number of full time students enrolled the previous year. 

The Expected Contribution is $1.50 per student per year and the minimum contribution to exercise full voting rights is $1.30 per student per year. Recognizing the great importance of UCSA, some associations contribute above the expected amount, currently as much as $7.05 per student.  Several student government associations have run referenda to create a permanent funding mechanism for UCSA. A strong and consistent funding base is necessary for UCSA to continue to win victories for UC students.

The Secretary Finance Officer and Executive Director develop UCSA's budget and the Board of Directors approves the budget annually. In order to guarantee UCSA's resources are being used to forward the priorities of UCSA's members, the budget is also circulated among UCSA's member associations for comments for one month before the final budget is adopted by the Board. UCSA's fiscal year runs October 1 - September 30, and the annual budget is adopted at the April Board meeting during the prior fiscal year.