Everything SG: Facts, Firsts, and the Numbers Behind Student Government

Explore the world of collegiate Student Government — from its earliest origins to today’s highest voter turnouts, biggest budgets, and most unusual records. ASGA brings together data, history, trends, and “firsts” from thousands of campuses across the country. Data is based on the ASGA SG Database, which includes decades of information for every SG.

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SG Quick Facts
Numbers & Counts
History & Firsts
SG Names
Budgets & Finance
Grades & Rankings
Elections
Game Show
Diversity

5,109Colleges in ASGA Database

975Colleges with no SG (18%)

4%Avg election turnout

77%SGs compensate officers

50%SGs amending constitutions now

Bi-cameralMost common SG structure

Did You Know?

?More women are serving in SG than ever before (53.4% in 2026-27) including 54% serving as SG president in 25-26.

?About 19% of SG presidents are African-American.

More Did You Know? facts →

SG Fact:

The first SGs in the 1700s were honor & literary societies. They had no advocate role, no activity fees, were not elected, didn’t recognize clubs.

Number of Colleges/Universities NEW

Colleges with no SG NEW

SGs by Type of Institution

SGs by Size and Mobility

SGs by State

SGs — Complete List

SGs Shut Down

Unusual SG Officer Titles UPDATED

Who was the first woman SG president? First African American president? First LGBTQ officer?

SG History

History of Individual SGs

Case Studies

Most Common SG Structure

SG Firsts at Institutions

Notable Former SG Leaders

Outlaw SG Presidents

Once SG Leaders, Now Advisors SOON

What SG name is most common? What is most unusual?

Top 20 Most Common SG Names

Unusual SG Names

All SG Names (by SG Name)

All SG Names (by School Name)

Name Changes UPDATED

Why a Name Matters

Combined SG budgets: ASGA has data for 1,146 of 5,481 institutions (21%). Their combined budget totals $895,246,542.

SG Budgets — Average

SG Budgets — Top 20 Largest

Largest Budgets — Public Colleges

Largest Budgets — Private Colleges SOON

Activity Fees — Highest

Activity Fees — Average SOON

SG Salary Survey

Largest Budgets — Community Colleges SOON

Are you the average, or is your SG an anomaly? Knowing national standards helps you assess where you stand.

SG Grades — scored using ASGA’s SG Effectiveness Test

SG Grades by College Type/Size

Grades — Community/Junior College

Grades — College/University

Grades by ASGA Member Type

Grades — Self-Reported

Web Site Rankings

SG Web Site Grades — Most Common

SG Web Sites — Top Ranked

External Rankings

Most Active SGs — Princeton Review

Average Turnout by School

Average Turnout by School Type

Voter Turnout — Public Institutions 2023

Turnout at Public Institutions 20K+

Turnout — Commuter Institutions

Most Common Month for SG Elections NEW

SG Election Problems

Very Close SG Elections NEW

Highest Election Turnout SOON

Featured Resource

ASGA Game Show

Everyone loves ASGA’s Game Show, “How Much Do You Really Know About SG?” — recorded throughout the year at our training conferences. Test your knowledge and see how you stack up.

Watch Episodes