ASGA FAQs

ASGA is the national professional association for Student Governments. ASGA offers web resources, SG research, training conferences, and private consulting to its members and non-members.

ASGA helps Student Governments strengthen what they’re already doing well and improve the areas that are harder to move forward—like engagement, participation, and campus support.

Even strong SGs face common challenges: not every member is fully engaged, elections don’t always get high turnout, and support from students, faculty, and administrators can vary. ASGA provides practical tools and proven ideas to help address those gaps.

Through ASGA, you can:

Learn new programs and strategies used by successful Student Governments across the country
Find real examples and ideas in the SG database to adapt to your campus
Connect with peers to share solutions and compare approaches
Strengthen participation, visibility, and credibility with students and administrators

In short, ASGA helps your SG keep improving by showing you what works, what others are doing, and how to apply it in your own campus environment.

The editors of Student Leader (published from 1993 to 2005) identified the need for this organization in the fall of 2001 and began work on developing it in the spring of 2003. ASGA officially launched on March 17, 2004. On March 9, 2005, ASGA sponsored its first SG training conference in Philadelphia at Villanova University.

Student Governments are expected to be effective leaders on campus, but few institutions provide consistent training, research, or support to help them succeed. ASGA exists to fill that gap.

ASGA is the only organization dedicated exclusively to supporting Student Government officers, members, and advisors at colleges and universities nationwide. It focuses on strengthening SG effectiveness, influence, and impact across all types of institutions.

It also conducts and shares SG-specific research, along with practical tools and examples from real Student Governments, so leaders can learn what actually works in practice.

Because Student Governments experience constant turnover in both officers and advisors, there is always a need for updated guidance, training, and peer connection. ASGA provides that continuity year after year.

Any college, university, or high school is eligible to join ASGA, including institutions not based in the United States. You may join even if your institution doesn’t currently have a Student Government.

Yes. If your school’s Student Government chooses not to join, you individually can join for $199 per year with the same access as an institutional member. ASGA is for Student Governments, their officers and members, and their advisors.

You can always see the current number of member institutions under the logo at the top of every ASGA page. The number changes almost daily as ASGA grows.

While a handful of other national organizations serve college students, none specifically serves Student Government leaders and advisors, addresses their unique needs, and champions the importance of vibrant, effective Student Governments at every institution. ASGA is your number-one champion of the vital importance of Student Governments. No other organization does this as its core mission.

ASGA is setting national standards for the proper role, duties, and expectations of Student Governments, which directly benefits advisors by giving them clear guidelines. ASGA maintains a comprehensive Advisors resource including articles, links, and documents. ASGA’s SG Database includes detailed information on advisors nationwide, fully searchable. And a strong, effective Student Government always signals strong student affairs at an institution, which benefits retention and recruitment.

Our executives served as Student Government leaders in college and have published magazines, books, and web sites for campus leaders since 1983. For more than three decades, our specialty has been Student Government articles, trends, news, and research. ASGA leaders speak, consult, and lead workshops at all major SG-related conferences nationwide, including 11 ASGA conferences every year.

No. ASGA is not a democratically elected association — it is a one-stop resource for everything about Student Government. ASGA members can serve on the ASGA Advisory Council, a group that helps with recruiting and provides regular feedback. Interested? Call 352-373-6907 or write butch@asgaonline.com.

Yes. To ensure uninterrupted service, your membership will automatically renew on your annual start date. To cancel, please call ASGA at 352-373-6907.

Yes, though ASGA is most helpful to student leaders and their advisors. Administrators, businesses, and high school Student Council leaders also are members. Groups and companies participate through Associate Memberships and Sponsorships.

Having a pure educational mission is not reserved only for non-profit organizations. Our leadership has focused on a core mission of teaching Student Government leaders to become more effective and influential since 1983, never wavering from that mission. The proof of an organization’s motives is what it produces over time, not what it says. ASGA’s founders have a long and respected history of service to the higher-education community.

Even the best Student Governments can improve. Could you have higher voter turnout? Recruit more students to run for office? Do all administrators seek your opinion before major decisions? Does every student respect what your SG does? Take ASGA’s SG Effectiveness Test for an honest assessment. And if you truly are one of the nation’s elite SGs, you have a responsibility to share your expertise and consider leading workshops at our conferences.

ASGA is a membership organization. Any SG at any college, university, or high school is eligible to join. ASGA’s leaders, however, are not democratically elected; they are full-time professionals. ASGA does have an Advisory Council of engaged members who provide feedback, and a panel of SG experts who help members with specific questions.

No. ASGA is not affiliated with any other organization, though it has loose alliances with related organizations.

ASGA has a diverse team of experts with different experiences, viewpoints, and backgrounds, which helps us better serve our members. ASGA’s article library includes dozens of articles on diversity in student government, and the links library guides members to organizations, speakers, and events that address diversity issues on campus.

Membership dues range from $397 for the smallest institutions to $1,097 for the largest, based on full-time enrollment. That works out to about $1 a day for most institutions. All members, advisors, and administrators at your campus have full access. See Membership Dues for the complete schedule.

Yes. ASGA allows individual students and administrators to join even if the main SG at a school declines membership. See Membership Dues for details.

Yes. ASGA prefers upfront payment but will work with schools that have budget restrictions — including delayed billing or installment plans. Our mission is to serve Student Governments, and we don’t want financial issues to be a roadblock.

Yes. Call 352-373-6907 and our team will process your payment.

No. Administrators can pay your dues. About half of ASGA member institutions have administrators cover the membership dues. ASGA encourages students and administrators to share the cost equally, since both benefit equally.

Dues are based on your institution’s full-time enrollment (FTE) at your specific campus, not your SG’s budget. If your institution has multiple campuses, each campus SG is eligible for individual membership based on that campus’s FTE.

No. You are not required to continue past the original two-year commitment, though you must notify ASGA in advance of your renewal date and complete a member cancellation survey.

Yes. ASGA offers: delayed billing, pay half now/half later, multi-year savings (save 10–20% by joining 2 or 3 years), administrator funding, and ASGA Scholarships. If your SG wants to join, contact us and we’ll make it work.

ASGA’s dues are enrollment-based, not budget-based, because confirming actual SG budgets is frequently problematic. Many SGs allocate most of their budget to other groups, leaving a much smaller operating budget. Our research found enrollment-based dues to be the most fair structure. Smaller schools pay less; larger schools pay more.

There are no refunds once you join. It takes ASGA’s staff significant time to convert your institution to member status. We strongly encourage you to review our resources thoroughly, take the guided tour, and ask us questions before joining. Call or email us at info@asgaonline.com and we will gladly answer every question.

Access to the massive SG Database, the only one of its kind in the world. Find other SGs with similar budgets, structures, problems, and accomplishments. View constitutions, bylaws, election results, and more. See your SG’s grades for effectiveness, influence, administrator support, and your web presence. Plus discounts at 11 ASGA training conferences, complimentary consulting, research assistance, the SG Toolbox, self-help guides, and much more. See Member Benefits for the full list.

Absolutely not. ASGA has members ranging from a few hundred students to 100,000 students. The whole point of ASGA is to provide you with networking, information, and research tools so you can find other similar schools nationwide. Even if you have just a few hundred students, your officers and advisor have the same member privileges as a school with 100,000 students.

Each campus is considered an individual member. Each campus has its own Student Government with its own officers and budgets. Dues are based on the number of full-time students at each individual campus.

No. If your Student Government is an ASGA member, all of your elected and appointed officers, senators, committee members, and volunteers can access ASGA services. You’ll designate a key contact who provides ASGA with a list of students and advisors, who then receive individual usernames and passwords.

Most definitely. Your dues give your entire SGA access to ASGA’s vast resources, including the SG Database, SG Toolbox, conference discounts, private consulting, research assistance, and direct support from SG experts. The biggest benefit is saving time: ASGA gets you answers without you having to do the research yourself. For most schools, that’s $1 a day or less for your entire organization.

Once your institution becomes a member, you’ll assign one person as ASGA’s key contact. That person provides ASGA with a list of students permitted to access the site. ASGA then assigns usernames and passwords and emails them directly.

Yes. Student Governments from institutions not based in the United States may join as International members. You may join even if your institution doesn’t currently have a Student Government.