Student government spends freely

Elon University’s Student Government Association receives an annual budget of $436,000 to fund the over 150 organizations eligible for funding

Photo by Fiona McAllister | Elon University's Student Government Association's new financial bylaws regarding budgets and funding.

Elon University’s Student Government Association receives an annual budget of $436,000 to fund the over 150 campus organizations eligible for funding, according to Elon senior and Vice President of Finance Clare Ruldolph. The budget for SGA is part of Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley’s budget, made up from student activity fees — which are $292 per person per year. But the $436,000 does not include the additional budget SGA receives that is used up to its discretion. 

“A portion is designated for honorary organizations and operating expenses for SGA to function,” Rudolph said in an email to Elon News Network.

SGA Executive President Taylor Cote said SGA receives a total of around $800,000 annually. Cote said there is also an emergency reserve fund that SGA can pull money from. 

“If our working one is kind of getting low, for example, we'll pull from that one,” Cote said. “So we always have that reserve budget so we can continue to fund things.”

Ruldolph said the $800,000 is specific toward this academic year. Annually, SGA receives $436,000 with the reserve fund varying depending on the year. This operational budget, if not used in total, rolls into the reserve fund. These two accounts are used for different purposes, the operational budget is used for organizations while the reserve fund is used for legislation. 

For the over 150 approved campus organizations available to request funding, the 2022-23 academic year had only 557 budget requests approved. Compared to the 2023-24 academic year, SGA saw around a 50% increase in budget requests, resulting in 837 budget requests approved. 

From the beginning of this academic year to February 2025, SGA has already surpassed the number of budget requests approved during the 2022-23 academic year with 573 requests approved for funding.

During the 2022-23 academic year, $304,000 was reimbursed across 97 different organizations. The numbers continue to grow per academic year. In 2023-24, $312,000 was reimbursed across 108 different organizations — similar to the current SGA funding reimbursement so far for the 2024-25 academic year. For money that is not used in the SGA budget, it goes back into the reserve fund. It's reserve fund is capped at $436,000, any coverage beyond that amount will be returned back to Jon Dooley’s budget.

For the 2025-26 academic year, SGA has passed new financial bylaws. The previous bylaws covered travel for conferences and other off-campus events, covered the cost of hotels, meals and mileage for personal vehicles. However, those expenses will no longer be covered by SGA starting on June 1, 2025.