Frequently Asked Questions

USG stands for Undergraduate Student Government. We are a non-partisan student group and registered nonprofit as specified under Section 501(c)(3). We represent all 30,000+ undergraduate students on campus by advocating on behalf of students. We help shape University policies, work with University Administration and the Board of Regents, and most importantly- listen to what students at the U of MN have to say.

There are many ways to get involved with USG, regardless of your schedule or interests. Students can attend Forum meetings to discuss and vote on advocacy initiatives, join one of our committees, and participate in our internship program for hands-on leadership and policy experience, or serve on USG staff in elected or appointed roles. We also host many events open to all students to learn more about us. Through these opportunities, students can develop leadership skills, advocate for change, and help shape the undergraduate experience at the University of Minnesota. To get frequent updates on USG happenings, join our Slack. You can also always stop by our office to talk, we’d love to see you!

USG has an office space, room 202, on the 2nd floor of the Coffman Student Union. Our office is open Mon-Fri from 10:00AM-6:00PM. Stop in and say hello to us!

For all media and press inquiries, please contact our Executive Director of Communications, Kate Sadler at sadle085@umn.edu

As student leaders without administrative powers, we do our best to do things like lower tuition and campaign for other student needs in ways that are permissible. We work directly with University administrators to negotiate new ideas that push them to improve students’ lives, but they will have final say. Thus, USG strives for sound, data-driven advocacy and solutions that can get around the many roadblocks administrative operations present to us.

For example, knowing that students struggle to afford accessible transportation around the cities, USG created a Universal Transit Pass that enables all students paying tuition to have free access to all Metro transportation (buses, light rail systems, etc) around the Twin Cities area. We come up with and advocate for solutions to lower student costs from all sorts of directions.

All of our resolutions are researched and discussed with all sorts of University stakeholders—students, student groups, staff, faculty, admin, and more—to maximize the potential for our ideas to be accepted and acted upon by University leaders.