College Student Leaders Divided on Benefits of Student Government

Applicants may find no middle ground in the ways people view the student government experience.

April 5, 2012 RSS Feed Print

The value of student government experience to college students and applicants is unclear.

[See five reasons to get involved in college.]

While he thinks it's "going a little too far" for applicants to weigh a prospective school's student government, Patrick Gotham, a 2011 graduate of Salisbury University and former president of the Maryland school's Student Government Association, says a school's size does make a difference.

"From my experience with other schools, larger schools have more red tape to go through but also have larger budgets to work with. Smaller schools have more freedom yet less resources, so it's a trade off," he says.

Another difference between larger and smaller schools can be whether student governors are compensated. According to the American Student Government Association, 30 percent of student governors at schools with enrollments of up to 1,000 get paid, compared to 87 percent of student leaders at schools with more than 30,000 students.

Torpey remembers some Hampshire students felt student leaders shouldn't be paid, but once calculated that his stipend came out to just 21 cents per hour. It took being elected mayor to appreciate that low rate.

"I got compensated more when I was student government president than I do as mayor of a town," he says.

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Tags:: colleges,; MIT,; education,; politics,; Cornell University,; college admissions

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You're right .... Student government association are described perfectly here. It's what you make of it. You can see all the imperfection of dealing with people and organizations. You need to make it work or you can give up. It's your choice, but either way you will learn from your decision. You will learn about yourself and how to work with people. Eventually you learn that you are the one that can make a difference. Open your eyes, give it time, it is all a lesson.
Electing popcorn may have been a cop out, but in the end it has shown all of us, how ineffective MIT's SGA is and the person that ran that campaign learned a tremendous amount about leadership. Convincing/motivating fellow student to vote for popcorn.
Maybe MIT will get the message.
The importance of being part of any organizations leardership cannot be overstated.

A.L. of NJ 8:43AM April 07, 2012

Definitely an interesting article. In my opinion, I think that being in Student Government has tremendously impacted my college experience. Being a part of SGA for all four years in college, I have had so many opportunities and learned so many things about life; lessons that I would have never gotten if I wasn't involved in Student Government. I have also been fortunate enough to meet many different people, from Congressman to Senators to talk show hosts to sports commentators, and the only reason I had a chance to meet them was through working in SGA. I know every Student Government is different, but, just like real government, it is what you make out of it. It is up to you to make a difference, and really stand out and push your college forward. I think it is a shame that the students at MIT, widely considered one of the most prestigious colleges in the country, would not take their Student Government a little more serious. And to anyone saying that extra-curricular activities cannot prepare you for the real world: I can honestly say that I learned more outside the classroom in the last four years then sitting in a class. I know for a fact that I am more prepared for the real world because of my Student Government experience.

Andrew Paulsen of NY 11:07AM April 05, 2012