HUA Club Funding Jumps Over 42 Percent After Student Activities Fee Made Mandatory

Harvard Undergraduate Association will give student organizations roughly 40 percent more funding than it did last year, HUA co-president Zachary “Zach” Berg ’28 announced at the body’s general meeting Sunday – the largest sum the student government has ever allocated to clubs.

The change follows the College’s decision to raise the Student Activities Fee from a $200 optional payment to a mandatory $450 charge. This nearly doubles the SAF, bringing the funding pool from $1.3 million to $2.7 million.

The HUA received $800,000 in SAF funding for the academic year, split evenly between the fall and spring semesters — a 32 percent increase from last year.

Of the HUA’s $410,000 operating budget for the fall, $369,000 will go to the Finance Team, which doles out grants to clubs each semester.

The fall budget tops $400,000 because the HUA recouped roughly $20,000 in unused funds returned by clubs over the summer, according to HUA co-treasurer Jake A. Marino ’29.

Berg said the club funding is the largest the HUA has ever allocated, both in total dollars and as a share of its budget. According to Marino, clubs will receive 90 percent of the HUA’s overall funds this semester.

“This is the highest percentage being allocated directly to club funding ever,” he said.

The HUA’s funding for student groups has steadily increased over the past few years.

Last year, the HUA allocated approximately 86 percent of its total $606,000 budget to student organizations. In the 2024-25 academic year, the HUA received $522,500 in SAF funding, 85 percent of which went to student clubs. In 2023-24, 76 percent of the HUA’s $606,448 SAF budget went to student organizations.

The HUA’s other teams split the rest of this fall’s budget, with the executive team receiving the second-highest allocation at $10,000. The executive budget is higher this year, HUA co-president Daniel Zhao ’28 said, because the HUA folded its operations budget into the executive team’s allocations, which also funds the First-Year Team.

Zhao said some clubs could see far more than a roughly 42 percent funding increase, depending on their level of need.

“We noticed that there’s a subsect of clubs that, for example, don’t get as much revenue that they make outside, and those clubs are often the ones that ask for more HUA funding rather than not,” he said. “If you allocate the 43 percent increase in funding to those clubs specifically, you actually get a lot higher than just a 43 percent increase in funding for the clubs that need it most.”

Marino also said the Finance Team is still reviewing grant applications and that the HUA had received an “all-clear” from the Harvard Federal Credit Union on its proposed disbursement timeline.

“We’re expecting zero delays this semester,” Marino said.

The group also voted to give $4,500 to Concentration Day, the HUA’s annual celebration for sophomores, who must declare their concentrations by Friday.

Around $600 will go to replacing banners, $3,500 to a food truck and associated equipment, and $400 to miscellaneous decorations, signage, posters, and tickets.

According to HUA Academic Officer Maritella Petsa ‘29, this is the first year the Dean of Students Office has been so involved in the event, but it is not involved in funding or budgeting.

“Up to last year, it was pretty much fully the HUA academic team, but this year I was able to connect with the office,” Petsa said.

Petsa said the HUA hopes to draw more sophomores this year with a larger event. The DSO will help organize food trucks, bring a professional photographer for students, with some photos uploaded to the Harvard College Instagram, and provide event tables. This will also be the first year the event will have a food truck.

—Staff writer Alma T. Barak can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at almabk.54. Follow her on X @almabk_.

—Staff writer Theresa F. Bartelme can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at theresabartelme.15. Follow her on X @theresabartelme.