Finance & Transparency
The Central Student Government has an annual budget of roughly $800,000. This money is spent on programming, operations, a graduate childcare subsidy, and student organization funding. This page serves as data and information about CSG's finances.
Every semester, students pay a student fee of $11.19, of which CSG receives $9.52. This number has risen over the years, and with that, the overall budget has as well. This financial transparency dashboard was created to give insight as to where your student fee goes from semester to semester, and how each administration chooses to spend it, including the types of policies pursued. This dashboard covers 2019 through present.
The total CSG budget varies due to changes in the number/cost of student fees, rollover, as well as other factors. CSG’s budget is heavily dependent on enrollment level, as well as the student fee at the time, leading to changes in budgets across administrations as depicted in the graph.
Every semester we receive fees and the Executive and Assembly collaborate on making a budget, typically a process led by the Treasurer, and passed through the Assembly. This pie chart breaks down the budget allocation for each semester.
A typical CSG administration runs from April of one year to April of the following. To contextualize the spending by administration, we have broken up the data into administrative terms (E.g. Sp/Su 25, F25, & W26 as one administration).
Click a category once to remove it and double click to isolate that line!
The following stacked bar charts show how funds were proportionally distributed across categories. This allows you to compare spending patterns across semesters or administrative years, and see how each category contributed to the overall budget.
Winter 2026
This chart shows what percentage of each CSG budget category was spent relative to its total allocation.
EDF-Specific Allocation
Frequently Asked Questions
The bulk of CSG's money comes from a semesterly student fee of $11.19, of which CSG receives $9.52. $1.67 goes toward University childcare costs through the Office of Financial Aid. Its revenues are heavily dependent on enrollment levels. If enrollment drops, CSG's revenues drop.
Under the provisions of A.R. 9-015, CSG members are entitled to compensation based on economic need, as determined by Pell Grant and Work Study eligibility. The goal of this policy is to negate the concern of a student having to choose between a job and a CSG position. This policy is intended to allow a more diverse body of students to participate in CSG, representing more accurately the student body as a whole.
The EDF is the Executive Discretionary Fund and the LDF is the Legislative Discretionary Fund, each of which serves as the discretionary budget for the respective branch
These vary by Executive Administration, but the current subaccounts are as follows.
Programming
Executive-led events and initiatives that aim to get students involved on campus and with Student Government. This sub-account funds programs like Operation Graduation, pickleball tournaments, Go Blue Goes Green, and more.
SMPSEC (Sexual Misconduct Prevention & Survivor Empowerment Commission)
The SMPSEC funds resources for student well-being and serves as a liaison between CSG and University partners for initiatives and programming for survivor advocacy and prevention efforts.
DEAC (Disability Empowerment & Advocacy Commission)
The DEAC funds resources for accessibility initiatives, accommodations, and disability advocacy efforts, including the Disability Advocacy and Caregivers Scholarship and events such as InclusiviTEA.
Policy
Policy is responsible for planning, executing, and financing all of CSG’s policy-related advocacy, programs, and initiatives. For example, the Princeton Review Test-Prep Books, and the Trader Joe's Grocery Bus.
CDO (Chief Diversity Office)
The CDO funds all executive programs and initiatives related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging on campus. Examples include Night Around the World and World Bites.
Special Projects
The Special Projects sub-account is responsible for all other uncategorized projects and initiatives pursued by the administration. For example, this fund has historically financed Dinners with CSG each semester.
Internal Affairs
The Internal Affairs account funds a handful of internal-facing events, such as the tri-branch retreat and the end-of-year banquet, to promote cohesion and unity across each of CSG’s branches.
Communications
The Communications account funds equipment for media production in CSG and digital advertising in the Michigan Union and the League.
Government Relations
The Government Relations department links CSG to civic engagement and advocacy at the University, local, state, and federal levels of governance, through events, programs, initiatives, and tabling.
SOC (Student Organization Committee)
The SOC is made up of the Student Organization Funding Committee and Wolverine Consulting Group. These departments work to fund student organizations and provide institutional support for new organizations. Students can request funding for their organization’s events, programs, and initiatives on an application basis.
Presidential Initiatives
These are miscellaneous projects and initiatives pursued by the President of the Central Student Government, in alignment with the administration’s platform and goals.
Operations - Used to supply the CSG offices and fund operational expenses of CSG
Payroll - Used to pay CSG staff
Earmarks - Used to house scholarship monies not yet awarded; WSJ and NYT Cooking and Games Transfers
Need-Based Compensation Fund - Used to compensate Pell-Grant eligible CSG members for some of their time spent on CSG activities
AirBus Project Account - Used to fund the operations of the CSG airBus transportation program for students traveling between the Ann Arbor campus and DTW airports
Election Campaign Fund (reimbursements) - Used to fund the administration of university-wide student elections for CSG positions & candidate reimbursements
Elections Team Operations - Used to fund the election event (tables, vote platform, etc) each Winter semester
Central Student Judiciary - Used to pay student advocates
Student Organization Committee - Holds all funds for allocation to Registered Student Organizations by the Student Organization Committee
EDF - Used for making disbursements by the Executive Team and funding the CSG Commissions
LDF - Used by the Assembly for expenditures on projects, events, or activities with CSG involvement
