Associated Students UCLA

What Associated Students UCLA does

Associated Students UCLA (ASUCLA) is a not-for-profit student association founded in 1919 and governed by the Regents of the University of California, operating as the official auxiliary services organization for the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. ASUCLA provides an integrated portfolio of campus services across four primary verticals: food service (30+ branded and proprietary restaurants and coffee houses including Panda Express, Carl's Jr., Blaze Pizza, and Café 451), retail (UCLA Stores at Ackerman Union, LuValle Commons, and Health Sciences, plus textbooks, graduation merchandise, electronics, and BruinPrint kiosks), event services (venue reservations for Ackerman Union, Kerckhoff Hall, and outlying campus venues via the EMS WebApp), and catering (full-service catering with online ordering for breakfast, lunch, buffets, and specialty menus). The organization also manages UCLA Trademarks and Licensing and operates the ASUCLA Meal Voucher Program, the Life Skills educational program, and the Alienware Bruins Esports Gaming Lounge.

ASUCLA serves a captive audience — UCLA's 45,000+ students, faculty, staff, student organizations, alumni, and approved external clients — as the exclusive on-campus provider for these services across the university's 419-acre campus. Revenue is generated through transaction-based fees (food sales, catering per-person pricing, venue reservations with three-tier pricing for student organizations, UCLA departments, and external clients), licensing royalties (UCLA trademarks licensed to third-party manufacturers), and a Student Union Fee assessed on the Bruin Bill. All revenue is reinvested into student services, programs, and facilities under the organization's not-for-profit status.

Operationally, ASUCLA deploys a community-led go-to-market approach, reaching the UCLA community through Instagram (@asucla), the asucla.ucla.edu website, student organization networks via SOLE, on-campus events, and the Life Skills content program. Strategic partnerships anchor the offering: national branded restaurant operators (Panda Express, Wetzel's Pretzels, Carl's Jr., Veggie Grill, Taco Bell, Subway, Blaze Pizza) operate as licensees within ASUCLA-managed facilities, while cultural partnerships with SPARC's Digital Mural Lab and the UCLA Centennial Committee produced the Judy Baca 'La Memoria de la Tierra: UCLA' mural. The organization has received Gold, Silver, and Bronze American Advertising Awards in 2025 and 2026 for advertising and communication excellence. Technology infrastructure is operational rather than core — the EMS WebApp handles venue reservations and the Squarespace-hosted site serves as the primary information hub, with no disclosed AI/ML capabilities.

Name

Associated Students UCLA

Legal name

Associated Students UCLA

Website

https://asucla.ucla.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1919

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Associated Students UCLA is a not-for-profit student association founded in 1919 that operates as UCLA's exclusive on-campus provider of food service, retail, catering, event venues, and trademark licensing across 30+ campus locations serving students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

University Auxiliary Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

University & Educational Venue Operations (Auditoriums, Campus Arenas) (MPAGALAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Guest, Visitor & Conference Housing Services (Summer/Break Housing) (EDAEAFAN)

Keywords

• Campus catering services
• University event venues
• Campus retail stores
• Student dining services
• Auxiliary nonprofit services

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales (UCLA Stores): Revenue generated from UCLA-branded merchandise, textbooks, electronics, graduation items, and printing services sold at campus retail locations.
2. Food Service Operations: Revenue from campus restaurants, coffee houses, branded food outlets, and catering services across 30+ campus locations.
3. Event Services and Venue Reservations: Revenue from booking student union venues including Ackerman Union and Kerckhoff Hall for events, conferences, weddings, and meetings. Fees are charged based on venue, duration, and services required.
4. Catering Services: Catering revenue from on-campus events with per-person pricing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus, including buffets, platters, and custom orders.
5. UCLA Trademarks & Licensing: Revenue from licensing the UCLA trademark to third-party manufacturers and retailers for branded merchandise.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ASUCLA is a not-for-profit auxiliary of UCLA that provides integrated campus services including on-campus catering, event venue reservations (Ackerman Union, Kerckhoff Hall, outlying venues), restaurant dining, the UCLA Store retail operations, the BruinPrint printing service, and the Life Skills student program. It serves the UCLA community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and also hosts external events such as weddings.

Product overview

Associated Students UCLA (ASUCLA) operates as a nonprofit student-centered organization providing a portfolio of integrated campus services. The core offerings include: ASUCLA Catering (full-service event catering with online ordering across breakfast, lunch, buffet, and specialty menus), Event Services (venue reservation and planning for Ackerman Union, Kerckhoff Hall, and outlying campus spaces), UCLA Restaurants (multiple branded and proprietary dining locations across campus), UCLA Stores (retail operations including textbooks, merchandise, and custom printing), the Meal Voucher Program (prepaid vouchers for campus dining), Life Skills Program (student development resources), and Student Union Facilities (event spaces, the Alienware Bruins Esports Gaming Lounge, and art installations including the Judy Baca mural). The organization uses the EMS WebApp event management system for venue reservations. These services collectively serve the UCLA campus community through central hubs at Ackerman Union and Kerckhoff Hall.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Café 451: Café located in Young Research Library featuring Peet's coffee drinks, pastries, and light meals including gourmet sandwiches, salads, and sushi.
• Jimmy's Coffeehouse
• LuValle Commons
• Anderson Café
• Northern Lights
• Epicuria
• Kerckhoff Coffee House
• Music Cafe
• Cafe Synapse
• Blaze Pizza
• Bomb Shelter
• Southern Lights
• ScrubJay Café
• ASUCLA Event Services
• ASUCLA Catering

Products and services

• ASUCLA Catering
• Event Services and Venue Reservations

Quantifiable outcome

• 419-acre campus with 30+ service locations across North Campus, Central Campus, and South Campus
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center), a Venice-based arts center founded by Judy Baca in 1976, partnered with ASUCLA and the UCLA Centennial Committee to create the 'La Memoria de la Tierra: UCLA' mural. SPARC's Digital Mural Lab created the digital artwork which was transformed into three 26-foot glass panels installed at Ackerman Union.
• Digital Mural Lab (SPARC)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe Digital Mural Lab, affiliated with UCLA and SPARC, developed the innovative digital technology used to create the Judy Baca UCLA mural. The process cultivated minerals to meld into glass, transforming a digitally created mural into physical manufactured glass panels — described as the largest of its kind in California.
• UCLA Events OfficecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe UCLA Events Office schedules all commercial filming and photography on the UCLA campus. ASUCLA Event Services partners with this office to facilitate filming requests at its venues including Kerckhoff Hall and Ackerman Union. Contact is through Kerckhoff Hall 168.
• Branded Restaurant Partners (Panda Express, Wetzel's Pretzels, Carl's Jr., Veggie Grill, Taco Bell, Subway, Blaze Pizza, etc.)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorASUCLA hosts 30+ branded restaurant locations operated by national and regional brands including Panda Express, Wetzel's Pretzels, Carl's Jr., Veggie Grill, Taco Bell, Subway, Blaze Pizza, and others at various campus locations. These brands operate as licensees within ASUCLA-managed food service facilities.
• UCLA Centennial CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe UCLA Centennial Committee partnered with ASUCLA and SPARC to commission the Judy Baca 'La Memoria de la Tierra: UCLA' mural as part of UCLA's 100-year anniversary celebration.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Centerplate (Sodexo Live!): Centerplate, now part of Sodexo Live!, provides event hospitality and catering for premium venues including universities, stadiums, and convention centers — a direct commercial comparable to ASUCLA's event venue and catering business.
• Sodexo Education: Sodexo's higher-education division runs campus dining, facilities management, and event services at universities worldwide. Broad incumbent in the same operational space as ASUCLA's food service and venue management.
• Follett Higher Education: Follett operates campus bookstores and retail services at universities nationwide, providing textbook, merchandise, and custom-print solutions comparable to ASUCLA's UCLA Stores and Bruin Custom Print operations.
• Barnes & Noble College: Barnes & Noble College operates campus bookstores at universities across the U.S., including textbook retail and branded merchandise — directly comparable to UCLA Stores operated by ASUCLA.
• Chartwells Higher Education (Compass Group): Chartwells is the higher-education dining arm of Compass Group, providing campus dining, catering, and retail operations to hundreds of U.S. universities. Broad incumbent competitor to in-house auxiliaries like ASUCLA.
• Aramark Collegiate Hospitality: Aramark is one of the largest third-party campus dining, catering, and event hospitality operators in the U.S. — competing with self-operated auxiliaries like ASUCLA for university contracts and serving as the closest commercial comparable for ASUCLA's food service operations.

Direct peers

• Stanford Hospitality & Auxiliaries: Stanford University's auxiliary services arm that runs dining, event venues, retail, and conferencing across the Stanford campus. Direct peer given the comparable nonprofit university-auxiliary structure and integrated service model at a top-tier research university.
• UC Berkeley ASUC / Cal Student Store: The Associated Students of the University of California, Berkeley, which runs dining, retail, and event services on the UC Berkeley campus. Direct peer within the same UC system auxiliary structure.
• NYU Dining Services / NYU Student Link: NYU's in-house campus dining and student services operations at a large urban private research university — comparable to ASUCLA given the integrated dining/retail/event services model serving a large student body.
• USC Auxiliary Services: USC's campus auxiliary that operates dining, retail, catering, and event services across the University of Southern California campus — the most direct structural peer to ASUCLA given the parallel Los Angeles private-vs-public research university setting and comparable service portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/asuclastudentu
• Instagraminstagram.com/asucla

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Associated Students UCLA