University Park Undergraduate Association

What University Park Undergraduate Association does

The University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) is the officially recognized student government for Penn State University Park undergraduates, founded in 2006 and structured as a three-branch governance model (Executive, Legislative, Judicial) mirroring the U.S. federal system. UPUA advocates for and represents all Penn State University Park undergraduates through legislation, voicing student concerns to University leadership, campus-wide initiatives (Mental Health and Wellness Week, Red Zone Action Week, Sexual Violence Awareness Week, Student Poverty Awareness Week), and resource navigation spanning academic affairs, campus operations, justice and equity, and civic engagement. The organization is governed by elected and appointed student representatives (At-Large Representatives and Academic College Representatives across 14 college councils), with current 20th Assembly leadership including President Rasha Elwakil, Vice President Noah Youcheff, and Speaker Kat Hogan.

UPUA operates without a commercial technology product. Its underlying infrastructure consists of a Squarespace-hosted website (upua.org), a Mailchimp-delivered weekly newsletter, public Google Drive folders for meeting minutes and voting records, Google Workspace for internal collaboration, and Venmo for donations. It maintains a LinkedIn Group for alumni networking and runs a Presidential Blog that breaks down university budget, tuition, and endowment topics for student audiences.

The organization's revenue model is non-commercial and funded through two primary streams: a Type-40 restricted budget of $139,628.55 annually allocated by the Student Fee Board (drawn from mandatory student fees as part of Penn State tuition), and a Type-30 unrestricted donation account raised primarily from alumni through Giving Tuesday campaigns and Venmo. An additional Jason and Julia Borrelli UPUA Leadership Scholarship endowment was established by alumni donors to support UPUA members with financial need. Distribution is direct-to-student via the HUB 326 office, weekly Wednesday public General Assembly meetings at HUB 233, embedded academic college representatives, and partnerships with GPSA, UPAC, SPA, ARHS, PRCC, Penn State Faculty Senate, and the Association of Big Ten Students (ABTS) for federal advocacy.

Name

University Park Undergraduate Association

Legal name

University Park Undergraduate Association

Website

https://upua.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) is the officially recognized student government at Penn State University Park, representing all undergraduate students through advocacy, legislation, and campus-wide initiatives. Funded primarily by student fees and alumni donations, it operates a three-branch governance model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Government Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Student Organizations & Club Administration (EDALAHAB)

Keywords

• Student government representation
• Campus advocacy services
• Student fee allocation
• Legislative student representation
• Civic engagement programming

Headquarters

HQ city

University Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Student Initiated Fee (Type-40 Account): Restricted funds provided annually by the Student Fee Board; UPUA must follow the Student Fee Board's guidelines. Currently allocated $139,628.55 per year (as of the '25-'26 cycle). Funds must be spent on authorized operational expenses, wages, benefits, and discretionary funds. Every three years UPUA can propose a budget increase.
2. Donations (Type-30 Account): Unrestricted funds raised from outside donors, primarily alumni, via campaigns such as Giving Tuesday. Used for retreats, internal events, and AIG weekend activities. Alumni donate through Raise.psu.edu, Venmo (@UPUAGivingTuesday), or direct contact for large donations (cash, check, electronic bank transfer).
3. Jason and Julia Borrelli UPUA Leadership Scholarship (Endowment): An endowed scholarship fund established by alumni Jason and Julia Borrelli to provide financial support to UPUA members, supporting their ability to focus on academics and extracurriculars without needing a part-time job. The inaugural recipient was Owen Haddad.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

UPUA is the official student government for Penn State University Park undergraduates, providing advocacy, legislative representation, and resource navigation across three branches (Executive, Legislative, Judicial). It advocates for lower tuition, campus safety, mental health, inclusion, and academic rights, and runs co-sponsorship funding, programming weeks (Mental Health and Wellness Week, Red Zone Action Week, Sexual Violence Awareness Week, Student Poverty Awareness Week), and civic engagement initiatives.

Product overview

UPUA is a student government organization at Penn State University Park, not a technology product company. It does not offer commercial products or services for sale. Its activities consist of student advocacy, legislative representation, campus initiatives, and resource coordination for undergraduate students. As such, it has no product portfolio, modules, or commercial service offerings to catalog.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Co-Sponsorship Funding Program Funding program that provides co-sponsorship support to student organizations at Penn State University Park for events and initiatives; UPUA recommends applying to UPAC as a first step before requesting UPUA co-sponsorship.
• Jason and Julia Borrelli UPUA Leadership Scholarship Endowed scholarship fund established by alumni Jason and Julia Borrelli to provide financial support to UPUA members with demonstrated financial need so they can focus on academics and extracurriculars without needing a part-time job; inaugural recipient was Owen Haddad.

Quantifiable outcome

• 810+ test prep books distributed annually to students
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGPSA is the graduate student government at Penn State. UPUA and GPSA collaborate on shared advocacy (e.g., fossil fuel divestment via ABTS), jointly manage the Student Fee Board (with GPSA appointing 3 of 12 voting members), and co-sponsor events. The two presidents sit on the Student Fee Board together.
• University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUPAC allocates student fee funding to recognized student organizations. UPUA co-sponsors events with outside organizations and recommends they also seek UPAC funding as a first step. The UPAC Chair serves as a non-voting member of the Student Fee Board.
• Student Programming Association (SPA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPA is a major campus programming organization. Both UPUA and SPA make allocation requests to the Student Fee Board and collaborate on student life initiatives.
• Association of Big Ten Schools (ABTS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUPUA participates in ABTS conferences (Big Ten on the Hill) to advocate at the federal level on issues impacting students across all Big Ten institutions. UPUA has partnered with ABTS on fossil fuel divestment advocacy, with all Big Ten schools pushing for divestment together.
• Penn State Faculty SenatecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUPUA's Academic Affairs Committee works directly with Faculty Senate on university policy changes, academic rights, and advocacy initiatives such as the Election Day asynchronous instruction policy.
• Association of Residence Hall Students (ARHS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerARHS is the primary representative voice for the University Park residence hall community (~14,000 students). UPUA collaborates on co-sponsorship of events benefiting residential students.
• Paul Robeson Cultural Center (PRCC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPRCC is a Penn State cultural center in the HUB. UPUA's Justice & Equity committee collaborates with PRCC on events and co-sponsorship. PRCC also accepts funding requests from student organizations.
• Smeal Allocation BoardminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe Smeal Allocation Board provides funding for Smeal College student organizations. UPUA refers students to this additional funding source and collaborates on cross-college programming.
• Penn State Global ProgramsStrategic or Co-development PartnerPenn State Global Programs provides immigration advising and visa support for international students. UPUA's Immigration Uncertainty Resources page links to Global Programs as a key resource for F-1/J-1 visa holders.
• International Student CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUPUA collaborated with the International Student Council to create the Penn State Pals mentorship program, connecting international and domestic students.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Illinois Student Government (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign): Student government at Illinois, another Big Ten peer. Operates with fee-based funding, legislative council, executive branch, and engagement in ABTS-coordinated advocacy — directly comparable to UPUA's structure and remit.
• Central Student Government (University of Michigan): Official student government at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, another flagship Big Ten public university. Operates a similar three-branch model with fee-based funding and represents tens of thousands of undergraduates, making it the closest structural peer to UPUA.
• Undergraduate Student Government (Ohio State University): Official undergraduate student government at Ohio State. Distributes student activity fee funding, runs programming weeks similar to UPUA's Mental Health and Wellness Week, and participates in Big Ten-wide advocacy through ABTS.
• Associated Students of UCLA (ASUCLA): Student government at UCLA, a large flagship public university. Operates a student fee-funded council with legislative and executive branches, providing a structural and functional analog outside the Big Ten.
• Association of Residence Hall Students (Penn State ARHS): Residence-hall-focused student government at Penn State representing roughly 14,000 on-campus students. Co-sponsors events with UPUA and shares the campus advocacy ecosystem, though narrower in scope (residential life only).
• Wisconsin Student Association (UW-Madison): Recognized student government at UW-Madison, a peer Big Ten flagship campus. Allocates segregated fee funds, runs a student council, and engages in state and federal advocacy — overlapping with UPUA's mandate on tuition, mental health, and sustainability issues.
• Graduate and Professional Student Association (Penn State GPSA): Sister student government at Penn State University Park, representing graduate and professional students. Shares the Student Fee Board (joint appointment of presidents), co-sponsors advocacy (e.g., fossil fuel divestment via ABTS), and operates an analogous fee-funded model.

Broad incumbents

• Association of Big Ten Students (ABTS): Coalition of student government leaders from Big Ten institutions. UPUA participates through ABTS conferences (e.g., 'Big Ten on the Hill') for federal advocacy, making ABTS a coordinating incumbent that aggregates the kind of work UPUA does individually.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/university-park-undergraduate-association
• Xx.com/upua
• Facebookfacebook.com/theUPUA

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about University Park Undergraduate Association