How Penn’s UA will allocate its $3 million budget next year

Penn’s Undergraduate Assembly released its annual budget report on Sunday, directing roughly $30,000 in additional funds to the Student Allocations Commission while cutting funding for several of its constituent organizations.

Outside of a few exceptions, most organizations were allocated equal or decreased budgets compared to the previous fiscal year. The overall budget totaled $3,046,958, the same as fiscal year 2025-26. 

The largest loss faced by any organization was the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, which had its budget reduced by nearly 40%.

“For FY27, funding categorized as social or non-operational has been eliminated. This includes allocations for internal socials, merchandise, retreats, and similar discretionary programming,” a note on the cover sheet of the budgeting document read.

According to the document, these categories were deemed the “least essential to maintaining core organizational operations and mission-driven programming,” and their elimination will contribute to the Budget Committee’s commitment to “preserve funding for programming, services, and initiatives that directly benefit the broader undergraduate student population.”

The Student Allocation Commission had its general fund compensation — which is later distributed to SAC-funded student groups — reduced by 1.25%. Because the Music Department’s funding was relocated directly to the UA, however, SAC-funded groups actually received nearly $30,000 in additional funding under the newly passed budget.

“We do not have enough money for student groups,” UA Treasurer and College junior Moe Mansour told the DP. “So the primary goal for this budget season was to look into ways of how we can increase the pot of money available for students through SAC.”

SCUE’s Roadmap to Penn and Roadmap to Research projects lost all of their funding under the new budget, while the organization’s Focus Group and Survey Projects received 33.33% increases each. 

The only organizations to receive no cuts or gains were New Student Orientation, whose budget held steady at $21,000, and Penn’s Medical Emergency Response Team at $16,825. Penn Pre-Orientation Programs also received almost no cuts. 

Under the new budget, the UA itself received a 21.23% increase in funding, with a 900% increase in funds labeled “Marketing.” 

At the same time, the budget report for fiscal year 2027 cut advertising-related funding for SCUE, MERT, and five Student Planning and Events Commission committees.

Mansour, who chairs the Budget Committee, told the DP that the removal of any advertising funding was because the UA is moving away from funding printables in hopes of incentivizing “more sustainable options in terms of advertising.”

Additionally, the UA designated $4,000 — a 700% increase — to its airport shuttle program, with a note that stated that the program costs are “projected to continue rising due to vendor and operational expenses.” 

“The current allocation reflects the increased base cost, with the intent that program-generated profit be reinvested to move toward fully funding the service,” the description continued.

Mansour told the DP that half of the cost of the shuttles will be funded by this budget, and the other 50% will be supported by ticket revenue.

“This year, we were able to serve a little under 1,100 students to go to the airport at a low cost of $5, and it would be pretty much impossible to run the service next year if there is not enough funding for it.” Mansour explained.

The UA also decreased its contribution to the Iris Photo Booth service from $3,000 to $2,000.

“One big goal this year was to make sure that instead of constantly … having to scramble at the last minute to figure out funding sources, we thought that it’s necessary that the UA is able to fund their services the same way all branches have been able to,” Mansour said.

Penn’s Music Department — which previously received $53,000 in funding from SAC — was allotted $40,000 to support “MUSC 0070 and related orchestra programming.” 

“Following discussions between the UA Treasurer and the Music Department, an agreement was reached to transition this allocation back into the department’s base budget over a defined five-year period,” the report read. 

Penn Labs received a 21.98% reduction in funding, which included no money allocated to “Internal” expenses. The Nominations and Elections Committee also lost 17.33% of its funding. Each of the class boards received slight reductions in funding, ranging between 1 and 3%.

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