United States Student Association (USSA) is left-of-center advocacy organization made up of and led by students. The organization has supported increased government intervention in education policy and supported race-based social policy implementation in the education field. ¹

The organization is supported through member dues and contributions made by left-of-center grantmaking organizations, including the Tides Foundation and NEO Philanthropy. ²   The organization appears not to have pdated its website since 2016, though it continues to share content from other organizations and news sources and has filed tax returns in the years since. ³

History

The United States Student Association was created in 1978 when the National Student Association and the National Student Lobby (NSA) merged. ⁴ The National Student Association was created in 1947 after students from across the world met in Prague, Czechoslovakia to launch student unions under the umbrella group referred to as the International Union of Students (IUS). ⁵ During the 1950s, it was discovered that the IUS was permanently aligned with the Soviet Union, and the National Student Association became subject to United States oversight. ⁶

During the 1960s, the National Student Association was active in the civil rights movement and cooperated with the radical-left Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Though the group professed to be a moderate, it admits that the far-left SNCC and SDS “relied on the association for volunteers, publicity, and national networking.” ⁷

By late 1967, it was revealed that the National Student Association ad extensive ties to and received funding from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The group was active in implementing CIA policy within the United Sates and at international meetings of the IUS. By 1967, CIA funding “had slowed to a trickle.” That same year, National Student Association endorsed the left-wing Black Power movement’s struggle “by any means necessary” and withdrew the group from membership in the Cold War-era international group it had founded. ⁸

After 1967 period, the organization advocated for increased government intervention in education policy, the introduction of race-based policies in education, and support for left-of-center social movements such as Black Lives Matter. ⁹

Funding

In 2018, United States Student Association received $2,800 in grants and contributions,¹⁰ $17,840 in program service revenue,¹¹ $15,000 in membership dues,¹² and $35,651 in total revenue. ¹³ The organization also incurred $75,000 in expenses. ¹⁴

At the end of the year, USSA reported being $42,500 in debt after accounting for all liabilities. ¹⁵ However, the charitable arm of the organization, the United States Student Association Foundation (USSAF), received $99,493 in contributions in 2018 and provides financial support to USSA through a cost sharing agreement. ^{16 17}

In 2018, USSAF received funding from left-of-center grantmaking organizations, including $75,000 from Neo Philanthropy ($75,000)¹⁸ and $15,000 from the Tides Foundation. ¹⁹

Campaigns

United States Student Association runs issue advocacy campaigns in support of left-of-center policy. In recent years, most of USSA’s advocacy has focused on issues related to students.

Cost of Tuition Policy

USSA advocates for tuition-free, taxpayer-funded education for all students at public four-year institutions. ²⁰ The organization also seeks to expand taxpayer funding for housing, food, textbooks, transportation, and other costs of attendance for college students. USSA has condemned attempts to privatize university services. ²¹

Student Unionization

USSA and the labor-union-aligned advocacy coalition Jobs With Justice collectively operate the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP). ²² SLAP is a program designed to increase student, graduate student, adjunct-professor, and university worker unionization. SLAP introduces students and other groups employed by universities to tactics used to unionize and places pressure on universities to accept collective bargaining agreements. ²³ SLAP also engages in activist incubation and organizes students to lobby legislatures to vote for policies that increase government funding for and interference in education. ²⁴

Race-Based Social Policy

USSA supports policies that expand university spaces created for the exclusive use of people of color. The organization also supports university divestment from private prisons. ²⁵

USSA supports the Black Lives Matter movement, claiming that “systematic racism” exists in the United States and that minority communities are subject to “police brutality.” ²⁶ USSA has supported the “Baltimore Act,” a bill that would severely limit the ability of law enforcement to engage in routine or spontaneous investigations into potential criminal activity. ²⁷

Leadership

Joselina Garcia was the president of the USSA until 2018. ²⁸ Prior to joining the organization, she worked as the Primary Student Negotiator for the U.S. Department of Education Borrower Defense Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. ²⁹   Garcia is a consultant at Solidarity Strategies, a Democratic Party-aligned political consulting firm, and worked with the 2020 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). ³⁰

1. “S. 1610 (114th): BALTIMORE Act” GovTrack. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1610
2. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Tides Foundation. Schedule I.  Part II, line (a) (1963). 2018.
3. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-EZ). United States Student Association. Part I, line 1. 2018.
4. “History” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/history.html
5. “History” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/history.html
6. “History” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/history.html
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8. “History” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/history.html
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10. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-EZ). United States Student Association. Part I, line 1. 2018.
11. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-EZ). United States Student Association. Part I, line 2. 2018.
12. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-EZ). United States Student Association. Part I, line 3. 2018.
13. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-EZ). United States Student Association. Part I, line 8. 2018.
14. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-EZ). United States Student Association. Part I, line 17. 2019.
15. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-EZ). United States Student Association. Part I, line 21. 2019.
16. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990-EZ). United States Student Association Foundation. Part I, line 1. 2018.
17. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). United States Student Association Foundation. Schedule O. 2017.
18. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Neo Philanthropy. Schedule I. Part II, line (a) (174). 2018.
19. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Tides Foundation. Schedule I.  Part II, line (a) (1963). 2018.
20. “Campaigns – Cost of Tuition Policy” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/free-higher-education.html
21. “Campaigns – Cost of Tuition Policy” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/free-higher-education.html
22. “Student Labor Action Project” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/student-labor-action-project.html
23. “Student Labor Action Project” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/student-labor-action-project.html
24. “Student Labor Action Project” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/student-labor-action-project.html
25. “Campaigns –State of Emergency” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/state-of-emergency.html
26. “Campaigns –State of Emergency” United States Student Association. https://www.usstudents.org/state-of-emergency.html
27. “S. 1610 (114th): BALTIMORE Act” GovTrack. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1610
28. “Joselina Garcia” Linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseline-garcia-88923b1ab/
29. “Joselina Garcia” Linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseline-garcia-88923b1ab/
30. “Joselina Garcia” Linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseline-garcia-88923b1ab/