A Student Government Association, representing the student body of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is hereby created in order to represent students in matters pertaining to student welfare, student activities, student participation in university planning, and administration and student opinion.

The Student Government, in its representative capacity, shall initiate and integrate student activities, inform the student body of the aim, policies and ideas of the university which pertain to or affect enrollees or the university among students and alumni, and shall be considered and referred to as an advisory body to the university administration in all functions affecting the student body.

The Student Government Association is the governing body of the students of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. It is composed of three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The Executive Branch is made up of the President, Vice President, and Treasurer. They are commonly referred to as "The Big Three." They are elected by the student body near the end of each spring semester and serve for one year.

The Legislative Branch members represent their respective colleges and are elected at the same time as the Big Three. Each college is represented by one president and one senator for every 400 students enrolled within that college with a minimum of two senators per college. This representation is computed according to the previous Fall enrollment. Freshmen Senators (regardless of major) are elected near the end of the Fall semester and are allocated four senators for representation.

The Judicial Branch is composed of a Chief Justice and other Justices. Their duties are to make sure that all legislation passed within the Senate does not violate the SGA Constitution, SGA By-Laws, or the UL Lafayette Code of Student Conduct. Being an impartial group, they also oversee all student elections. Justices are appointed by the SGA President and serve their position as long as they are students of UL Lafayette or until they resign.

The SGA Senate meets every Monday evening (except school holidays, during the Summer semester, and under special circumstances) at 5:00pm in the Forum of the Student Union.  The Senate debates issues concerning the student body and provides financial assistance to campus organizations and projects that benefit the UL Lafayette academic community. These weekly meetings are open to the entire academic community as well as the general public.