The Stack

2024-2025 Daily Bruin Diversity Report

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0700

Beyond the Dining Hall: A Data-Driven Look at UCLA’s Food Trucks

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0700

Dishing it Out: A Closer Look at UCLA Dining’s Meal Plan Offerings

Fri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Introduction

On top of selecting courses and housing each year, a key decision for on-campus UCLA undergraduates is selecting a meal plan most suitable to their needs. A meal plan for the 2023-2024 academic year costs between $5,000 to upward of $6,000. Students must balance the cost of a meal plan with the amount of food they get as well as how many meal swipes may go unused by the end of the quarter.

UCLA meal plans cost (2024-2025)

11R	11P	14R	14P	19R	19P
$5,301.00	$5,709.12	$5,761.56	$6,270.00	$5,932.56	$6,614.28

A Breakdown of UCLA’s Meal Plan System

The flexibility of the meal plan program allows students to choose from a variety of options. UCLA Dining offers three tiers of meal plans: 19, 14 or 11 meals per week. Each tier has two versions: Premier, a more flexible plan with carry-over privileges until the end of the quarter, or Regular, a more cost-effective plan without carry-over privileges. Students with the Premier plan can use their unused swipes at any time during the quarter, whereas students with the Regular plan can only use their swipes once per meal period (breakfast, lunch or dinner), and any unused swipes cannot be used in following weeks. As of fall quarter 2024, students can also use their swipes on campus instead of spending their own money on weekdays between 11 a.m. and 3:59 p.m. In fall 2023, 80% of all swipes were used on the Hill, while 20% were used at on-campus restaurants.

Weekly average distribution of meal swipes from Fall 2023

Graphic reporting by Joey Ling, Stack Contributor

As there are many aspects to consider when choosing a meal plan, such as the amount of time spent off campus, eating and snacking habits, and how well individual schedules line up with meal periods, it is often difficult for students to predict how much food they will need throughout the quarter and balance that with the cost of each meal plan.

Reality of the Meal Plan

Cost is a significant factor influencing students’ meal plan selections, but it can be difficult to determine the relative price of each meal plan at first glance.

The graph below shows both the cost per meal and adjusted cost per meal based on data from the 2022-2023 academic year. The cost per meal is calculated by dividing the price of the meal plan by the total quantity of meals offered, and the adjusted cost per meal is calculated by dividing the price of the meal plan by the average meals consumed from each plan in 2022-2023. In a written statement, UCLA Housing said, “Meal plan prices are set by UCLA Housing, which considers operational costs for the department, such as food cost, utilities, and staff salaries.”

Graphic reporting by Ayushi Kadakia, Stack Contributor

Premier plans are more costly compared to their Regular counterparts. Additionally, larger meal plans have a lower cost per meal. Given that the price per meal increases with a smaller meal plan and that meal plans are included in the housing contract, it may be more cost effective for students who buy fewer meals to move off-campus sooner, especially considering that the cost of food for students on the Hill is nearly twice as expensive as it is for students living off-campus.

Meal Plan Enrollment

Graphic reporting by Hannah Um, Stack Contributor

For the 2023-2024 school year, 14P was by far the most popular meal plan, with nearly 6,000 students enrolled. In contrast, 11R was the least popular meal plan, with only 371 students enrolled. Generally, there is higher enrollment in the Premier plans than in the Regular plans, suggesting that students prefer to have more flexible meal schedules. Additionally, UCLA Housing said the 11P plan is a recent addition to meal plan options, being offered since 2020 due to student demand.

Leftover and Donated Swipes

Laura Zhou, a second-year statistics and data science student, initially selected a 19P plan when she first entered UCLA as a first-year. Later, however, she switched to 14P after discovering that she had many swipes left over. She added that UCLA Housing’s new rule this year only allowing students to use meal swipes at ASUCLA locations between 11 a.m. and 3:59 p.m. makes it difficult to use swipes while on campus. Zhou, however, was not the only student with leftover swipes. Kavin Balamurali, a second-year Mathematics/economics student, initially chose 19R as his meal plan entering his freshman year, though he switched to 19P after his first quarter for the flexibility of multiple swipes in the same meal period.

“After fall quarter, I got into the UCLA Cricket Team. Most people on the cricket team offer to swipe [others] in for lunches and dinners after team training, and that’s why I switched from 19R to 19P,” Balamurali said.

This transition, however, resulted in him having leftover swipes at the end of the quarter.

Number of Swipes that were Consumed, Left Over, and Donated from Fall 2022 to Spring 2023

The inner ring represents the number of swipes for each meal plan. The outermost ring represents the number of swipes that were consumed, left over, or donated for each meal plan.

Graphic reporting by Joey Ling, Stack Contributor

Many other students like Zhou and Balamurali have had numerous leftover swipes. The visualization above shows a breakdown of how many swipes are consumed, left over or donated from fall 2022 to spring 2023. The total number of swipes for each meal plan was calculated by multiplying the number of enrolled people by the number of weeks, then multiplying that value by the number of swipes per week according to the meal plan. The number of consumed swipes was calculated by subtracting the number of leftover swipes, which was provided by UCLA Housing, from the total number of enrolled swipes. The number of donated swipes was estimated using the proportion of leftover swipes for each meal plan relative to all leftover swipes.

This contrast between students’ expectation versus reality of their swipe usage leads to options for using up unused swipes before the quarter ends. Students can donate their leftover swipes to Swipe Out Hunger. Swipe Out Hunger is a leading non-profit campus organization founded in 2010 by UCLA alumnus Rachel Sumekh that aims to end college student hunger by encouraging students to donate their extra meals to peers facing food insecurity on campus. Swipe Out Hunger stations can be spotted around the UCLA dining halls toward the end of academic quarters. However, while there tends to be just a small number of leftover swipes for every meal plan at 6.30%, students still rarely donate those swipes. If they do not donate their unused swipes, they are discarded at the end of the quarter.

An alternative way to use up extra swipes is to purchase large packages of food in bulk that are offered at the end of each quarter or to stock up on snacks from different cafes.

Zhou said she preferred to use her accumulated excess swipes to purchase items. Last quarter, she cashed out swipes for a $500 Panda Express gift card. This quarter, she hopes to trade swipes for vouchers to use at the UCLA Store.

How much money is wasted from uneaten meals?

The average dollars wasted per person was calculated by multiplying the average meals leftover per meal plan by the cost per meal (2022-2023)

Graphic reporting by L Yang, Stack Contributor

The visualization above shows how much money goes wasted per meal plan holder due to unused meal swipes from 2022-2023 data, calculated by the average leftover meals per person multiplied by the cost per meal for each plan. While many students with the 19P meal plan expect to swipe in guests or to have multiple meals a day, a new class schedule and lifestyle after moving into the dorms can drastically change their eating habits, leading to more swipes going unused.

Some students would prefer to have their swipes carry over from one quarter to the next. Other students, like Balamurali, would like an option to cash in remaining swipes at the end of the quarter. Students with such requests can provide feedback with their community representative on a weekly basis or use a dine and dish form, UCLA Housing said in the written statement. Yet Balamurali said he is satisfied and still thinks the cost of his meal plan justifies its offerings.

Comparing UCLA Meal Plans with Other UC Meal Plans

Among the various options for implementing meal plans, UCLA Housing determined that meal swipes are the best system.

“By having a meal swipe system versus dollars, students do not have to decide how much and what to eat based on their finances. Students with the lowest swipe meal plan can still access the all-you-care-to-eat restaurants, and do not have to decide to eat lower priced food,” the statement said.

This is just one of many methods to implement meal plans. Some UCs, such as UC San Diego and UC Berkeley, use dining dollars, while others, such as UC Davis, provide unlimited dining access for a fixed number of days per week.

UCSD, UC Berkeley and UC Davis also all offer meal plans for students living off campus. In contrast, UCLA has only recently piloted an off-campus meal plan program due to a stabilization in dining staffing levels that allows UCLA Housing to accommodate additional students within the dining halls, UCLA Housing said.

Conclusion

UCLA’s available meal plan options necessitate students to find a balance between cost and consumption that fits their personal needs. As student expectations sometimes do not align with their actual eating patterns, it leads to wasted resources for both students and UCLA, reflecting the lifestyle change for people moving away from home. However, with time, students are often able to adjust their meal plan according to their new eating habits.

About the Data:

Data used in this article were provided by UCLA Housing and publicly available data from UC Davis Student Dining and Housing Services, UC Berkeley Dining, and UC San Diego Housing Dining Hospitality.

2023-2024 Daily Bruin Diversity Report

Mon, 20 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Breaking Down the BruinBill

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Introduction

Pursuing a college education is a venture that costs both significant time and money. As of late, the high price of attending a four-year university has garnered attention, with issues such as student loan forgiveness and rising costs of attendance becoming major talking points among politicians.

Every two years, the UC Office of the President estimates the cost of attendance (COA), which encompasses tuition and housing along with expenses such as transportation, textbook and health insurance costs, using responses from the biennial Cost of Attendance Survey sent to a sample of undergraduate students across the UC campuses. To help pay for these costs, students can receive financial aid from multiple sources, including the UC system, the state of California and the federal government. The Stack explores the cost of attendance at UCLA over time and how this trend compares to other UC campuses, as well as investigating changes in financial aid received by UCLA students.

Cost of Attendance Across UCs

Graphic reporting by Bethany Kim, Stack Contributor

The line on the chart above depicts the inflation-adjusted cost of attendance across all of the UC campuses. The cost of attendance has increased by almost $10,000 between 2002 and 2022. With the exception of 2012, 2014, and 2020, the COA has always increased from the previous year. Notably, the COA increased by almost $2,000 between 2020 and 2021, which marked a notable change compared to the fact that it took the previous 10 years for the COA to increase by $2,000.

The bars on the visualization above depict the average financial aid received by students in the UC system.

Cal Grants are awarded based on a student’s verified high school or community college GPA, the type of California colleges you list on your FAFSA or CA Dream Act Application (i.e. UC, California State University, community college) and whether the student is a recent high school graduate.
Federal Pell Grants are awarded to undergraduate students who display exceptional financial need and have not earned a bachelor’s, graduate or professional degree.
The Middle Class Scholarship is awarded to California residents who are not in default on a student loan, maintain satisfactory academic progress and have income and asset levels below a threshold. The Middle Class Scholarship was not created until 2014.

At first glance, it seems like financial aid increases when tuition increases and decreases when tuition decreases. To see the clear relationship between financial aid and tuition, we can take a look at the difference between the two. By taking the difference between the point on the cost of attendance line and the total height of the financial aid bars, we can calculate the out-of-pocket costs the average UC student pays.

Graphic reporting by Bethany Kim, Stack Contributor

As shown in the line chart above, the out-of-pocket costs for the average UC student decreased from 2007 to 2014 before increasing until 2021. Additionally, there was a sharp decrease between 2021 and 2022, which can be attributed to a large increase in other scholarships and Middle Class Scholarships.

Over the years, there has been an increased focus on making UCLA affordable, said Marvin Smith, the executive director of UCLA Financial Aid & Scholarships.

“I would say that you see more of an increase in financial aid programs,” Smith said. “I think there’s a recognition by the regents of the state of California, the University of California system, the state of California, that college access is critical and that funding is critical for students to be successful.”

Hailey Mendelsohn, a third-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, said she has looked at many different scholarships and resources to help pay for college.

“It would be nice if higher education was more accessible for everyone, but there are a lot of opportunities out there to find,” said Mendelsohn.

Comparing Cost of Attendance at UCLA with Costs of Attendance at Other UCs

Graphic reporting by Bethany Kim, Stack Contributor

Since 2002, the overall trend for COA shares similarities across all UC schools. Adjusting for inflation reveals that tuition costs have remained relatively stable, staying within a range of $21,000 and $25,000 for the past 20 years. After increasing from 2002 to 2010, inflation-adjusted COA continued to fall over the next decade. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, the COA in 2022 was only about $200 greater than the cost of tuition in 2002.

Comparing the COA at UCLA to other UC schools reveals that UCLA has had lower COAs than UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz for all years spanning from 2002 to 2022 and has consistently had lower COA than UC Berkeley since 2014.

UCLA BruinBill Breakdown

As students pay their tuition, the BruinBill receipt lists all of the various fees and categories along with respective pricings. It is a transparent process to understand how the total payment amount is calculated. However, students must go the extra mile to look into each component and understand its purpose and relevance.

Anthony Chen, a second-year data theory student, said he is familiar with the components based on what is on the receipt and assumes documentation is available online to learn more about where the money actually goes. While he is correct, it proves to be difficult to find specifics about the fees and charges besides that they are related to housing, transportation and registration. Thus, the best way to better understand what exactly the money is going towards is by looking at an actual BruinBill receipt posted to a student’s account.

Click on one of the four categories to see the fees that fall under it. Click on the grey bar to go back to the four categories.

Graphic reporting by Bethany Kim, Stack Contributor

The treemap above is based on a winter 2024 BruinBill for a sample in-state student, which should be reflective of the general costs for other in-state students. The base chart contains the major categories and clicking on a category will display the fees associated with that category.

Although not included in the above charts, housing is one of the largest expenses for most students. For students living in the dorms at UCLA, the cost is between $13,566 to stay in a three-person room in a classic residence hall with the cheapest meal plan available and $23,498 to stay in a single room in a plaza residence hall with the most expensive meal plan available. For students living in the undergraduate university apartments managed by UCLA, the cost for one academic year is between $6,883 to stay in a 1 bedroom/4 person unit and $18,561 to stay in a studio unit with one occupant. As for students living in apartments in Westwood, the average rent for one academic year in 2022 was $26,995 for a one-bedroom apartment, $36,000 for a two-bedroom apartment and $58,050 for a three-bedroom apartment.

The $9,918 Nonresident Supplemental Tuition that out-of-state students must pay is not pictured in the tree map.

Financial Aid at UCLA

Graphic Reporting by Caroline Sha, Stack Contributor

While the amount of loans received by UCLA students has decreased since 2002, the total gift aid received by UCLA students has seen an increasing trend for the past 20 years. The amounts of UC and state aid, given by UC grants and Cal Grant, respectively, have increased by nearly $50 million each. The total amount students received from UC grants increased the most, more than doubling since 2002. Over the same period, the amount of federal aid administered through the Pell Grant has remained relatively constant.

The amount of financial aid awarded each year is dependent on a variety of factors, such as federal, state and institutional regulations, said Smith. After students fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), UCLA uses a formula-based procedure to determine whether a student is eligible for need-based financial aid.

“We’re really … trying to focus on scholarship opportunities and the funding that we can provide to students so they might be able to attend UCLA debt free,” Smith said.

For some, the process for receiving financial aid can be confusing, especially given the number of entities that are involved with receiving financial information, calculating how much aid a student should receive and disbursing the aid.

“For my process of getting financial aid, I had to go to a lot of different people in order to get the information that I needed for the forms. It was like a wild goose chase trying to get all of the information I needed. So if there was a way to do that, a more centralized way to do that, that would be nice,” said Mendelsohn.

Ricardo Vazquez, director of media relations, said the university has outreach programs focused on providing financial aid information to underserved students, such as collaborations with community colleges that help transfer students access this information.

Conclusion:

When adjusted for inflation, the net cost of attendance of UCLA has remained about the same in the past two decades; the amount of financial aid received has increased over the same period. Despite this trend, students had concerns about whether the cost of attendance would increase.

“I think, generally in the future, tuition is probably going to get more expensive just due to inflation,” Chen said. “And hopefully, the California government can do some things to keep it at a rate where everyone can afford to go to college.”

About the Data:

All visualizations were created using a dataset from the net cost of attendance published by the University of California. Only data for undergraduates were examined.

Course Scarcity: Unveiling UCLA’s online course-selling market

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Introduction

The quarterly stress of enrolling in classes is not new to students at UCLA. For some students however, getting classes that they want is not always guaranteed, and they turn to buying or asking for courses held by other students to secure their spots.

Course selling is when students buy and sell a seat in a UCLA course. This is done when the seller, who is enrolled in the class, drops the class at a prescribed time so that the buyer, who wants to enroll in the class, can guarantee themselves a spot in the class. This can also be done without a monetary transaction, a process referred to as course holding.

According to a 2020 email from UCLA spokesperson Ricardo Vazquez, “acquiring courses in a non-sanctioned way, such as on Facebook, is a violation of the Student Conduct Code and may result in a student being referred to the Student Conduct Office for review if they are caught engaging in this activity.”

If there are strict punishments for course selling, why are students incentivized to purchase spots in such courses? Why do many go beyond the official and authorized mechanisms for enrollment?

Student Reactions

Some UCLA students believe that the limited number of seats in courses compels students to look for alternative enrollment methods.

“In the life sciences (department), a lot of times they (the department) don’t make accommodations or expand class seats, too, so that just makes it extra hard and competitive to get into the classes,” said Shania Garrison, a third-year physiological science student.

When asked about the impacts of course holding on students, Garrison said that, “It’s unfair for people to hold spots if they’re not planning on taking the class or holding it for someone else who has a later registration time.”

Other students consider the root of the issue to be the insufficient number of lectures available for certain courses.

“The fact that people have to pay to get the courses they want kind of says a lot about how impacted a lot of the school is” said fourth-year psychology student Matthew O’Brien.

About the Data

The Stack scraped posts regarding buying, selling, and holding classes from the UCLA subreddit during the five enrollment periods between February 2022 and November 2023. Data from Snapchat was collected during the enrollment period for the Winter 2024 quarter from each class’ Snapchat group: class of 2025 (current juniors), 2026 (current sophomores) and 2027 (current freshmen).

Most Requested Departments and Courses

The interactive below displays the number of course-selling-related posts on the UCLA subreddit between the enrollment periods for Fall 2022 to Winter 2024. The posts include both requests and offers to hold courses. The circle sizes are categorized by department, with their sizes representing the number of respective posts for the department courses. Hover over the circles to see the number of posts made for the department and the most requested classes.

Note: Subject areas with fewer than 5 posts requesting or selling a class were removed from the interactive.

Graphic reporting by Ayushi Kadakia, Stack intern and Junwon Choi, Data editor.

The most common subject area for course selling was psychology, with 83 Reddit posts. The second most common subject area was physics, with 72 posts. The next most common subject area for course-selling posts was chemistry, at 47 posts. In general, the data indicates that STEM courses are more frequently subjects of course selling as 85.5% of Reddit posts were for STEM courses.

It is important to note that the physics department does not officially designate any of its classes as “impacted.” Impacted status means that demand for the class far exceeds the number of seats available, and dropping after week 2 results in a transcript notation.) The goal of this rule is to enable qualified students to be able to take the classes they need. This is because a lack of consequences for dropping a class within the first two weeks may incentivize students to enroll in the course when they are unsure if they will remain in the course. As a result, the course may fill up more quickly, and, consequently, some students who need the course may turn to buying the course. The choice not to classify physics classes as impacted may contribute to the shortage of available seats in popular physics courses.

To address this issue, some departments have implemented alternative course enrollment tools. The mathematics department, for example, allows students to submit a course request to enroll in upper-division math courses, providing motivated students an avenue into courses they need without having to resort to buying seats.

Variability Between Class Years

In an effort to understand when enrollment challenges are most felt by the undergraduate population, The Stack also analyzed course holding and selling requests from Snapchat. By collecting data about each poster’s class year, The Stack sought to identify patterns regarding the frequency with which each cohort engaged in course selling.

First- and second-year students (class of 2026 and 2027) are more likely to be enrolling in lower-division courses in high demand, while upperclassmen are likely to seek out more major-specific upper-division courses. Students with fewer completed units – first and second years – generally receive later enrollment appointments, which may lead to their desired classes being filled up by those with earlier enrollment appointments. The interactive found below presents a potential impact of the unit-based enrollment time distribution. It displays the number of posts found on Snapchat about course selling by class graduation year.

Graphic reporting by Ayushi Kadakia, Stack intern

The class of 2025 had nearly 100 fewer posts related to course selling than the classes of 2026 and 2027. Limited access to upper-division courses may reduce competition for enrollment, resulting in a smaller course-selling market for upperclassmen. As mentioned above, another plausible explanation for the higher levels of course selling seen for underclassmen is the later enrollment times for underclassmen. With later enrollment times, underclassmen are less likely to acquire the courses they need in order to declare their majors through official enrollment, and so, may be more likely to turn to course purchasing.

Payment Patterns

The Stack also analyzed how many Reddits implied a monetary transaction for a course spot.

Graphic reporting by Ayushi Kadakia, Stack intern

The majority of Reddit posts regarding course selling mention money, indicating that online course transactions mostly involve a seller seeking financial gain. However, over 20% of posts for all observed quarters do not mention money. In such cases, it may be that payment is discussed privately, or the seller does not seek monetary compensation.

Very few posts on either Reddit or Snapchat mention specific dollar amounts, whether that was for requesting to purchase or sell a course. The highest specific amount offered to purchase a course was $300 for Econ 11: “Microeconomic Theory I”, a required course for popular majors such as economics and business economics, demonstrating how much some students are willing to pay.

O’Brien, however, proposed a different motivation for course selling.

“Some classes are simply more appealing than others, and some professors are more appealing, whether it’s because they’re a good lecturer, better professor, better teacher, or they graded better or easier,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien believes that grade distribution differences between professors could drive students to conclude that it is worth some dollar amount to get a better grade in a given course.

The collected Reddit data revealed that 69% of all course-selling posts mention money. Evidently, purchasing courses is a more viable option for those with the financial means to do so. Concerns have been raised as wealthier students may be able to afford to purchase courses while less advantaged students may need to try for the course again in a later quarter.

“Obviously, you need to pay someone to get a course, which puts wealthy students at an advantage,”O’Brien said.

Conclusion

The findings presented here display the challenges that students face during course enrollment. As the course-selling market is dominated by monetary transactions, financial disparities between students emerge as a concern, especially as students attempt to enroll in high-popularity courses.

Enrollment’s Out-of-Pocket Price

Getting off the Ground: Exploring Startups at UCLA

Sat, 20 Jan 2024 00:00:00 -0800

In recent years, UCLA has developed a community where students can explore their entrepreneurial endeavors. Campus clubs and organizations foster environments and networks for student-led startups to get off the ground. Taking a deeper look into these groups reveals the biggest challenges and opportunities that come with building a successful startup as a UCLA student.

On campus, there are over 40 different clubs, organizations, accelerator programs and funds that support the growth of startups and other entrepreneurial ventures at UCLA. These resources and organizations are run by students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Despite these resources, it is very difficult to build a successful startup. The failure rate for new startups is around 90%. In the first year, around 20% of startups fail, and within two to five years, 70% of startups fail. While these statistics seem hopeless, you can increase your chance of success by avoiding the common mistakes that are made when building a startup. Some of those mistakes include having poor product-market fit, insufficient marketing and insufficient funding.

Industries

The startups created at UCLA span many different industries, ranging from education to venture capital to AI. The bar chart below shows the number of UCLA-founded startups within each industry from 2002 to 2023.

Note: Abbreviations are defined as AI/ML: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, B2B SAAS: Business-to-Business Software-as-a-Service, Consumer SAAS: Consumer Software-as-a-Service, Ecommerce/CPG: Ecommerce and Consumer Packaged Goods

Graphic reporting by Joey Ling, Stack Intern

Evidently, there are plenty of different fields for students to pursue their entrepreneurial endeavors, though the most common ones are Agency/Coaching and Venture Capital (VC). VCs provide revenue to promising startups in exchange for a percent of the profits, and Agency/Coaching businesses help startups to network, acquire funding or just get started. Both these types of businesses are crucial to supporting startups in the beginning stages, helping them to get off the ground. Recognizing the importance of having support for early-stage startups, Lance Ding, a fourth-year cognitive science student, founded Startup Village as a community where Bruins could network with and provide resources and insights for one another. Ding explains his goals behind creating his business.

“What I’m trying to do is build an environment where people are really supportive – where there’s a network that you can tap into that can help you along your journey. I just wanted to build a community that I wish I had when I was building my company.”

There are many different ways startups are launched at UCLA, whether it be a continuation of a class project or a random idea come to life. Co-founders Mick MacLaverty and Cory Micheel created their business Highway Benefits, a student loan repayment company, from their master’s thesis. As UCLA students, they had the resources to research businesses and create a successful business model. However, it’s up to the founder to look for and utilize those resources, MacLaverty said. MacLaverty comments on the benefits of networking as a UCLA student.

“If you are a UCLA student, and you’re asking to interview them for research purposes, that’s a different, easier way to get a conversation with someone and to actually understand … how they think about funding businesses,” MacLaverty said about venture capitalists.

Most importantly, startups founded at UCLA can create a strong community of like-minded individuals who are eager to get involved. Tejes Srivalsan, the CEO and co-founder of Poppin who is currently on leave as a UCLA student, has taken advantage of this community.

“95% of my team is UCLA-based, in the sense that they went to UCLA at one point or they’re still at UCLA. So it would have been impossible for me to tap into that network if I wasn’t a student here at UCLA,” Srivalsan said. Srivalsan comments on the benefits of targeting students for both employment and consumer demographics.

“You have access to a bunch of people that you could recruit for your team. And then you also have access to a bunch of people that could be your potential users, which is not the case once you graduate college.”

Within each industry, there are also founders from a wide range of backgrounds, thus demonstrating how students don’t need to be in a business program to develop a successful startup. The treemap below shows the different undergraduate or graduate majors of UCLA startup founders.

Graphic reporting by Joey Ling, Stack Intern

The most common startups are in Agency/Coaching and VC, though within all of these fields, there are founders who come from different backgrounds. This gives each startup a unique purpose, strategy and goal. Additionally, many of these student founders come from more than one educational background. 76% of these founders are undergraduate students, 6% are graduate students and 18% are students in other programs, such as an extension or an accelerator. Even with this large pool of founders, MacLaverty believes the startup community at UCLA could be better.

“Something that UCLA could do to improve is … bridging together all dissimilar groups at all the different schools. … Just because you’re in the School of Engineering doesn’t mean that you can’t work with undergrads to start a business and doesn’t mean you can’t get help from the law school. … There could be a bit more harmony between the different groups,” MacLaverty said.

Funding challenges

One of the most common reasons why developing startups fail is a lack of funding. According to a study by Skynova, 47% of startup failures in 2022 were due to a lack of financing. (The reasons for startup failure add up to over 100% since many startups fail for multiple reasons).

Ding elaborates on the current challenges for startups at UCLA and explains why UCLA needs to be more founder-friendly.

According to Ding, UCLA does not match up to schools such as the University of Southern California, Stanford and UC Berkeley. “We need to have a community where people are super pumped” as well as some “serious institutional funding,” Ding said.

Although there is an abundance of students with great ideas and who are willing to get involved in new projects, some student entrepreneurs believe there is a lack of institutional support in place for them. Poppin, which continues to gain popularity among UCLA students, went through a 1 1/2-year process of talking to VCs and accelerators to accrue funding.

“Realistically, there’s not that many resources on campus at UCLA that helped me raise money,” Srivalsan said.

Graphic reporting by Sydney Tomsick, Stack Intern

A lack of funding for startups at UCLA could affect the success of student-led startups. The chart above shows the relationship between the amount of funding a startup receives and how long their startup remains active.

40.3% of the startups have low funding ($0-50K), 26.9% have middle-level funding ($50K-1M) and 32.8% have high funding ($1M+). There are seven startups at each funding level that have lasted less than a year. All but one of these startups was created in 2023 and is still active today.

The startups with low funding dominate the one- and two-year columns. Low-funded startups make up 14 of the 19 startups that have been active for one year. Meanwhile, the startups with funding over $1 million dominate the right side of the graph. Highly funded startups account for most of the startups that have been active for three, four, five and over five years.

Conclusion

Despite the difficulties of creating a successful business, the number of startups founded each year at UCLA between 2002 and 2023 has increased. 21% of the startups from our data were founded in 2022 and 29% were founded in 2023, meaning half of the startups from our data were created in the past two years.

As the majority of startups don’t make it past the beginning stages, there is no doubt that creating a successful business is laborious. When asked what advice they have for students who want to begin a startup, Srivalsan, Ding and MacLaverty all said to just start.

“If you’re actually interested in pursuing something and creating something with value, the only way to do it is to do it,” MacLaverty said.

Ding shares a similar sentiment to MacLaverty by giving a suggestion to future entrepreneurs: “Sell your idea before you build it.” As a part of taking the first step, Ding suggests that entrepreneurs create a smaller version of their idea that they can create in under three weeks. This acts as a test of their startup. If people buy their “test startup”, then “that’s validation that you can build it,” Ding said.

Srivalsan echoes MacLaverty and Ding’s advice. He says “you really can’t see where you’re going, but you just need to have some courage to take the first step and then trust that you will figure it out along the way.” He refers to this first step as a “leap of faith.”

About the Data

All visualizations were created using data on a random collection of 67 startups founded by UCLA students between 2002 and 2023 from Lance Ding. We found the major/program of each founder, as well as their startup’s start and end date, through their LinkedIn profile.

2022-2023 Daily Bruin Diversity Report

Thu, 25 May 2023 00:00:00 -0700

Bruins go to the polls: USAC election trends

Wed, 24 May 2023 00:00:00 -0700

From increased flyering on Bruinwalk to lengthy Reddit drama, the USAC elections have an effect on campus each year. Every undergraduate student at UCLA is a member of the Undergraduate Students Association and has the opportunity to vote in the USAC election. The results of these elections have impacts on campus, from changes in student fees to USAC-run programs. In addition to referendums, the election fills the 15 officer positions of USAC. The 2023 election had 40 candidates. Elected candidates ultimately influence the undergraduate experience of students at UCLA, said Seher Alvi, the vice chair of the USA Elections Board.

“It impacts every aspect of UCLA students’ lives. But it definitely does depend on the people in office,” Alvi said.

The elections are governed by the USA Elections Board, which issues sanctions for violations of campaign rules, records campaign finances as reported by the candidates, and administers the elections.

The Stack obtained records on sanctions, campaign finances and turnout from the last four USAC elections from the elections board. Additionally, The Stack collected information on candidate parties and election results. Data was analyzed to find trends in campaign finances, sanction impacts, party results and election turnout.

Sanctions

Throughout the election process, candidates can be sanctioned for a number of reasons, ranging from violating campaign laws to failing to file paperwork in time. When an alleged violation occurs, a citation is filed against a candidate and the elections board decides whether the complaints are valid. Alvi said once candidates are finalized, they are all required to attend a candidate orientation meeting, where each director within the elections board covers deadlines, campaign expectations and policies. The elections board highly encourages campaign managers for each candidate to also attend this session.

Of the 165 times a candidate has been accused in a citation in the past four years, 85 of these violations have been deemed valid, 30 partially valid and 50 have been determined as invalid complaints. The bar chart below details the number of citations per year, detailed by the elections board’s decision.

Candidates can be sanctioned for violating the election code of conduct, even if the infraction was unintentional.

Lucas Levy, a first-year political science student who ran for general representative this year, said, “It’s difficult knowing all the campaign regulations. I know the document that they have on the website is very long, and it took us a while to read.”

After a citation is filed and the elections board determines whether it is a valid complaint, it decides whether to sanction candidates. For most violations, the elections board does not place any sanctions on candidates either because the complaint was invalid or was not severe enough to warrant a consequence, Alvi said. Other common consequences include corrections – typically for failing to include disclaimers in social media posts – as well as temporary suspensions of campaigning and even disqualification in worst-case scenarios. A citation may result in more than one sanction.

When it comes to student perceptions of sanctions and their impacts on voting decisions, Nicole Paredes, a second-year engineering geology student, said that candidates who have been sanctioned may lose the trust of voters.

“No one wants to be a part of the wrong side. I think a lot of people distrust the people who try to defend themselves after a sanction. It’s seen as, ‘Oh they did something really bad. I probably don’t even have to look into it,’” Paredes said.

However, sanctions do not necessarily stop candidates from winning elections. In the 2020 election, seven of the candidates that ended up winning had been sanctioned, including five who received suspensions from campaigning due to sanctions. Roughly 1/3 of all candidates elected to USAC in the past four years have been accused of a violation, with Carl King Jr. winning after being accused four times throughout the 2022 election.

Finances

USAC candidates were allowed to spend up to $500 on their campaigns during the 2023 election. Candidates can have up to 100% of their expenses reimbursed by the elections board. However, this reimbursement is capped at 10% of the total elections board budget. Funding is split equally amongst candidates that reported spending.

While candidates are allowed to spend up to $500, the average expenditure per campaign during the 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 elections was about $118. The chart below shows the average expenditures per candidate for each office over the last four years. Dylan Cano, a fourth-year global studies student said that, to him, campaign finances aren’t obvious to most students, since most of the campaigning is done over Instagram. However, many candidates reported expense costs related to graphic design for social media advertising.

In 2021, campaign expenditures were the lowest among the last four elections. The expenditures in 2021 totaled $845.68 – about 12% of the total spending in the 2023 campaigns, which had the highest spending in the four years. Slate spending, which is limited based on the number of candidates in the slate, was not included in the above chart.

On average, independent candidates spent 50% more than candidates that were members of slates. However, in uncontested races, candidates that are part of slates are more likely to have campaign expenses.

Slates

In 2020, there were candidates from two slates, and in 2021, there were candidates from three different slates. Conversely in 2022 and 2023, there was only one slate, which may explain the increase in independent candidates. In 2021, independents accounted for 40% of winning candidates, and in 2020, they accounted for a third of winners.

Paredes said that she finds it harder for individual candidates within a slate to stand out on the ballot, since she is less likely to read about each one.

For the second year in a row, those running for USAC offices chose overwhelmingly to run as independents. In 2022, nearly 74% of candidates ran as independents, with the remaining coming from the Students Organizing Active Resistance slate. In this year’s election, more than 85% of candidates ran as independents, with the remaining coming from United Bruin Movement. Overall in 2022, 80% of winning candidates were independents. When only considering contested seats, more than 87% of winning candidates were independents in 2022. This year, more than 93% of winners were independent candidates, with only a mere 6.67% of winners coming from a slate.

Alvi said tensions in previous campaigns and a sense of disappointment from people in slates may explain the increase in independent candidates.

“I think there’s been a general disillusionment among UCLA students in slates,” Alvi said. “Some people do like the idea rather than voting for one preselected group of students. They get to form their own opinions and individually choose the person that they believe would be best for a specific role.”

Turnout

Over the past eight years, voter turnout has generally decreased. The elections with the highest turnout over the last eight years were 2016 with 40.3% and 2020 with 30.06%. Only five of the last eight elections met the 20% threshold required for a referendum to pass. Students cited a lack of knowledge about USAC as well as a lack of interest in specific candidates.

“The issue lies in the fact that most of the things that USAC does usually aren’t that noticeable to the outward students,” Cano said.

Cano added that, in his opinion, this lack of visibility can result in students possibly feeling like they don’t need to be engaged in USAC elections.

Another potential factor is voters’ indifference toward candidates.

“I think sometimes it can be about the type of people running,” Paredes said. “People might see there’s no point in voting if they don’t see a candidate they believe will implement significant change.

Alvi said that among the various factors that impact voter turnout, COVID-19 was a significant cause of reduced voter turnout in recent years.

“I would say COVID-19 is definitely the main factor,” Alvi said. “The fact that a lot of students were away from campus, only able to witness things through their screens really created a huge sense of disconnect between the average student and the imagined UCLA community.”

Last year, voter turnout reached its lowest in more than a decade, at 15.19%. This year, voter turnout saw a relative increase, with 23.03% of students voting.

Conclusion

Cano said the average student may miss most of the things USAC does. However, the results of the election can have a direct impact on students.

“It’s about having a democratic process and making sure that as many people’s voices are being heard as possible,” Alvi said.

Through this democratic process, the electees are representative of the student body at UCLA, but beyond that, they are representative of students’ desires for campus, Alvi said.

“You’re selecting people who are really representative, not only of the student body as people but of the wishes and ideas that they have that they want to see come to life on campus and at UCLA at large,” Alvi said.

About the Data

The USA Elections Board provided The Stack with citations for the past four years; campaign expense report forms for the past three years; a Google sheet of expenditures from the spring 2020 election; a historical roster of USAC officers since 1919; and voter turnout for the previous eight years. In addition to this information, information on slates was collected from previous Daily Bruin coverage of USAC elections.

Bear with Us: Tracking Campus Construction Since 2013

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 00:00:00 -0700

Introduction

Over the past few years, construction projects have become an unavoidable part of daily life for students on UCLA’s bustling campus.

In order to comprehensively understand the scope of these projects, The Stack collected data from the UC Office of the President’s capital planning information. Between the 53 completed and four active construction projects since 2013, UCLA has pledged $2,518,186,000 to campus development and renovation projects. The average cost of these projects is $4,4178,702. The least costly project was the Ostin AV Equipment Installation at $1,044,000, and the most costly project is the Southwest Campus Apartments, costing $383,290,000. The Stack has identified trends in spending, changes in budget and construction delays that directly affect the campus environment. Of the total $1.95 billion spent on projects that were completed between 2013 and 2022, $490 million went towards renovations, while the remaining $1.46 billion went towards new construction.

Peter Hendrickson, the associate vice chancellor for design and construction, said that construction projects require immense planning and analysis. “A major part of the campus project development process involves evaluating the capital needs of a school, department or business unit, and aligning them with capital resources available to the campus,” Hendrickson said. “For specific projects, project initiation and planning activities involve studying environmental and site alternatives and developing conceptual program, funding and schedule parameters.”

Spending by Year & Cost vs Number of Projects

Including active projects, 2022 saw the most construction spending, while 2018 saw the least. According to the data provided, only one project was completed in 2018, the CHS Seismic Correction and Fire Safety, which cost $52,155,000. In 2017, 26 projects were completed, which is the greatest number for any year between 2013 and 2022. Higher spending in 2022 than in 2017 despite far fewer projects, with only 7 completed and active projects in 2022, can be attributed to far higher costs per project in 2022. Particularly, the average cost of a project in 2022 was $129,053,857, while the average in 2017 was $15,851,154.

Changes in Spending

The number and type of projects play a role in dictating costs, as shown by the varying proportions of projects and costs per year, but other factors often change the cost of construction. Although many projects are able to maintain their initial budget, some projects see significant changes, particularly the Northwest Campus Student Housing Infill, which cost 40% less than initially projected, and the Clark Library Seismic Correction, which cost an almost additional 25%. Before 2022, the primary causes for these changes included favorable and unfavorable offers from contractors and site conditions. However, delays in more recent projects are attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which reflects changes in the factors that influence construction.

The graph above displays projects that were completed between 2013 and 2022. We can compare the original budget set compared to the final amount spent on a project. Typically, construction projects come in at or below budget. There was a dip in completed project spending that began in 2018 and continued through the COVID-19 pandemic. Completed projects spiked between 2021 and 2022, with more than a 435% year-over-year increase in spending. This is due to the new university apartment buildings, as well as the Olympic and Centennial dorm buildings, which were completed in 2022. The new Olympic and Centennial dorm buildings accounted for $223,042,000, or just over 50% of 2022 spending. The total spending for building Gayley Heights was $184,500,000, or about 41% of 2022 spending.

Conclusion

While construction can be frustrating for many students, the new university apartments and dorms allowed UCLA to guarantee housing for all students.

Alexa Escamilla, a second-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, currently lives in Laurel, one of the new undergraduate apartment buildings. She said she chose an eight-person, four-bedroom, and two-bathroom unit in Laurel because it was a cheaper option than other buildings.

Escamilla said she enjoyed the modern look of her apartment as well as the view of the sunset. However, she wishes the building had a gym. Laurel is also farther from campus than many other university apartments, but Escamilla added that the bus stop just outside her building made getting to campus easy.

Part of the allure of Laurel to Escamilla was that it was a new development.

“I like that I’m the first person living there,” Escamilla said.

On the other hand, some students were upset by the recent construction, since they may not have the opportunity to reap the benefits of the renovations. Doryenna Ammari, a third-year political science student, said that the constant construction is highly disruptive. “It’s been really difficult ever since they got on campus to navigate to my classes.”

She expressed further disappointment with the closure of iconic campus destinations, such as Powell Library’s Main Reading Room, which is undergoing seismic renovations.

“Especially being a student of COVID for 2020, I didn’t have a graduation, I didn’t have my first year of college here, and not being able to take graduation photos and stuff like that at Powell is really disappointing,” Ammari said.

About the Data

The data was collected from the UC Office of the President’s capital annual status reports. The information related to UCLA was isolated from the other UC campuses and organized as “new construction” or “renovation.” Particularly, the figures that appear are the funds dedicated to construction projects categorized by the year they were completed and, in the case of active projects, the year they are listed on the annual status report (2022). These documents described the construction projects in terms of their name, type, original budget, augmented budget, percentage change in price, notes, year and phase of construction. Before 2017, the data also included whether projects are state or nonstate-funded, but funding information is available in a more detailed form in the capital financial plans, which offer six-year projections of construction across the UC campuses.

Broadening Horizons: Studying Abroad with UCLA

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:00:00 -0700

Introduction:

Immersing in a new culture, learning a different language, and exploring global opportunities – studying abroad can be an exciting opportunity during one’s college journey. Due to the pandemic, however, the suspension of numerous study abroad programs and travel restrictions prevented students from pursuing these experiences.

In this article, the Stack explores UCLA’s study abroad programs, students’ experiences and factors to consider before making a decision. There are two main programs through which UCLA students study abroad: the University of California Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) and the UCLA Travel Study Program. UCEAP is a UC-wide study abroad program that allows students to take classes abroad through a local university while Travel Study allows students to take courses taught by UCLA faculty during the summer while abroad. The Stack compares these two programs in terms of the different programs they offer and the proportions of students enrolling in each program to provide an overview of study abroad experiences at UCLA.

How many students are studying abroad each year?

The bar chart above shows the number of UCLA students who studied abroad each year from 2009 and 2022 through UCEAP and the Travel Study programs.

Over time, the popularity of UCEAP programs has steadily increased, peaking during the 2018-2019 academic year with 1,266 study abroad students. However, worldwide travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the UCLA International Education Office suspending all summer study abroad programs in February 2020. The number of UCEAP students fell by nearly two-thirds in the following academic year.

Which countries are students studying abroad in?

The heat map below displays the number of UCLA students who have studied abroad within each country since 2009, broken down by the total number of UCEAP students and Travel Study.

Since 2009, Europe has been the most popular study abroad region, hosting over 75% of all UCLA study abroad students. Within Europe, the UK was the most popular country with a total of 4,269 students, around 21% of all study abroad students. France, Spain and Italy follow with approximately 15%, 10.5% and 7.7% of students, respectively.

The chart below details the number of UCEAP and Travel Study students in each of the top five most popular study abroad destinations since 2009.

Over the past 13 years, the UK has consistently remained the most popular UCEAP destination, hosting over a quarter of all UCEAP students in that time period. Due to the pandemic, however, all programs had a significant drop in study abroad students, with some having over a 50% decrease from pre-pandemic levels. In the UK, the number of UCEAP students fell from 304 to 64 between 2018-19 and 2019-20, resulting in the largest drop of UCEAP students since 2009.

Since the loosening of international travel restrictions, the number of students studying abroad in some countries has returned to normal levels when compared to the pre-pandemic numbers. In contrast, other countries such as the UK have yet to recover from the significant decline in students.

One factor that contributes to Europe’s popularity is the availability of programs in the region, with over half of all UCEAP available programs being located in Europe.

Compared to Travel Study, UCEAP offers a broader selection of programs and countries where students can elect to study. However, the Travel Study program offers students the ability to study in some countries not offered by UCEAP, such as Austria, Belgium, Cuba, Greece, Peru, Puerto Rico and Slovakia.

Among UCLA Travel Study students, France was the most popular destination from 2009 to 2019, followed by the UK, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. Combined, these five countries were hosts to 2/3 of all UCLA Travel Study students.

Making the Decision to Study Abroad

For some, making the decision to study abroad can be easy. However, deciding which program to enroll in can be a daunting task.

“I always knew I wanted to study abroad, but I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go or when … I just wanted to go out of the country and experience an environment I’m not used to,” said Wolfe Pickett, a third-year statistics student who studied abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.

With a plethora of available programs, making the decision of where to study abroad can be difficult. In order to make this decision, some study abroad students consider numerous factors of varying personal importance.

One significant factor in making this decision for some students is financial aid. With extra costs such as travel insurance, airfares, transportation and food, study abroad programs can be particularly expensive, especially for out-of-state students, with some costing over $40,000. As a result, funding study abroad programs may be a concern for some students.

For students receiving financial aid from UCLA, both UCEAP and Travel Study programs allow students to carry over and apply their financial aid packages. In addition, both Travel Study and UCEAP offer general merit and need-based scholarship opportunities that students can apply to as well as other program-specific scholarships.

“I did get financial aid, and I got a lot more than I expected. … That really eased my mind,” said Brandon Soung, a third-year political science student who studied abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul.

The factors that lead to making this decision can vary significantly from student to student, making this process a personal experience. For some, a major factor in this decision can be their own cultural background and the opportunity to immerse themselves in a new culture.

“I’m originally from China, and I’ve been to countries around there, but never South Korea. Learning a culture that’s similar to mine, but not really at the same time, was really interesting,” said Pickett.

Being in a new environment, however, can lead to unforeseen challenges such as unaccustomed weather conditions and differences in conventions.

“When I went to Yonsei University in the summer, it was the monsoon season. The weather was a very harsh switch up from California. … In South Korea, it was very humid, plus rainy,” Soung said.

For some, language barriers can act as a notable obstacle when interacting with others.

“It was more difficult for me to get around just because I didn’t know as much Spanish. But because I had other students with me, we were all in the same situation, so we could help each other out if we were struggling or didn’t know how to say something,” said Sachi Bopardikar, a second-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student who studied in Spain.

Another challenge for some students is finding programs offering major-related or transferable courses.

“The main reason I chose it (the program) was because I wanted to study Spanish to fulfill my foreign language requirement. … I really liked the program because it did help me with my requirements because I know it is really difficult to find study abroad programs, especially for STEM majors,” Bopardikar said.

However, depending on one’s major, finding applicable programs can be easier for some students.

“A lot of the courses that they offered would have transferred really easily. … I was able to take major-related courses for stats and also take on some fun, easier courses as well,” said Pickett.

Overall, many students find it especially important to be aware of the effects of studying away from UCLA for an extended period of time.

“It is very time sensitive, and I feel like sometimes it does kind of derail you or distract you from your priority or major plan,” Pickett said.

Conclusion

Many students have found studying abroad a particularly rewarding part of their college experience.

“I got a lot out of the experience. I was able to learn about a new culture and travel to a country I’d never been before. I was able to make a lot of new friends,” Bopardikar said.

Beyond exploring new cultures and making new connections, studying abroad can provide an opportunity for personal growth.

“All in all, I think I gained more global awareness and mindset,” Pickett said.

In the end, choosing to study abroad can be a great opportunity for those that have the ability to.

“If you have the time, money, and if you plan out your courses well, I think study abroad is a great opportunity if you really want to expand your horizons and just meet new people and go to a different country,” said Pickett.

About the data

All data visualizations were created using the public data provided by the UCLA Global website, which reported the number of students who have studied abroad in different countries. The data was filtered by the UCEAP program and the Travel Study program, sorted by each academic year from 2009 to 2022.

Working it out: Which gym has less traffic?

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:00:00 -0700

Although UCLA offers a wide variety of recreational facilities and programs for students and affiliates, the John Wooden Center and Bruin Fitness Center have been impacted by overcrowding, according to managers at Wooden and BFit.

In the 2021-22 academic year, UCLA’s facilities totaled over 1 million visits. 59.58% of the total visits were at Wooden, 25.20% were at BFit and other facilities, including Kinross Recreation Center or KREC, and Sunset Canyon Recreation Center took up the remaining 14.82% of total visits.

Using the entrance record data across the span of one full academic year, The Stack visualizes usage patterns of UCLA’s most popular facilities, Wooden and BFit, to help guide members in choosing their ideal times to work out.

Traffic at each Wooden and BFit

The heat charts below show how busy each facility is on different days of the week. Wooden Center’s peak hour is at 5 p.m. on weekdays and BFit’s peak hour is at 4 p.m. on weekdays.

Each dot represents the average traffic at each hour across the 2021-22 academic year. The peak hour is the busiest hour of the entire week.

Choosing between Wooden and BFit

To help decide where to work out at different times of the day, The Stack compared traffic levels relative to each facility peak, accounting for Wooden’s larger capacity.

A few patterns stand out:

BFit is less crowded than Wooden during the day.
Wooden is less crowded than BFit early in the day.
Wooden has earlier opening hours throughout the week and closes later than BFit on Fridays and Saturdays.

Both Wooden and BFit have seen an increase in traffic after they reopened in 2021.

“Since we reopened in 2021, we’ve seen a pretty steady increase of usage quarter to quarter, and I think that’s picked up even more this year,” said Wooden Center manager Daniel Jauregui.

Morgan Monroe, the manager of BFit, said traffic there has increased to the point where BFit is busy throughout the day.

“We did see an increased use throughout the 2021-2022 school year, and I think that trend has continued, almost leveling out for it to be busy almost all day at BFit,” Monroe said.

UCLA students are experiencing the increased crowdedness firsthand.

Brian Chau, a Hill resident and second-year data theory student, said that crowdedness is a factor in choosing where to work out. “That’s why I usually take the walk to Wooden. I prefer the open space in Wooden over BFit,” Chau said.

Jane de Prima, a first-year human biology and society student, has also been influenced by the level of activity when deciding when to exercise.

“I prefer to go at night. I just feel like the vibe is a lot better and … I feel like it’s a lot less crowded,” Jane de Prima said. “Sometimes, when I go during the day, it’s hard to find a spot.”

Live traffic estimate

Based on past data, the current time of day and the day of the week, we can estimate the traffic levels at each facility.

Wooden is , and BFit is .

2021-22 facility usage

Member Usage by Facility

Note: Student Affiliates gain access to UCLA Facilities through UCLA Extension. Retiree & Emeriti refer to retired professors/faculty retaining an honorary title.

We also looked for usage patterns by member status in each gym. The majority of the visitors to both facilities are undergraduate students, who make up 97% of BFit visitors and 93% of Wooden visitors. BFit is located on the Hill, UCLA’s student housing, while Wooden is located in the center of campus.

Jane de Prima prefers to use BFit because of its proximity to the Hill, where she resides.

“So even though I’m just heading home, I can go really quick, or if I have nothing going on, it’s just a few steps from my dorm, which is way more convenient than going all the way to campus,” Jane de Prima said.

However, although Chau is a Hill resident, he said that he only uses BFit when outside conditions make it inconvenient to walk to Wooden, such as when it rains.

There is also a slight difference between the percentage of each gender at each facility, with 56% of BFit’s visitors identifying as female and 44% identifying as male. In comparison, 59% of Wooden’s visitors identify as female and 41% identify as male. People with other gender identities make up less than 0.001% of visitors to either facility.

Users per month (2021-2022)

The month of April had the highest number of visitors in both Wooden and BFit, followed by February and October. There are more visitors at the beginning of the fall and spring quarters, although the number decreases as the quarter progresses and members become busier with school, work and other activities. There is a sharp decline in the number of visitors when final examinations are conducted.

What alternatives are available at UCLA?

There are various opportunities and spaces for physical activity at UCLA besides working out at Wooden and BFit.

To avoid the increased traffic levels at the two most popular facilities, John Wooden Center’s manager Jauregui suggested using the Kinross Recreation Center, or KREC, for non-undergraduate students. “We also have programs for varied interests. So, whether you are looking to lift weights, get cardio in or learn a particular skill, we do offer a variety of classes. That will sort of give you priority in a space if you were to take one of those classes.”

BFit’s manager Monroe noted that both BFit and Wooden Center have time limits on cardio machines to accommodate for peak usage times and encourage people to work in with one another.

Furthermore, Jauregui also pointed out that, following the pandemic, track (Drake Stadium) usage has increased. UCLA Recreation is trying to use it as an additional facility, and there have been discussions about adding more equipment out in the field.

Alternatives also exist for students living off campus. LA Fitness and Equinox, both located on Wilshire Boulevard, are the largest gyms available in Westwood. LA Fitness membership plans cost $39.99-$49.99 per month, and Equinox membership plans cost $200-$330 per month.

With all the facilities available at and around UCLA, students have a variety of options for working out.

“I think it’s really great that UCLA has multiple gyms for us so that students can pick whichever one they prefer and whichever amenities they like more,” Jane de Prima said.

About the data

The data used in this article was provided by UCLA Recreation. The data set consisted of over one million total records of entries at different UCLA Recreation facilities spanning from September 2021 to September 2022. The dataset contains the time stamp, member type (Undergraduate, Graduate, School Employee, Recreation Employee, Conference Guests, Alumni), facility name (John Wooden Center, Bruin Fitness Center, KREC, Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, Student Activities Center), and gender of each person who entered.

Traffic at each facility was calculated under the assumption that each entrance equated to one hour of facility usage.
Traffic at each facility excluded UCLA Recreation employee entries.

The Stack

2024-2025 Daily Bruin Diversity Report

Beyond the Dining Hall: A Data-Driven Look at UCLA’s Food Trucks

Dishing it Out: A Closer Look at UCLA Dining’s Meal Plan Offerings

Introduction

A Breakdown of UCLA’s Meal Plan System

Reality of the Meal Plan

Meal Plan Enrollment

Leftover and Donated Swipes

Comparing UCLA Meal Plans with Other UC Meal Plans

Conclusion

About the Data:

2023-2024 Daily Bruin Diversity Report

Breaking Down the BruinBill

Introduction

Cost of Attendance Across UCs

Comparing Cost of Attendance at UCLA with Costs of Attendance at Other UCs

UCLA BruinBill Breakdown

Financial Aid at UCLA

Conclusion:

About the Data:

Course Scarcity: Unveiling UCLA’s online course-selling market

Introduction

Student Reactions

About the Data

Most Requested Departments and Courses

Variability Between Class Years

Payment Patterns

Conclusion

Related Article

Getting off the Ground: Exploring Startups at UCLA

Industries

Funding challenges

Conclusion

About the Data

2022-2023 Daily Bruin Diversity Report

Bruins go to the polls: USAC election trends

Sanctions

Finances

Slates

Turnout

Conclusion

About the Data

Bear with Us: Tracking Campus Construction Since 2013

Introduction

Spending by Year & Cost vs Number of Projects

Changes in Spending

Conclusion

About the Data

Broadening Horizons: Studying Abroad with UCLA

Introduction:

How many students are studying abroad each year?

Which countries are students studying abroad in?

Making the Decision to Study Abroad

Conclusion

About the data

Working it out: Which gym has less traffic?

Traffic at each Wooden and BFit

Choosing between Wooden and BFit

Live traffic estimate

2021-22 facility usage

Member Usage by Facility

Users per month (2021-2022)

What alternatives are available at UCLA?

About the data