ASBSU committee connects students to local discounts

For college students, saving money often comes down to knowing where to look.

Surprised by the number of his peers who didn’t know the amount of student discounts available to them, Luca Collins, associate vice president of academic affairs, set out to create a straightforward way for students to save, on and off campus.

That idea became the ASBSU Student Discount Legislative Committee, which Collins now chairs. Launched last semester, the committee aims to make Boise State and the greater Boise community more affordable and accessible for students on a budget.

Committee members meet regularly to connect with local businesses and ask if they offer student discounts. If they do, the business is then added to an ASBSU web page, complete with links, locations and details about the deal.

So far, the web page currently boasts over 20 available student discounts, ranging from global streaming services to 10% off at local record stores. 

“It’s an expanding thing,” Collins said. “If you check it today and there’s something you wouldn’t necessarily use, you could check it the next week and there might be five new places you actually would want to check out and receive a discount at.”

Although Collins is graduating, he is working with committee members to ensure the project continues to grow after his departure. Looking ahead, he hopes the committee can strengthen its relationships with Boise’s businesses and even encourage them to support student clubs and organizations through donations.

“I hope it inspires more ideas,” Collins said. “You can really do something — make change and affect student lives. It’s not that hard. I just got a few people to call businesses, one person built the website and we just went from there.”
The student discount page can be found at boisestate.edu/asbsu/committees/student-discounts/.