The Missouri Students Association (MSA) is the undergraduate student government of the University of Missouri – Columbia. It serves more than 22,000 students with a multitude of services and activities from its over $1 million budget. It is broken down into 3 branches, much like the US government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

Executive:
The executive branch of MSA is headed by the student elected President and Vice President. These officers oversee the Department of Student Activities, the Department of Student Communications, and the Department of Student Services. MSA has 9 auxiliaries that fall under the executive branch: Box Office, Craft Studio, Design Center, KCOU, MUTV, Rape Education, STRIPES, Student Legal Services, and Tech Crew.

Legislative:
The legislative branch of MSA is the Senate, which is made up of 71 student senators and headed by the Senate Speaker. Internally, the Senate serves as a check to the executive and judicial branches by creating policies, rules, and regulations that guide the operations of the Association. Externally, the senate works to represent the interest of the student body within and outside the MU community through several means including collaborating with other entities, and the creation of resolutions.

Judicial:
The Judicial Branch was created to hear cases and disputes arising under the MSA constitution and bylaws. The Court consists of nine justices who are appointed by the MSA President and approved by the Senate. The Court is headed by the Chief Justice who then chooses an Associate to assist in matters of the court and preside in the absence of the Chief Justice.

Auxiliaries:
MSA oversees 9 auxiliaries. These are University staffed and run separately from MSA, however, the supervisors of each report to both a director of Student Life and their individual MSA departments, as MSA controls the budget under which they operate.
In the University system, MSA falls under the Department of Student Life and has specific staff advisors for each position.