Oh for sure. i think it was on GC that I read that at some schools there was a phenomenon that girls signed up for recruitment only for the benefit of moving into the dorms early.

At the same time while it does weed out PNMs who are not prepared for Greek Life; it is a double-edged sword in that it doesn't terribly dispel the stereotype of Going Greek as nothing more than a symbol of wealth/privilege.

A lot of schools have gone to an escalating cost...the later you wait to sign up, the more you pay.
It does help - imagine having to get recs (yes, we still do that even though we want the PNMs to do it) for 400 girls who signed up the last week!

There are recruitment booklets that are mailed out, multiple shirts for the RCs, one or two shirts each for the PNMs (usually for philanthropy day, two shirts for two days of philanthropy day rounds), renting auditoriums for recruitment convocations, printing for various needs, tents for shade and water, trash collection, and (I have no idea how much but I'll bet it's a lot) software for recruitment.

And, probably, a lot of other incidentals.

I wonder what the software licensing is like, especially when it seems that a decent programmer could write the same thing in a matter of a week or two.

Dunno, but the software that I'm familiar with went through a LOT of de-bugging years.
What we use does at least this, and probably more that I don't know about:
PNMs register and pay
PNMs submit photos
Sorts info with multiple parameters
Accessible in various ways by Panhel officers, sorority officers and alumnae advisors, depending on permissions you are given at different levels
Manages and melds lists of preferences from sororities and PNMs (close to 1,500 at Alabama last year)
Does the preference list thing every day
Figures return percentages allowed to each sorority each day
Available 24/7 from the first day of registration through at least a couple of weeks after recruitment ends

Hey, I'm just an English major; my head is already spinning!:p