Payment Plans, Costs: Some Stories from the Recession
 

As the effects of the current severe recession are felt, we GreekChatters may be seeing more discussions, questions, and news stories about Greek costs, payment plans, and so on. Here, for instance, are a couple of recent articles from student papers at institutions that -- frankly – haven’t exactly been known for having huge populations of students with serious money problems. (Though I'm sure there have always been students at these schools for whom costs have been a major concern.)

University of Southern California

http://www.dailytrojan.com/news/duri...osts-1.1629829

Excerpt:
Many students are feeling the effects of the economic recession and some at USC are facing financial problems as they try to become involved in greek life.

Even though fraternities and sororities at USC work to accommodate students with financial need, for some it’s not enough. . . .


Southern Methodist University

http://media.www.smudailycampus.com/...-3683647.shtml

Excerpt

Panhellenic sororities at Southern Methodist University are trying to make economic life easier for their members. With about an 11 percent increase in sorority, Panhellenic membership, more student consumers are finding Greek life to be a worthy investment - but they're also increasingly relying on payment plans while chapters are cutting costs. . . .

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/04/01/greek

Excerpts from the Inside Higher Ed article ^:

. . .
The current economic crisis has changed the way students think about money, . . . . Chapters and student affairs offices . . . will have to be "line-item specific" as to what these dues are for and how they will be spent to the benefit of the student . . . .
“Students need to know specifically what is going to be required of them,” Fouts [the person who made a presentation about students’ interest in and views about Greek life] said of financial commitments. “If your organization is hesitant to put that out there, then I challenge you to encourage them to be more specific up front with that [for prospective members].”

Fouts and others familiar with Greek issues at the meeting said they were unsure how the economic crisis would impact membership. Still, some acknowledged that those students with only a cursory interest in a fraternity or a sorority might only see dollar signs before noting the potential benefits of Greek life. . . .

YMMV on this. Living in-house may be more expensive than living on campus. And if your chapter is unhoused (like mine) you will definitely be paying more. If you're independent, you pay room and board; if you're in an unhoused chapter, you pay room and board AND dues; and if you're in a housed chapter and you live out-of-house, you pay room and board AND dues AND maybe parlor fees. And then there are all those lovely one-time charges you pay during your pledge/new member period - initiation fee, badge fee, etc.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a decrease in membership. Getting a part-time job to pay for dues is tough right now, with jobs disappearing seemingly by the minute. And parents may not be financially able to give/lend dues money to their children even if they'd want to.

Exactly!

In cities where the rents are high, living on campus is usually cheaper than the Greek housing or off-campus apartments. At my college, Greek Life was more expensive than living either in the standard dorms or in your own off-campus apartment. You lived in basically the same dorms, but you had to pay dues each semester (which were still pretty cheap--$300 a semester--by most school's standards); there were no special meal plans for the houses. It was a nice way to avoid the housing lottery, but since we were guaranteed on-campus housing for all four years of college, it wasn't any great shakes.

I foresee a considerable decline in Greek activity in the next few years as well. Families that would be willing to pay dues may not be able to; also, part-time jobs may be required to help pay for tuition and books, and not as a way to get "fun" money. At some schools, financial aid won't cover Greek housing. Unless we all start spinning Greek membership as a way to get an additional professional network, we could experience a temporary decline in membership until the economy improves.

That said...on a somewhat-related note, has anyone gotten a lot more information about the networking opportunities available to collegians and alumnae? This is the first year that I've received any e-mails from collegians and young alumnae asking for information about architecture!

There are things that chapters are spending money on now that I think may end up being reduced. For example, the tendency to get t-shirts for EVERYTHING. We got a Greek Week t-shirt every year and that was about it. I see the collegians buying t-shirts for almost every event they have now, every mixer, etc. Having 40 sorority event t-shirts when you graduate seems a little excessive and I can see letting things like that go or making them more optional (as in, it's available if you want it but not everybody ends up with one).

Saw this on the Eastern Michigan University Greek Life site (haven't seen the study though):
Did you know?

• Students who join fraternities and sororities are 28% more likely to return to school the following year than students who choose not to join a fraternity or sorority.*
• Following graduation, Greek-affiliated alumni have higher average incomes than non-Greek alumni. Even when accounting for parents’ education levels, graduation year, and gender, students who were affiliated with fraternities and sororities have significantly higher average incomes following graduation.*
• Many Greek organization members are employed outside the classroom to help finance their education.
• There are over 400 leadership positions in the Greek community alone.

* All information is conducted by the Center for Advanced Social Research at the University of Missouri.

Those statistics are pretty much part and parcel of any pro-Greek marketing campaign, and they can be uplifting. BUT...what does that have to do with the fact that parents and students are going to be making tough choices about what's "necessary" and what's "extravagant" more now than ever before. Where does Greek Life fit in with that exactly?

I wish I knew what college website had this posted. I saw it just Monday. They were saying only 2% of college expenses were actually Greek related for those in a GLO.

I think I might have a power point of that that was given to our chapter by an alum. If I have some time I'll see if I can dig it out and at least find out where they got that from.

Thanks. That is a real good number for collegians to have in hard economic times for recruitment.

Yes definitely. I remember it was our house corps. president who told it to us so if nothing else I can always ask her again :) She had it broken down specifically to our University but as our University is relatively cheap compared to elsewhere it should still hold true. I haven't found it in my e-mail yet though so she might not have it e-mailed it to us, just given the presentation.

That's all well and good. I know that for my undergrad, it was true that less than 1% of my total cost of attendance (tuition, room, board, books, travel) was related to my being in a sorority. But, Greek Life at my undergrad was far less expensive compared to most other schools; also, my undergrad is a lot more expensive than some of those other schools, so yeah, $600 a year isn't a big deal when you're paying upwards of $40K for the basics.

BUT...my concern is more about those students on scholarship/financial aid and those who aren't, but who still have to work to pay part of their tuition, books, or travel expenses. Many families that expected to be able to pay these expenses are no longer able to; credit card limits are lower now than they were just a few years ago; some students who would typically be able to pay these expenses through savings or a side job won't be able to do so! They aren't going to care what percentage of your total cost of attendance it is, since it's not a necessary expense!

My question is, how are collegians and IHQs going to work together to encourage these students that Greek Life could benefit them in the long run?

For me, living in house was more expensive than living off campus.

It all depends on the area.

Each month, girls in our house paid around 400-500 in rent, and though it covered electricity/water/internet, it was cheaper for me to get a roommate and an apartment. Our house didn't do the food thing -- all our meals were on our own.

The total rent + bills in the apartment were around $600/mo and we split the costs down the middle. And on top of that, I got my own room, whereas in the sorority house, I shared a room.

Pushing information about the scholarship opportunities could be one. Not only do we have general scholarships for collegians, but some chapters or majors also have endowments just for women in those chapters or area of study. Not enough women apply for these on a regular basis.