Payment Plans, Costs: Some Stories from the Recession

[KSUViolet06]

Thanks for sharing.

To be honest, being Greek SAVED me alot of money in undergrad, especially when it came to housing and food. Living in a chapter house at my undergrad is WAY cheaper than 90% of the available campus housing.

[exlurker]

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. . . .

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Thanks for sharing.

To be honest, being Greek SAVED me alot of money in undergrad, especially when it came to housing and food. Living in a chapter house at my undergrad is WAY cheaper than 90% of the available campus housing.

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.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

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.

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!

[AGDee]

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).