Payment Plans, Costs: Some Stories from the Recession

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

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.

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?

[texas*princess]

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.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

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?

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.

[Thetagirl218]

My campus didn't have Greek Housing, so I paid for on campus housing and dues. Thankfully, I had an on-campus apartment most of my time in college so I saved on food costs, but I would have loved to have been able to combine housing costs with dues...