What is causing recruitment numbers to be down at some places?

[*winter*]

Carnation mentioned that numbers are down at one of the schools in the recruitment thread…in the interest of not starting a gigantic side tracking conversation there…perhaps we could discuss it here?

The schools here with lower than normal recruitment numbers are seeing a decline in their overall student populations. Curious about what’s going on in other places.

[Cookiez17]

I notice that a lot of smaller liberal arts colleges are losing population while big state schools just keep getting bigger. There was an article that the walls street journal had written about the topic, saying more people want to go to these huge football schools for that and the big greek life experience. I feel like there will be many other school/chapter closures if people either take that route or the "community college then 2 years at a state" route.

[carnation]

What I can't figure out is that some of Georgia's public universities are shrinking and others are really growing. Same for their recruitment numbers.

[honeychile]

I saw this article, and I'm not sure that I agree with it. I thought I'd throw this into the mix. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/is...qZp0oDtUUw_WQg

[amIblue?]

My daughter is a high school senior this year, and she is very iffy about going through recruitment. She is way more concerned about internship opportunities, graduate school, etc. I am also very iffy about being able to pay sorority dues in the current economy, especially at a school with big houses to maintain, etc. She was raised by an involved alumna mom (me). The article honeychile posted rang familiar to me.

[Cheerio]

Honeychile, your linked article isn't working for me, and when I tried to quote it the link grew in listed size times seven. It's also listed as an https, does that mean it's behind a paywall?

WIFLS: Some schools, small private as well as so-called state schools, have experienced at least a decade of lowered sorority recruitment numbers. Reasons for the decrease can include Covid-19, general student disinterest in greek life, student perception of greek's inclusivity, and economic factors.

Chapters on these campuses have sometimes remained open despite the lower numbers. Among the reasons small sorority chapters might be staying open are lack of expensive greek housing, strong national sorority help and guidance to keep their smaller chapters thriving without closing, and/or a strong campus greek support system.

When and where all factors work together for a positive small sorority chapter outcome, the benefits will affect the students, campus, and the national sorority.

I, for one, am happy my sorority hasn't closed it's smaller and reduced-in-size chapters too hastily during the past ten years.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

Honeychile, your linked article isn't working for me, and when I tried to quote it the link grew in listed size times seven. It's also listed as an https, does that mean it's behind a paywall?

WIFLS: Some schools, small private as well as so-called state schools, have experienced at least a decade of lowered sorority recruitment numbers. Reasons for the decrease can include Covid-19, general student disinterest in greek life, student perception of greek's inclusivity, and economic factors.

Chapters on these campuses have sometimes remained open despite the lower numbers. Among the reasons small sorority chapters might be staying open are lack of expensive greek housing, strong national sorority help and guidance to keep their smaller chapters thriving without closing, and/or a strong campus greek support system.

When and where all factors work together for a positive small sorority chapter outcome, the benefits will affect the students, campus, and the national sorority.

I, for one, am happy my sorority hasn't closed it's smaller and reduced-in-size chapters too hastily during the past ten years.

Does this work? https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/is...qZp0oDtUUw_WQg
FWIW, it's an MSN article, copies from Yahoo. If I find the Yahoo link, I'll post it.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Does this work? https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/is...qZp0oDtUUw_WQg
FWIW, it's an MSN article, copies from Yahoo. If I find the Yahoo link, I'll post it.

No, this link doesn't work either but thanks for the attempt.

Have to bring politics into the mix: the factor of current, lowered foreign student enrollment, especially at schools where it had become a common annual thing for many years, could be affecting recruitment at that limited number of campuses.

In the past ten years here, more students are choosing to attend Big Southern Schools. The schools I note most of our area's students attend are enjoying record breaking large recruitment numbers: South Carolina, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Alabama.

Our nearby Big In-State Schools have lost much local population and have experienced lowering recruitment numbers, too.

[Cookiez17]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

No, this link doesn't work either but thanks for the attempt.

Have to bring politics into the mix: the factor of current, lowered foreign student enrollment, especially at schools where it had become a common annual thing for many years, could be affecting recruitment at that limited number of campuses.

In the past ten years here, more students are choosing to attend Big Southern Schools. The schools I note most of our area's students attend are enjoying record breaking large recruitment numbers: South Carolina, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Alabama.

Our nearby Big In-State Schools have lost much local population and have experienced lowering recruitment numbers, too.

I’d say it’s a mix of that and social media. Online watching bama rush people see the big houses, the massive game days, all that and they want it. The small liberal arts college could have a great greek system but doesn’t have all the flash and “fun” of these huge schools, which could be affecting student’s decisions on where to attend.

[Iota_JWH]

There have been a number of articles about the # of high school graduated declining, so there would likely be a decline in PNMs. I am not sure if this link will work. Franklin Collage (3 NPC groups) had only 43 PNMs this fall (there were 59 last year).
https://www.thefranklinnews.com/mult...nDmKFlwNs1eYCQ

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by Iota_JWH

There have been a number of articles about the # of high school graduated declining, so there would likely be a decline in PNMs. I am not sure if this link will work. Franklin Collage (3 NPC groups) had only 43 PNMs this fall (there were 59 last year).
https://www.thefranklinnews.com/mult...nDmKFlwNs1eYCQ

Yes, graduates *will be* declining but the class of 2025 was the largest class in years (ever?) and declining rates start with the class of 2026 with expectations to continue through 2041.

Thus, we can't use 2025 graduation numbers as the reason for declining greek membership. If anything, it should be the highest ever.

Source: parent of 2025 graduate. And we heard this stat pretty much daily all last year throughout the application process

[Low D Flat]

I have to wonder if some young women are turned off by the whole rushtok culture. If I were 18 right now and I didn't have any other info about sororities, I might gawk at rushtok and think, "Well, that's not for me." Because an SEC sorority really wouldn't be for nerdy 18-year-old me. I might (wrongly) suppose that sororities at a little engineering school or regional public or even an Ivy are going to have the same expectations for me as Bama XYZ, and I would never give it a chance.

[AGDee]

In Michigan, our flagship schools are thriving with Greek life but all the rest are seeing significantly reduced numbers and quotas have gone from 80 to 50 or 55 to 35 or 40. I'm seeing quotas of 4 or 5 at schools where it used to be 10 -12. We've been seeing this since COVID. I think a lot of students are just doing online classes and not moving onto campuses. They are also paying insane amounts of tuition and it's hard to justify sorority dues when you're taking out so much in student loans. Michigan is now paying for two years of community college for new high school grads who want to do that, so freshman numbers at directional schools are going to just plummet, I think. Why pay $25,000 a year for tuition and room & board when you can go to community college for a couple years for free?

Found this article/document with falling numbers. College has simply become unaffordable for a lot of people and they are turning to trades or vocations instead. https://www.house.mi.gov/hfa/PDF/Fis...ds_Jan2023.pdf

[Zach]

There’s definitely been a drop. What’s harder to pin down is how much that applies specifically to the D9 because the data usually lumps us in with IFC and Panhellenic. From what I’ve seen, we’re not immune to the same challenges. College enrollment shrinking, dues going up, and students questioning if the commitment is worth it.

I do think D9 orgs still have a different kind of staying power tho. The mission, the culture, and the alumni support keep us relevant in a way that’s not just about the social scene. But yeah, anybody within or orgs feeling like we’re untouched by the trend probably isn’t looking at the full picture.