How much are dues for fraternities

After the newness has worn off, sisters and brothers are responsible for paying active member dues every semester. These fees include regular dues to the local chapter, along with dues to the national chapter and National Pan-Hellenic Council dues. At most universities, active member dues include essentials, such as liability insurance and basic Greek house upkeep.

Some chapters offer scholarships and grants to help members pay their regular dues since they can add up to several thousand dollars over the course of college. However, this type of financial assistance is relatively rare and tends to be extremely competitive. In addition to the required costs, you should also consider the optional costs of enjoying your social life at your sorority or fraternity.

Buying new formal wear is often encouraged and can add hundreds of dollars in an average academic year. Joining your Greek brothers and sisters for dinners out and other optional entertainment can also get expensive quickly. Keep in mind that room and board charges vary widely, even among chapters on the same college campus. The chapters will decide upon the budgets for the committees that lie within the chapter, which can be things like programming, philanthropy, social events, recruitment, and more.

The Greek life organization can choose how much apparel, like T-shirts and sweatshirts, a member will pay for. The organization can also choose how much a member will be responsible for if the organization chooses to have a social event such as a dance, dinner, or fun activity like bowling or laser tag. The active members of the chapter will then vote on the budget, and therefore vote on the dues for the semester.

UR covers staff salary, but the fee is implemented to help with the cost of managing fraternity and sorority programming. The fee can be used towards costs such as community events, leadership programming, and campus printing.

In addition to the dues paid each semester, some chapters charge a fee if a member commits certain infractions, such as alcohol-related incidents.

While these numbers can add up, many organizations have means of offsetting the costs. A big method for doing this is with alumni donations. These donations, which are managed and regulated by UR, are put into gift accounts. Gift accounts are limited to academic mission-related activities only.

Approved expenses, for example, are building repair, leadership development programs, retreats, and hosting education speakers. The donations can also be used to pay national fees for insurance or scholarships for prospective members with financial need, but these are set up through a different account. The level of alumni involvement is different for each fraternity and sorority on campus, which translates to a significant difference in who is receiving donations. So I think typically [the donations] have been a hundred dollars here or there.

There are scholarships and payment plans outside alumni donations to help with the costs. Before the recruitment process begins, a prospective member should not only know exactly what they are going to be paying for, but what they will be paying. Dues cover things like national insurance, leadership development, scholastic resources, and programming.

When thinking of an average cost, it is difficult to come up with an accurate one since Greek organizations vary greatly across college campuses.

Commonly, more of the detailed financial information is available during the recruitment process as fees can change each year, so sometimes it is even difficult to research in advance. Some of the costs are pretty obvious such as initiation fees or membership dues, which are relatively common with most clubs and organizations. While knowing that entertaining a Greek membership pin may come with a hefty cost and without knowing exactly how much, it is helpful to see some of the other costs that go into being a part of such an organization.

Below you will find some of the common and sometimes overlooked Greek costs to consider. There is room and board sometimes associated with joining a sorority or fraternity if you choose to live in Greek housing ; however, room and board in a sorority or fraternity which sometimes includes meal plans, may actually be slightly cheaper than living in a regular dorm or campus housing and utilizing that meal plan.

Since this cost may vary widely, it is definitely imperative to do your homework to make the best, most educated decision. Even if you choose not to live in Greek housing, there can be chapter fees that you will have to pay for use of the house.

There are usually application fees you will need to cough up when pledging with a sorority or fraternity. Membership fees range from several hundred to thousands of dollars.

Social events are not generally covered by membership dues and by being a member of a Greek organization you will have lots of social events. These social events will sometimes require special attire, costumes , gifts, or may require you to sport your Greek letter membership pin. All of these expenses add up throughout membership. Regular chapter membership dues, which can certainly also add up, are other hidden costs that many do not think about.

Although they can be hefty, often dues help subsidize costs for national and international chapters, operations costs, upkeep of community areas, etc. Generally, when choosing between Greek organizations, keep in mind that fraternities and sororities on the same campus tend to have their membership and chapter fees around the same amount. Additionally, larger schools with more established "Greek systems" tend to require larger dues. New pledge fees are another additional fee to watch out for.

Local and national chapter fees are sometimes covered in the regular monthly dues , but not always. These are other fees to watch out for as locally, nationally, and internationally, Greek organizations cover each other financially.

Alumni expenses also are something that many students take with them after graduating and leaving college sorority or fraternity life. They will often donate to their sorority or fraternity on a regular, ongoing basis. Luckily, some chapters offer scholarships to subsidize some areas of Greek life costs. Other schools may offer payment plans or waive particular fees if a student demonstrates need. This is not always the case and other chapters host fundraising events to raise money for this type of aid or to offer sponsorships for dues.

The other option is simply budgeting for the opportunity. There are many pros and cons of deciding to join a fraternity or sorority in college. Many students and families believe that the benefits of being a part of such an organization far outweigh any cons. In cases like this, good old-fashioned money management and budgeting will make it possible to achieve the dream of not only going to college, but embarking on the journey of Greek life.