<p>My son received a bid from a fraternity and they wanted $3100 first semester and $2800 each semester going forward (and that is not living in the house as he is a freshman). We are paying out of state fees so I told him he would have to get a part time job to pay for that.</p>
<p>I was in a fraternity at Cal Poly ('86) and $5900 seems really high to me. Anyone else want to share that their sons or daughters at Bama are charged for membership fees?</p>
<p>It took me a little time to figure out the billing. As I understand it they get $1000 rebate each semester for the meal plan, so it’s about $2000 per semester. Not a small amount of money, plus the extras- clothes, formals etc.
The other thing is they first billed in June/July for upperclassman & maybe the kids who pledge in the spring & summer, so pretty much everything is due now.</p>
<p>Yes, a good bit of that semester cost is for the Frat Meal Plan…that means that your regular meal plan gets downgraded (no penalty) …so your school meal plan becomes very low…and the rest is now available to help pay for the frat meal plan/dues.</p>
<p>I think the frats have to eat 10 meals a week at the house…to keep their cook(s) employed.</p>
<p>But, yes…as a Calif sorority girl here, I can tell you the costs are going to be higher here…but in Calif, many of the Greeks did not have houses as nice as the Bama ones. </p>
<p>But, I can tell you that my Cal Poly SLO niece is now paying about 2000 per quarter…so 6k per year. </p>
<p>BamaSD…where are you from? San Diego?</p>
<p>I’m looking forward to seeing S’s house, from what I’ve seen online it is only 3 years old. It will be nice to compare that to the ultimately condemned house older S had @ Cornell.</p>
<p>Frosh pledges…</p>
<p>If you went with the minimum meal plan at Bama (before rush), then the silver plan is $1350 per semester.</p>
<p>But, after pledging, the student can choose [Welcome</a> to CampusDish at The University of Alabama!](<a href=“http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSS/Alabama/MealPlans/FraternityandSorority.htm]Welcome”>http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSS/Alabama/MealPlans/FraternityandSorority.htm)</p>
<p>What are the Alternative Meal Plan Options?</p>
<p>Option 1 - Students that would like to have 50 meals per semester need to do… nothing! All students that join a fraternity or sorority that also requires a minimum of 10 meals per week will automatically have their Bama Dining meal plan reduced to 50 meals. After you receive your bid, please check your student account to verify that the meal plan credit has been applied.</p>
<p>Option 2 - Students that would like more than 50 meals per semester may change their meal plan to one of the following: Silver (160 meals per semester), Gold (220 meals per semester), or Unlimited.</p>
<p>Option 3 - Students that would like to have no requirement to dine in any UA dining halls may choose to only pay the Community Dining Charge of $197.</p>
<p>So, it looks like a student can choose option 3 and only pay 197 per semester…That would mean $1150 of the former meal plan can go towards semester dues. (however, read the fine print in case I overlooked something.)</p>
<p>You have to contact Bama Dining and downgrade your plan by Oct 1st.</p>
<p>Based on my discussions with members of different fraternities, most cost $5000-$6000 per year, not including housing. Some do cost more and a few are less expensive.</p>