I was wondering out of curiosity the costs of membership fees and dues for fraternities at Alabama, specifically those of academic/honors/engineering societies? When I try to look up this information myself, I often hit a wall because a page does not exist or any financial information is ambiguous with averages and all the numbers (dues, housing, food, etc) clumped together. Any insight specifically on costs to join without regard to housing costs will be greatly appreciated. Thanks and Roll Tide!!!
For most honoraries, I would say it’s pretty minimal - $100 or less. But for some, it may be more. The only non-social Greek group I know of that’s housed is the engineering co-ed fraternity. They also operate more like a social group with parties. I know of no other non-social Greek that’s houses. Housing is what really drives the costs up.
If I can live in housing provided for with my dad off-campus than the real cost for greek life for me are those membership dues. If we’re only talking a “small” amount each year, the potential connections and relationships for me may be worth the stretch of budget
Is is at all appropriate to contact each fraternity that you might be interested in directly and ask about their dues, from a budget-prep perspective? Although tho OP wanted specifically honors/academic fraternities, the traditional Greek fraternities are an order of magnitude more expensive than is reported above, so anyone reading this thread might get the wrong idea about what to budget for. Like $1000s, not $100s?
Here’s the IFC page concerning social fraternity cost. Yes, it is much more expensive than an honorary. The cost of an honorary is going to be negligible, I would think.
Current student here, the professional and honorary fraternities are all $100-300 per semester including incidental costs. This includes the Business and Engineering fraternities. Social fraternities average $3000+ for the pledgeship semester and perhaps a couple hundred less for future semesters. Fraternities at the top of the scale cost ~$8000 per SEMESTER. There are incidental costs during pledgeship as pledges will be expected to contribute money to purchase alcohol for parties/tailgates and costumes. Also almost all pledges will need a navy blazer and red tie for football season. So I’d guess ~$500+ incidental costs for pledgeship semester.
edit: Also just to clarify the language usually used–“Greek life” without any qualifiers usually implies the social fraternities, not the professional groups.
HOLY MOLY that’s an eyeopener. Sorry if I made assumptions for all greek life costs. There is no way I want to drop that kind of money for a social fraternity because I want to focus on engineering foremost. However, if the cost really is $100-$300 a semester for professional fraternities like for engineering, then it may be worth looking into. Dear gosh though how do people afford $8,000 a semester for a “hobby”…that money would be better spent on building a company haha
The bummer in life is that almost nothing is truly free. Kudos to you for considering costs associated to potential groups your might want to join. I agree with posters about social Greek fraternities/sororities. Beautiful large house meeting houses with modern amenities to host social functions and required meal plans are not cheap, but its a choice some make. Lots of fun can be had for a more modest expense, but there are still dues/costs to be paid and to be budgeted for. The benefit of organized groups, as you mention, are friend making and bonding activities. One goes to university to learn academic stuff, but its usually the social functions and outings end up being most memorable.
@Nerdyparent Fair enough. Although I doubt middle class families are happy with the idea of paying a second mortgage for junior to socialize…just saying.
The $8,000 per semester for fraternities quoted upthread seems a bit high. I’m just a non-Alabama parent, though. Below is a link to an article which appeared in the fall with the cost of all Alabama sororities. The most expensive is $4,500; the average is $3,300. Of course, Greeks tend to spend more on clothes, theme t-shirts, and socializing, which is not part of the bill.
It should be noted that Greek bills usually include a meal plan, and as soon as a freshman pledges they go from the mandatory $1,700 All-access meal plan to the Greek 55 plan, which costs $520 per semester. So a Greek house that costs $3,800 per semester really only costs $2,600 per semester after you account for the meals.
FYI - Most of the fraternity and sorority houses that serve meals do it Monday through Friday - 3 meals Monday through Thursday with breakfast and lunch only on Friday. The “Greek 55” plan would cover the other meals. You CAN opt out of the Greek 55 for a hefty fee, and you have to do it by a deadline. In addition, there are the mandatory Dining Dollars that every student has, and eating money can also be supplemented through Bama Cash.
I wondered why they call it the Greek 55 plan. I figured it’s because students go hungry the other 45% of the time.
But no:
First year students that are going to participate in an on-campus organization such as a fraternity or sorority are required to participate in the Freshman Dining Program. Since some fraternities and sororities also have their own mandatory meal plans, the University and Bama Dining are allowing new members of these organizations the option of choosing an alternative meal plan. These students will automatically have their meal plan reduced to 55 meals per semester with the option of choosing other alternative meal plans.
What are the Alternative Meal Plan Options?
Option 1 – Students that would like to have 55 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 55 meals. When the University generates an official list of all new Greek members, all students on that list will be automatically downgraded from their original plan to the plan with 55 meals per semester. After you receive your bid, please check your student account to verify that the meal plan credit has been applied.
Option 2 – Students that would like more than 55 meals per semester may change their meal plan to one of the following: Bronze 90 (90 meals per semester), Silver (160 meals per semester) or All-Access. Students may also add VIP Memberships to their 55 meals.
Even with the offset of a cheaper meal plan, it’s still not exactly cheap. I can imagine how fun it can be but there is a reason there exists horror stories of parents realizing all the hidden costs besides memberships that social greek life chapters put on students…just what I have observed.
The only way that $8000 number would be viable was if it was for someone living in house with food, so it’s room and board not just clothes/parties/beer/etc, not to mention that seems unrealistically high even for the larger houses.
Even if we factor housing and meal costs, the membership fees at these social greek life chapters are still pushing $2,000+. In my case I just see that money better spent elsewhere. Others may disagree and that’s fine. Just looking out for my pocket. My parents won’t pay a dime for anything associated with “greek” after the stories of people dying from hazing. It just isn’t for me but I respect those who play safe and have fun
@atomicPACMAN07 Without question Greek life is a luxury, just not as expensive a luxury as people make it out to be. The real expense is that you are hanging out with people who are always doing stuff that costs money, so there is just a temptation to spend more.
My parents won’t pay a dime for anything associated with “greek” after the stories of people dying from hazing. It just isn’t for me but I respect those who play safe and have fun 