It had dropped significantly. According to a representative at Lehigh, “Lehigh’s website says there are 25 fraternities and sororities on campus. Greek membership today is 1,118, Friedman said, Lehigh’s undergraduate student enrollment is 5,178.” That’s about 22%. Also Lehigh’s newspaper, the brown and white stated “ According to a report by Lehigh’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, Greek participation at Lehigh is in decline. As of fall 2019, less than a quarter of Lehigh undergraduates were affiliated with a Greek organization on campus. That’s the lowest it’s been since the report began tracking such numbers in fall 2015 — down from a high of about 41 percent participation in spring 2016.” It is definitely on the decline.
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The best way to get this info is to search on thebrownandwhite.com and to go to Lehigh’s site and search for the office of fraternity and sorority affairs.
That is very cool, congratulations! I was awarded the Trustee Scholarship as well - years ago - but I had no idea it was only given to the top 1%!
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@tptptp Please bear in mind that the highest salaries typically go to STEM, accounting, and finance majors, and that location affects salary. Many Lehigh grads work in NYC, where they are paid well but also have hefty expenses. You cannot expect to graduate from Lehigh in any major and make that much. Look at the First Destinations Report. The info should be in there.
Thanks for the links to the data. I had missed it in thebrownandwhite.com
My D attends Lehigh - am I reading right? they sent sweatshirts to admitted students or have you committed? Sounds like they are stepping up their game!
My kid attends Lehigh. We think the drop is because of how they handled the pandemic perhaps? Lots of things kept changing from the administration. I know some schools did better or worse but Lehigh’s communications was pretty bad. Sophomores were told a couple of weeks before classes they could no longer live on campus which is required for that year. A lot of scrambling due to seemingly poor planning. My D had one in person class so we looked high and low for a place for her. Found it, moved her in and then they cancelled the class right before it was about to start. a lot of classes were asynchronous which was tough. It’s getting better but boy they had some terrible mistakes. My current senior in high school decided not to apply after watching what happened to his sibling.
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My son was accepted and didn’t get a sweatshirt, at least not yet.
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She hasn’t committed yet, and received the sweatshirt just about a week after she was admitted. Also, lots of nice swag came in the mail yesterday…buttons, stickers and a cute pendant.
DS was accepted but we have not received anything in the mail from Lehigh except an acceptance letter.
We received everything yesterday same as your description but the sweatshirt.
If any admitted students are interested, follow our class community on Instagram @lehigh_2025, and you can send in a pic/bio/proof of acceptance to be featured! It’s a great way to introduce yourself to your classmates. Also linked on the Instagram page is a discord server and groupme for admitted students.
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My daughter is considering Lehigh but still uncertain if its the school for her. She has some good offers from several other LACs as well as our state school. If there are any Lehigh parents or current students on this thread, we would be very interested to hear about your experience. Thanks in advance.
Lehigh enrolls kids in the theme of choice by simply expanding the area which is considered theme until all students are accommodated. If they need 1 floor full of rooms that’s easy, if they need 5 more rooms, then its 1 and a half floors in a big dorm, or whichever building has exactly that many rooms
@johnwall47 thanks for your reply yesterday and we would love to hear a student’s perspective. We toured Lehigh last week and were limited to a self guided outdoor tour with no interaction with anyone. It was a rainy day, so not many students were out so we couldn’t even get a sense of the campus vibe. Here are some of my daughter’s questions: What is the workload generally like for first year students (she would be in A&S)? What do student’s do for fun (where do they go, what do they do)? What is the hangout/party scene, and if you aren’t into this, what is there to do? What is diversity really like on campus - racial, socio-economic, geographic? Thanks for any insights.
@soboama I am a parent of a current student so perhaps I can help out with your daughter’s questions.
Lehigh is rigorous and is challenging for even the most accomplished high school graduate; workload will depend on a variety of factors: # of credits enrolled (course load) and the classes enrolled. My son is also A&S and found the Math classes especially rigorous – and he scored a 5 on AP Calc. Like any college, academics are a huge transition from high school.
For fun, Lehigh runs Lehigh After Dark that is sponsored by Lehigh and various student clubs and organizations along with many many other options for fun, alcohol free socializing. Your daughter should follow Lehigh’s Office of First Year experience Instagram and all the Lehigh “sub” Instagrams to get a sense of the many social things to do.
As for the demographics, look up Lehigh’s Common Data Set for the most accurate info on most demographics. Fully 50% of undergraduates are full-pay tuition students (paying the sticker price) so that might give some insight to socio economic status. Lehigh Admissions and the Lehigh website has a host of other data about where kids are from–at least 49 states, and Internaitional students too of course. Are there many students from PA/NY/NJ ? Sure, given it’s location–but my son has friends from CA, Florida and Atlanta too.
Hope this helps.
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Lehigh’s % of students participating is 35% overall after students join in the spring semester.
That’s helpful. Thank you.
@Alumnamom Thanks for offering some insight on what it’s like to be a student at Lehigh. We are from the south and my daughter currently attends a very racially diverse magnet school, so she is interested in how students from different backgrounds interact. Thanks for the insight on academics and the After Dark program - I’ll have her look into that. I think she wants to know that there are social options outside of the Greek system, and it seems there are. I’ve read previous CC comments on Lehigh Greek system and I’m unclear on whether it is currently operating. Do you have any idea what the arts scene is like on campus? Are students supportive of the arts or is it more of a sports focus? Arts vibrancy is a tough thing for us to get a sense of with all the covid restrictions. Also, do students go into Bethlehem much? We saw that there were some restaurants walkable from the campus. Thank you!
Lehigh’s Greek system is operating under the same Covid restrictions applicable to all student organizations. I understand that most recently (Jan 2021) the number of men and women joining fraternities and sororities this year actually increased; my son says a lot of his friends both male and female were looking for ways to connect more with a broader group of students admist the isolation of Covid (only first years were housed on campus this year and in much less density) so Greek life was appealing even in a largely virtual setting. Lehigh has culturally based fraternities and sororities too.
Lehigh has a lot of arts groups - voice, orchestra, several accapella groups, dance and band and the on campus Arts Center has a full array of student and professional performances for the campus and Betlehem communities. There is also a Bethlehem arts scene at Steel Stacks which is walkable from campus. NY is about 1.5 hours away via public bus so an easy day trip.
Sports vs arts? well Lehigh is division 1 NCAA school with many sports for men and women. One of things my son mentioned was Dance Fest – he says football players participated in it along with lots of different dance genres and ensembles and culturally based dance clubs.
Students are in Bethlehem daily as the campus sort of flows into the Bethlehem community. Many upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) live off campus so there are students all over the area immediately adjacent to campus. Coffee shops, restaurants, very accessible for walking.
Lehigh is about 60% white from data that’s been reported.