<p>It can cost various amounts depending on the sorority, but dues are usually about $2000 per semester. Housing is not much differently priced than regular on-campus housing.</p>
<p>Wow that is a lot of money on top of tuition. I’m surprised so many can afford it. That does not include food if you live in the house, right? And sororities are not able to have parties in their house I assume? My son’s fraternity dues are less than that at his university and much of his dues go towards throwing all the fraternity parties. I’m surprised that joining a sorority would be so much if they do not have parties to pay for. Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>Sorry for not responding sooner. I’m not on College Confidential very often. Hope you will understand that I’m uncomfortable providing identifying information about my child since the chapters are relatively small at Lehigh (unlike a huge state school). In addition, I don’t want to skew anyone’s opinion about any particular house–even though I think his house is the best. 
Also, while his fraternity is a perfect fit for him, it might not be the case for everyone. </p>
<p>My older son attended a different college, and his Greek life experiences were completely different than our son’s experiences at Lehigh. It was like night and day. The other college had fall rush for freshmen and hazing was pervasive. That’s why we weren’t sure that our younger son would have any interest in Greek life after knowing what his brother experienced. He wouldn’t have tolerated hazing, and he didn’t experience any. Joining his fraternity has been a wholly positive experience for him at Lehigh. </p>
<p>Personally, I have been amazed by Lehigh, every single aspect of it. The only draw back is that I now know what I missed by not going to Lehigh. :)</p>
<p>Great posts Yocco1 and marky95. I have always thought it was odd there weren’t any parents of Greeks commenting. </p>
<p>These posts on College Confidential made me nervous about the whole Greek situation when my son was looking at Lehigh. But my son has also had a very positive experience in a fraternity. He is an engineering student and made Dean’s List both of the semesters he lived in the house!</p>
<p>I didn’t know that there were membership dues to join a fraternity or sorority. Do you still have to pay that much if you do not live in the frat house? Does everyone who belongs to the fraternity live in the house? Obviously I don’t know much about Greek life.</p>
<p>lubock, I have two sons that belong to national fraternities and both have fees. My older son is at a different college that has fraternity houses, but the houses aren’t residential, only social. There’s still a substantial amount that must be paid for upkeep of the house, social events, national dues, etc. </p>
<p>At Lehigh, my son will be living in the house. We have paid for three separate things: his room in the house, the food/chef in the house, and fraternity fees that I’m assuming cover dues and things such as social events, etc. Lehigh bills us for the room and we are billed separately from FMA (I think that’s the name) for the fraternity fees and the meals/chef.</p>
<p>lubock, I’m sorry I didn’t answer your last couple of questions. My impression–and someone please correct me if I’m wrong–is that for the first two years, you’re expected to live on campus (might not be required if local??), and living in the house counts towards living on campus. I’d imagine that if a fraternity or sorority member wanted to live off campus junior and senior year, that would be the same option for all students.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info.</p>
<p>Yes, students in Greek orgs can live in Greek housing their second year and off campus their fourth (I’m assuming third as well but students I’m familiar with lived in Greek housing second and third year).</p>
<p>Our son’s national dues are around $550 per semester. The cost to live in the fraternity house is the same cost as the dorms. The meal plans costs are about the same. I think there also dues for to be paid for the local chapter - maybe around $250 a semester. The local dues pays for activities the chapter chooses to do - movies, concerts, trip to Philly for a basketball game, and parties.</p>
<p>This is a year and half old thread, but also keep in mind that the Lehigh statistic is skewed in that it is taken in the fall before freshmen rush/pledge, I have a brother at Lehigh who says it is much closer to 70%</p>
<p>The statistics that the college give are accurate. A sibling isn’t exactly as reliable as the college that is required to submit those statistics and has access to the real numbers. Like you said, this thread is old, so you revived it to give your “brother at Lehigh’s” “statistic”…and “SAYS” it’s closer to 70 percent? </p>