Financial Aid and Greek Life

geminiking · May 27

Right now, my financial aid covers "room and board" and I am interested in rushing a sorority because of the housing. Does my financial aid help cover any greek life costs? Is living at a sorority house considered "off-campus housing"? Also, I am a junior transfer, is it worth it to even rush?

ucbalumnus · May 28

If you live in a sorority house, you should be considered as living in off-campus housing for financial aid purposes.

MYOS1634 · May 28

Sorority housing and dues are not considered for financial aid since they're elective.

twoinanddone · May 28

It's pretty unusual for juniors or seniors to live in the sorority house (on big campuses) unless they are officers. The houses just don't have enough room so usually sophomores and officers live in the houses and the others live off campus, sometimes together, sometimes not. I assume you have housing lined up for this year, your junior year, and if you join a house you wouldn't move in right away (you're in the dorm?)

Your financial aid package might cover R&B, but only if you live in the dorm. It really depends on what FA is covering that R&B. If it is a Pell grant, or loan, then yes, you can use it for off campus housing. My daughter had an athletic scholarship that would have covered R&B, but only on campus. She wanted to live off campus, so she had to pay her own rent.

ucbalumnus · May 29

For financial aid purposes, off campus housing is assumed to cost less than the campus dorms (by about $4k), but the variation in actual cost can be quite large.

https://financialaid.berkeley.edu/cost-attendance
https://saservices.berkeley.edu/calculator/

10s4life · June 12

Its worth noting beyond the simple dues and room/board there are many hidden fees with being in Greek life. Shirts for each event, trips here and there, formal it all adds up. I’m in a fraternity and outside expenses beyond dues totaled about 2,000 for the year. From friends in sororities Many Times the costs exceeded that.

cptofthehouse · June 12

You need to ask the financial aid officers at the schools. It can vary widely. The way I have most seen it done is that financial aid does cover off campus living either in one schedule or having a separate schedule for such cases. Greek housing is considered off campus housing. But that is not always the case

However, there are often separate rules for where a student can live under certain circumstances. Schools that need to fill housing may require students to live on campus. They may also require them to take a meal plan, sometimes there is no choice as to which meal plan. Yes, there can be different rules for athletes, financial aid, scholarship students.

If you are in a tight budget, it is important that you know these policies. At some schools, the financial aid schedules are a one size fits all, and that can be a problem when upperclassmen housing is more expensive than freshman housing, yet the aid is given on averages. Also, if you are required to live on campus, it can be more expensive for you than living off campus in certain areas. These things all can make a difference to the bottom line.

Walter924 · July 7

I think a double in a sorority house costs around 875$ a month, which is reasonable. Sororities have about 80 people living in each one. They're basically pretty apartment buildings. Rushing costs 40$ I think.
Rushing is sort of risky housing-wise because you should probably already have housing by the start of the year and sometimes it's hard to get out of your current housing and you end up paying your current housing plus the 1-2 thousand $s per semester of joining a sorority.
It's just off campus housing but with more community.
In summary, it's a possibility. You could also wait until spring semester.

Financial Aid and Greek Life

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