Membership in a fraternity or sorority provides leadership opportunities within respective chapters, volunteer within the Los Angeles community through service oriented work, and networking opportunities with professionals who graduated from USC along with any university or college.
New to the world of Fraternity/Sorority? Check out our Frequently Used Terms page!
Standards Financial Housing Time Commitment Scholarships & Support Standards
Standards
The fraternity and sorority membership experience includes layers of standards performance and accountability.
- Each fraternity and sorority chapter has expectations and standard operating procedures for members, either from their local or inter/national organization.
- Within each chapter are internal accountability processes for members lead by chapter officers, their peers, with guidance from the graduate and alumni/ae advisors.
- Each chapter belongs to a governing council which has bylaws to govern community expectations and operations
The USC Trojan Fraternity & Sorority Standards & Accreditation process serves as the annual recognition process for fraternities and sororities at USC. Fraternities and sororities remain in good standing with USC by completing the Trojan Greek Standards & Accreditation process, and remaining in good standing with their respective council and inter/national organization. For more information, please visit the “Standards and Accreditation” tab.
FinancialFinancial Commitments
Joining a fraternity or sorority is a lifetime commitment. With this commitment includes a financial investment into the membership experience.
Understanding financial investments are critical in during the exploration and joining processes. In an effort to support access to information while considering joining a fraternity or sorority, information is provided below and will be updated on a regular basis. The Trojan Fraternity & Sorority Community is committed to offering information on the membership experience and continues to expand available information.
Asian Greek Council
- Costs associated after joining could include monthly or semester membership dues which cover educational programs, leadership development, community service, and chapter initiatives.
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Interfraternity Council
- Costs associated after joining could include monthly or semester membership dues which cover educational programs, leadership development, community service and philanthropies, chapter initiatives, national organization fees, insurance, and some social events. Most fees are collected through an online platform managed by the local chapter or national organization.
- IFC fraternities with a chapter facility can also include costs of room and board and meal plans
- Typically, students make decisions to live in their chapter facility starting in November and through April. Students should talk with chapter leadership on live-in requirements and decision timeline. If a student is considering USC Housing, it is encouraged to consider the fraternity decision timeline alongside USC Housing. USC Housing encourages students to communicate early if changes to their housing status may occur.
- IFC Community offers an annual scholarship for students to support their academic and leadership contributions.
National Pan-Hellenic Council
- Costs associated before joining could include an application fee to the national organization. Students are encouraged to talk with the chapter or graduate chapter leadership on application fees.
- Costs associated after joining could include monthly or semester membership dues which cover educational programs, leadership development, community service, chapter initiatives, national organization fees, and insurance.
Multicultural Greek Council
- Costs associated before joining could include an application fee to the national organization. Students are encouraged to talk with the chapter leadership on application fees.
- Costs associated after joining could include monthly or semester membership dues which cover educational programs, leadership development, community service, chapter initiatives, national organization fees, and insurance.
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Panhellenic Council
- Costs associated after joining could include monthly or semester membership dues which cover educational programs, leadership development, community service and philanthropies, chapter initiatives, national organization fees, insurance, and some social events. Most fees are collected through an online platform managed by the local chapter or national organization.
- Panhellenic sororities with a chapter facility can also include costs of room and board and meal plans
- Panhellenic sororities provided the following details on financial investments (please note, costs are subject to change for 2021-22). View here.
- Typically, students make decisions to live in their chapter facility starting in November and through April. Students should talk with chapter leadership on live-in requirements and decision timeline. If a student is considering USC Housing, it is encouraged to consider the sorority decision timeline alongside USC Housing. USC Housing encourages students to communicate early if changes to their housing status may occur.
- Panhellenic Council provides a listing of available scholarships from local Alumnae Panhellenic groups and international organizations to support member academic and leadership contributions.
University Resources
- USC Hospitality Meal Plans
- USC Housing Brochures and Costs
HousingFraternity & Sorority Housing
The fraternity and sorority residential experience provides students with the opportunity to enhance their membership by creating a living-learning community for the fraternity or sorority, building on their university residential experience.
The fraternity and sorority residential community currently includes 25 chapter facilities located near the USC campus. Each chapter facility is privately owned, not owned by the university, and managed through either a local or national housing corporation. The area is served by the USC Department of Public Safety and the Los Angeles Police Department.
For those groups with chapter facilities, conversations on contracts and living in opportunities begin in the fall semester with most contracts due the first part of spring semester. Please note, if participating in a spring recruitment process, typically there is a brief turnaround of decision making in housing. Please invest time into understanding the fraternity and sorority housing requirements and university housing deadlines before joining to be sure you have all the information available when deciding on membership and housing.
Members should work directly with their chapter president, chapter or graduate advisor, or house director for questions on housing and costs.
Students looking to adjust their USC housing plans to live in a recognized fraternity or sorority facility or move in early due to recruitment and intake work directly with the USC Housing office.
Housing Timelines
In an effort to help students and their families understand the timeline for joining a fraternity or sorority and USC Housing timelines, below are a few dates to consider. FSLD will update as new information can come together.
The typical USC Housing Application Process + Fraternity & Sorority Recruitment & Intake Timeline:
October – November
- Some in demand non-USC housing locations begin their application processes
January
- Asian Greek Council, Multicultural Greek, and National Pan-Hellenic Council council informationals and chapter interest meetings
- Panhellenic and IFC structured recruitment
February
- USC housing application for next academic year is available
- AGC, MGC, and NPHC chapter interest meetings and intake begins
- Some Panhellenic & IFC house corporations begin their application process for the next year
March – April
- USC Housing room assignments
- Some Panhellenic & IFC house corporations begin their room assignments for the next year
Time Commitment
New Member and Candidate On-Boarding: To fully experience what the fraternity or sorority has to offer, those joining participate in an onboarding educational experience facilitated by the chapter to help acclimate them to the organization. This could be a range of 1-3 hours a week. Time includes learning history of organization and community, getting to know members, attending chapter meetings and programs, and participating in other chapter programs.
Active Members: Members can expect to invest 1-3 weekly chapter business meetings, educational programs, and events per week depending on the individuals level of involvement and leadership roles. Members provide local community service, support their chapter philanthropic events, and other engagements throughout the semester.
Scholarships & SupportScholarships are available for students and members from a variety of organizations, from the local chapter or council, international organizations, or local parent and alumni/ae/graduate groups to support the academic and leadership contributions for students to join a fraternity or sorority or remain in their chapter.
In an effort to highlight those in one central locale, its inevitable one is missed and we want to fix that. Please email us at uscfsld@.usc.edu if we can add a scholarship available for members.
University
USC Alumni Association
USC Academic Honors and Fellowships
USC Career Center Internships, Jobs, and Scholarships
USC Scholarships
USC Student Basic Needs Council | Chapter | International Organization
USC Interfraternity Council Scholarship
National Panhellenic Conference Scholarships Graduate Chapter | Alumni/ae Associations | Parent Groups
Interfraternity Parents Council
Intersorority Parents Council
Los Angeles Alumnae Panhellenic
Newport Harbor Alumnae Panhellenic
South Bay Alumnae Panhellenic
Greater Long Beach Alumnae Panhellenic
Glendale Panhellenic Alumnae Panhellenic
