Theta Xi - Bradley University

page 3 Financial Needs and Opportunities "The most heartbreaking thing for me is to see hard-working students dropping out of college due to financial hardship. I did not have to worry about paying for school when I was an undergraduate and did not have to worry about how I would pay for my fraternity experience. I joined Theta Xi because they didn't fit into a box and did not force conformity upon their members. They accepted me for who I was and developed me into a better version of myself. My role as chapter treasurer forced me to grow up quickly, and it played a large part of my success in school and in my career. "Students are more cost sensitive than ever. My long-term dream is that no high-performing Theta Xi member at Bradley University will have to worry about paying for school, taking out an extra loan or working an extra part-time job to cover his college expenses. Building this endowment to help support members, develop them in all aspects of Theta Xi membership, and encourage them to live in the chapter facility through this scholarship is how we're going to build an Alpha Sigma legacy." -CRAIG JANUS '00 N ationally, rising costs of tuition, housing, textbooks, and other college-related expenses have put stress on the everyday college student. Scholarship programs have become even more critical to allow individuals to remain students at their university. Members at Alpha Sigma Chapter and students at Bradley University are no different. In the chart below you can see the rising costs of tuition over time and how that applies in different decades throughout our chapter's history. From historical Bradley University tuition public data (https://www.bradley.edu/dotAsset/a13c4c1d-975c-40c6-b171-02649479618f.pdf) 2019-2020 2010-2011 2000-2001 1990-1991 1980-1981 1970-1971 1960-1961 1950-1951 Year Tuition and Fees Room and Board Total Total (Adjusted for Inflation) % Change from 19-20 School Year (Based on Previous Column) $34,200 $25,424 $14,610 $8,534 $3,626 $1,900 $650 $400 $10,940 $7,950 $5, 460 $3,750 $1,710 $945 $710 $470 $45,140 $33,374 $20,070 $12,284 $5,336 $2,845 $1,360 $870 - $39,203 $29,853 $24,073 $16,587 $18,781 $11,768 $9,246 - 13.15% 33.87% 46.67% 63.25% 58.39% 73.93% 79.52% G rowing college debt is a national trend. Since 2004, the average amount of student debt at graduation has grown 56%—more than double the rate of inflation. Bradley University students face the same challenges as their peers nationwide and debt owed after graduation has continued to grow. Bradley University Average Debt of Graduates (2017-18): Proportion of Graduates with Debt (2017-18): $29,233 69% The Institute for College Access & Success (https://ticas.org/posd/map-state-data#overlay=posd/state_data/2018/il) Because our fraternity is an extracurricular organization that needs membership dues to fund its operations, these trends of increased costs hit our members hard. It is heartbreaking to see men who would be great members of Theta Xi decline membership or choose to leave for financial reasons. Our brothers operate on a sound budget and stretch every penny, but there are opportunities for great men we are missing. "The scholarship took away the worries of paying for college. I am paying for my college experience and this helped lift the smaller expenses off my shoulders to relieve the stress of how I was going to pay for some of the basics." -JOE TARNOWSKI '20 RISING COSTS GROWING COLLEGE DEBT SCHOLARSHIP IMPACT "Money is a huge deal for today's college student. These scholarships proved to my parents the quality of men in my chapter and pushed them to allow me to join. Now I'm making lifelong friendships and memories I'll have forever." -NATHAN WAGNER '21

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