A Message From The Chairman

Scholarship: A Building Block of Sorority Life

For many women heading to college, the costs and burden of a higher education can be staggering. Prices are increasing for everything from tuition to textbooks. Our present-day scenario can often leave an incoming undergraduate and her family in dire financial need.

But Panhellenic women are offered a valuable option – through scholarship. Last year, NPC member groups awarded $2.8 million in scholarships to more than 1,600 members for undergraduate and graduate studies.

To put those numbers in perspective, average tuition and fees at public colleges rose 8.3 percent this year and, with room and board, now exceed $17,000 a year, according to the College Board. Approximately 28 percent of full-time private nonprofit four-year college students are enrolled in institutions charging $36,000 or more yearly in tuition and fees.

This February, NPC celebrates the “Month of the Scholar.”

We first began recognizing academic achievement with the Month of the Scholar initiative in 2000. NPC also provides a special planning resource to members to make sure academic excellence is top of mind throughout the college year. You can download “Academic Excellence: A Resource for College Panhellenics” on our website.

All NPC member groups stress academic achievement as a core purpose and set minimum standards for performance. According to NPC survey data, the average Grade Point Average (GPA) for reporting NPC member groups in the spring semester of 2010 was 3.18 on a 4.0 scale. For the fall semester of 2010, the average GPA for reporting NPC member groups was a 3.16 on a 4.0 scale. Most NPC member groups require their leaders to have higher GPAs in order to be elected or appointed to a position within collegiate chapters.

Rewarding our Panhellenic scholars on campus is accomplished in a number of creative ways – from publishing campus newspaper ads recognizing women with top grades to offering resume and job fair prep sessions. At some colleges, Panhellenic women with 3.5 GPAs or higher are recognized with a special half-time ceremony at basketball games or provided a free drink ticket to a local coffee shop.

While academic excellence is a founding tenet for the National Panhellenic Conference, all 26 member groups have resources in place to assist women headed to college providing yet another incentive for women to consider sorority life. The source of scholarship funding is also diverse from individual donors, local chapters, alumnae groups and member organizations. There is no bottom to the well of generosity that NPC women seem to deliver routinely for their sisters, especially if it means providing financial assistance to graduate.

If you can donate to a scholarship fund this month, we encourage you to do so. It may mean all the difference to a young woman’s potential contribution to the world.

Jane H. Sutton
Chairman 2011-2013