In 2025, the enrollment cliff will begin to impact universities, and it is unknown how fraternities will respond.

Traditional fraternity life is growing at well-known Midwest universities. At Creighton, Greek life is thriving. Fraternity membership at the University of Iowa has grown by 400 in three years. Even Drake University is seeing a slight increase in students signing up for fall recruitment. 

But there’s a looming long-term threat for fraternities: the enrollment cliff.

When the Great Recession hit the United States in 2008, birth rates plummeted. Now, universities are preparing for a smaller college-age population, which hits this year. 

Professionals in the fraternity industry are monitoring the situation with caution. Some aren’t worried yet, especially while their communities are growing. Others, however, are far from worry-free. 

“I definitely think there is some nervousness and apprehension from industry peers around the enrollment cliff,” said Liz Cadwell, the director of fraternity and sorority (FSL) life at Drake.

Because everyone, whether they like it or not, is going over the edge. 

What is the enrollment cliff?

From 2007 to 2009, families suffered economic instability from the Great Recession. As a result, birth rates decreased by 4%, which doesn’t seem like much. In actual numbers, though, that’s a drop of over 185,000 kids in just two years. And so far, rates have yet to recover to pre-recession numbers, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And 18 years after the dip, people born during the downturn are approaching college age. Combine that with an overall decrease in the percentage of high school graduates attending college, and experts predict a 15% drop in college students from 2025 and 2029, according to The Hechinger Report. Universities could suffer. 

“The next decade will bring a significant enrollment drop for many institutions because of several factors including birthrate declines and demographic shifts,” said Carrie Phillips, a Texas Tech researcher. It’s “called the enrollment cliff due to the impact on colleges and universities who will face a major revenue loss if enrollments decline as predicted.” 

The national state of fraternities

After taking population hits during the pandemic, many fraternities are growing again. Representatives from the national headquarters of Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) and Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) reported growth since the pandemic, and Theta Chi has nearly doubled its membership since 2010. Fraternity life at certain universities is thriving, too. At Omaha’s Creighton University, for example, 38% of the undergraduate population is an FSL member, a 2% uptick from last year. But this growth isn’t universal. 

Rob Caudill, the executive director of Phi Gamma Delta nationals, said the pandemic caused a split — big schools kept growing and some small schools began shrinking, along with the respective fraternity chapters. 

“The large state schools, the flagships, they’re gonna get what they’re gonna get,” Caudill said. “That does come at the peril of the second-tier state schools or other smaller institutions.”

The predicted decrease in membership is an even bigger issue when chapters have a mortgage on a fraternity house. If membership is lacking, bills are hard to pay. 

“It’s difficult for me to imagine that, in the future, we’re gonna see a significant number of those big, traditional fraternity houses being built and renovated,” Caudill said. 

He believes that future houses will have fewer beds and more common spaces to maximize flexibility and prevent frequent issues of filling houses. While fraternities may not eliminate chapter houses altogether, some appear to be rethinking their housing approach. Creighton’s fraternities don’t even have chapter houses. But many members still live in small groups off-campus.  

“Mostly, we try to live together,” said Nick Fisher, a junior at Creighton and SigEp member. “Our houses are where we throw parties and where guys will come over. Everyone’s houses are still within walking distance, so guys will just show up to hang out.”

Even without one dedicated house, Fisher said Creighton’s fraternities have more facets than a club. They’re attached to a national fraternity organization and pay dues for events like date parties and formals. Housing is the key difference — which works at Creighton. 

“It’s not that different,” Fisher said. “We’re not limited by not having a house.”

A change in strategy 

For fraternities, the recruitment strategy is changing, too. Fraternities now lean into values and relationships — an approach that caters to Gen Z. 

In movies or television, fraternities are often depicted as organizations solely focused on partying — just a fraction of the actual experience. In reality, learning and development also resonate with Gen Z, according to research by education experts Corey Seemiller (PhD) and Meghan Grace (Ed.D).  

Their findings align with TKE’s observation of its members. Tom McAninch, the chief communications officer for TKE nationals, said its 2025 leadership conference sold out for the first time in 12 years. 

“Demand for leadership programming for general life skills is there,” he said. “They’re begging for them.”

Research also shows these leadership efforts are working. According to the North American Interfraternity Conference, 83% of fraternity men say confidence in their leadership skills increased because of membership.

Another growing need for young men is community. As inherently social organizations, fraternities struggled during the pandemic. Since then, some chapters’ recruitment approaches have changed. 

Caudill mentioned that Phi Gamma Delta implemented an organization-wide alteration in recruitment strategy. Now, each fraternity member focuses on only building relationships with one to three potential new members before asking them to join. This is contrary to previous styles of recruitment, where chapters just assumed people would show up during Rush Week. Caudill said that “rush mentality” doesn’t work anymore. Recruitment success comes from building relationships instead. 

Phi Gamma Delta isn’t the only national fraternity organization to realize this — TKE chapters emphasize personal relationship building, too. “When you have chapters that are not doing what they should be doing — not putting in the work to build relationships and meet these gentlemen…then (the enrollment cliff’s) definitely going to impact them a lot more,” said Luis Benavides, TKE’s Midwest regional director. 

So, while there aren’t many formalized plans to combat the enrollment cliff (yet), fraternities are focusing on building relationships during recruitment, sticking to their values and providing opportunities for men to become leaders. They’re also monitoring the enrollment issue. 

“I don’t know that there is a ton that we’ve worked on just yet,” McAninch from TKE said. “It’s certainly something that we’re keeping an eye on and talking to experts and making sure we’re in a good position both as an organization and financially.”