How Much Are Fraternity National Dues? 2026-27 Fee Schedules From 9 Headquarters

Fraternity national dues run about $100 to $220 per member per year at the nine headquarters that publish a fee schedule, with a median of roughly $195. That number is only the dues line. Once the national liability-insurance or risk-management fee and the smaller assessments are added, the total a chapter remits to headquarters for one initiated member is $415 to $491 a year (Beta Theta Pi $415, Kappa Alpha Order $425, Tau Kappa Epsilon $450, Pi Kappa Phi $471, Zeta Beta Tau $491.33 for 2026-27). Joining adds a one-time new-member fee plus an initiation fee of $265 to $480 combined, before insurance.

National dues are separate from chapter dues. The chapter collects both from the member on one bill and remits the national share by headquarters' deadline, usually October 1 and a date in late January or February. Below are the published 2025-26 and 2026-27 figures, organization by organization, with links to each source. This page is written by Dueflow, a dues-collection platform for chapters, and every number comes from the fraternity's own document.

What are fraternity national dues?

National dues are the per-member fee an inter/national fraternity or sorority charges its chapters each year to fund headquarters staff, leadership programs, chapter services, expansion, and the magazine. Headquarters invoices the chapter, not the individual, based on the roster the chapter reports. The chapter treasurer then bills each member and forwards the money.

Most headquarters bill three kinds of per-member charges, and the names vary by organization:

Annual membership dues (also called the National Active Fee, Annual Membership Fee, or Student Membership Fee), billed once a year or once per term.
Liability insurance or risk-management assessment, billed per initiated member each year and often larger than the dues themselves.
One-time joining fees: a new-member (candidate, associate, pledge, induction) fee at bid acceptance, and an initiation fee that covers the badge, certificate, and lifetime membership.

Some organizations add small line items such as a foundation contribution, a housing fund, a bonding fee, a software fee, or a per-chapter convention assessment. Chapter dues, house fees, parlor fees, social budgets, and council dues are all local and sit on top of everything below.

Published national fee schedules, fraternity by fraternity

Figures are per member in US dollars, taken from each headquarters' current published fee schedule on September 20, 2026. Fiscal years differ, so each entry states which year it covers. Insurance and risk-management fees are listed separately from dues where the source separates them.

Tau Kappa Epsilon (2026-27)

Annual Membership Fee: $215 per man for the year, or $123 per semester in two installments (the split option costs $31 more).
Risk Fee base: $235 per man.
Candidate Fee: $125 per man. Initiation Fee: $200 per man ($325 with the Candidate Fee), or a one-time initiation option of $800 ($925 with the Candidate Fee).
Chapter Assessment Fee: $780 per chapter per year.
Source: TKE Finance: Fee Structure 2026-2027 and the Grand Council announcement.

Beta Theta Pi (2026-27)

Annual Dues: $199. Insurance: $191. Heritage Fund: $25. Total annual fees for an initiated member: $415, billed as $207.50 in the fall and $207.50 in the spring.
New Member Fee: $165 one-time. Initiation Fee: $315 one-time. Total first-year fees for a fall new member, including insurance: $783.
Prior year for comparison: $402 total annual fees in 2025-26 (dues $192, insurance $185).
Source: 2026-27 Membership Costs (PDF) and 2025-26 Membership Costs (PDF).

Zeta Beta Tau (2026-27)

Returning brother, per person: National Dues $104.05, Risk Management Dues $53.05, Bonding Fee $5.30, Chapter Fees $53.05, re:Members Fee $7.44, Liability Insurance $234.46, Foundation Contribution $18.98, National Housing Contribution $15.00. Total: $491.33.
New initiate: Initiation Fee $355.35 plus first-semester National Dues, Housing, and Risk Management. Total new-initiate fees: $534.33.
Prior year for comparison: $473.00 returning and $518.00 new initiate in 2025-26.
Source: 2026-2027 Fees and Dues (PDF) and 2025-2026 National Fees and Dues (PDF).

Delta Upsilon (2026-27)

Roster/Membership Fee: $110 per man, billed on the fall roster (September 2) and again on the spring roster (January 11).
Associate Member Fee: $110 per man within seven days of pledging. Initiation Fee: $285 per man within seven days of initiation.
Chapter Fee: $1,125 per chapter in the fall and $1,125 in the spring. Late fees: $10 per associate member and $20 per initiate.
Source: 2026-2027 Fee and Reporting Information (PDF).

Pi Kappa Phi (2026)

Member dues: $85 per member for spring 2026 and $86 for fall 2026, $171 a year, billed twice.
Risk management and insurance assessment: $300 per member for 2026-27, billed in April with a 10% discount for early payment.
Pre-initiation fee: $70 per associate member (about $95 with The White Diamond and pin). Initiation fee: $195 per member plus a required $20 badge.
Source: A Year in the Life of a Pi Kappa Phi Chapter, 2026 (PDF).

Phi Kappa Sigma (2025-26)

Student Membership Fee (annual dues): $200 per member.
New Member Fee: $125 per new member. Initiation Fee: $325 per new member.
Headquarters publishes a total four-year cost of membership of $1,122.57 for the 2025-26 rate, up from $1,076.77 the year before.
Source: Fee Schedule 2025-2026 (PDF) and the Parents page.

Delta Chi (2026-27)

Membership Dues: $95 per member billed October 15 and $100 per member billed February 15, $195 a year. Housing Initiative: $15 per member each term.
Associate Member Dues: $135 per associate. Initiation Dues: $250 per initiate.
International Convention Assessment: $1,250 per chapter. The Risk Management Assessment is set per chapter from its RMA calculator and June 30 roster, billed 60% in the fall and 40% in the spring.
Prior year for comparison: dues of $90 and $95 ($185 a year) and a $125 associate fee in 2025-26.
Source: 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 Schedule of Dues (PDF).

Kappa Alpha Order (current published rates)

National Dues: $190 per man per year (half in the spring if joining in the fall).
Risk Management Assessment: $235 per man per year.
Induction Fee: $125 one-time. Initiation Fee: $300 one-time.
Source: New Member Experience.

Alpha Delta Phi (current published rates)

Annual Membership Fee: $175 per member (USD), billed September 1 and due September 15.
Initiation/New Member Fee: $350 per new member (USD). Late payment adds $50 per new member.
Source: Alpha Delta Phi Fees.

What the schedules add up to

Dues line only: $104 (ZBT) to $220 (Delta Upsilon, two $110 roster billings) per member per year; median about $195.
Dues plus insurance or risk fee: $415 to $491 per member per year at the five headquarters that publish both.
One-time joining cost (new-member fee plus initiation fee): $265 (Pi Kappa Phi) to $480 (Beta Theta Pi), before any insurance billed in the first term.
Per-chapter assessments on top of per-member fees: $780 (TKE) to $2,250 (Delta Upsilon) a year where published.

How much do national dues go up each year?

Three of the organizations above publish two consecutive years, which makes the increase visible. Beta Theta Pi's total annual fees rose from $402 to $415 (3.2%). Zeta Beta Tau's returning-brother total rose from $473.00 to $491.33 (3.9%). Delta Chi's membership dues rose from $185 to $195 (5.4%) and its associate fee from $125 to $135. Phi Kappa Sigma's stated four-year cost rose from $1,076.77 to $1,122.57 (4.3%), and its schedule notes the increase is capped by its constitution and by the average of comparable fraternities. A treasurer building next year's budget should plan on 3% to 5% more per member than this year's headquarters invoice.

Why sorority national dues are harder to find

National Panhellenic Conference sororities generally do not post a public fee schedule. Their national fees appear instead on campus-level financial transparency forms. The University of Delaware Panhellenic Council's spring 2025 form for Sigma Kappa, for example, lists an inter/national fee of $117.00 in the new-member term and $51.00 per semester for active members, alongside a $272.00 badge and initiation fee, inside all-in term totals of $1,073.50 for new members and $687.00 to $762.00 for actives (source). If you are pricing a sorority, ask the chapter for its financial transparency form or check the campus Panhellenic site.

How national fees show up on a member's bill

Headquarters bills the chapter, so a member never sees the national invoice. What the member sees is a chapter bill that bundles national dues, insurance, chapter dues, and any house or social fees into one amount, often without labels. Two things follow from the schedules above.

First, the timing is fixed and the penalties are per head. TKE's Annual Membership Fee is due October 1, Delta Chi bills October 15 and February 15, Beta splits its $415 into two $207.50 terms, and Delta Upsilon charges $10 to $20 per man when a chapter pays late. A chapter that gives members until Thanksgiving to pay fall dues is floating headquarters' money for two months or eating the late fees.

Second, itemizing pays. When national dues, insurance, and chapter dues are separate charges on the member's bill, a parent can see that $450 of a $1,400 semester is a pass-through set by headquarters, and the treasurer can put the national portion on a shorter due date than the local portion. On Dueflow, treasurers create each fee as its own charge, put the national share due before the headquarters deadline, and let members split the rest into a payment plan on autopay. Chapters pay $0 for the platform; the member covers processing at checkout. See how dues collection works or run your numbers in the payment plan generator.

How to budget for national fees as a treasurer

Download this year's fee schedule from headquarters and list every per-member and per-chapter line, with its due date.
Multiply per-member lines by your projected fall and spring rosters, including expected new members, and add per-chapter assessments.
Set the national portion of member dues to come due at least two weeks before the headquarters deadline, so late members do not create a chapter late fee.
Add 3% to 5% to next year's projection if headquarters has not published the new schedule yet.
Show the national line separately on the member bill and in the chapter budget so members and parents can see what the chapter controls and what it does not.

Common questions about national dues

Are national dues the same as chapter dues?

No. National dues are set by headquarters and are the same for every chapter of that fraternity. Chapter dues are set by the chapter to cover its own budget and vary by campus. The member pays both on one bill.

Does the national fee include insurance?

Usually not in the dues line, but the insurance or risk-management fee is a separate national charge on the same invoice, and at most of the organizations above it is as large as or larger than the dues: $191 at Beta, $234.46 at ZBT, $235 at TKE and KA, $300 at Pi Kappa Phi.

Can national dues be paid from a 529 plan?

No. Dues, insurance, and initiation fees are personal expenses, not qualified education expenses. Only chapter-house rent and a meal plan can qualify as room and board. See Can you pay fraternity or sorority dues with a 529 plan?.

What happens if the chapter pays headquarters late?

The schedules above publish per-man late fees ($10 to $50) and higher fee tiers for late new-member and initiation payments, and unpaid balances can hold up initiation materials or chapter standing. That is why chapters enforce their own due dates on members; the enforcement guide covers what works.

Do national dues vary by chapter size?

Per-member fees do not, but per-chapter assessments (TKE's $780, Delta Chi's $1,250, Delta Upsilon's $2,250) cost a 30-member chapter far more per head than a 120-member chapter. Small chapters should budget those as a fixed cost, not a per-member one.

Sources

Tau Kappa Epsilon, Finance: Fee Structure 2026-2027 and The 2026-27 Fee Structure (March 2026).
Beta Theta Pi, 2026-27 Membership Costs and 2025-26 Membership Costs.
Zeta Beta Tau, 2026-2027 National Fees and Dues and 2025-2026 National Fees and Dues.
Delta Upsilon, 2026-2027 Fee and Reporting Information.
Pi Kappa Phi, A Year in the Life of a Pi Kappa Phi Chapter (2026).
Phi Kappa Sigma, Fee Schedule 2025-2026 and Parents.
Delta Chi, 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 Schedule of Dues.
Kappa Alpha Order, New Member Experience.
Alpha Delta Phi, Fees.
University of Delaware Panhellenic Council, Sigma Kappa Financial Transparency Form, Spring 2025.

Published by Dueflow. All figures were read from the linked documents on September 20, 2026. Headquarters revise fee schedules every year, so confirm the current amount with your organization before budgeting. Spot an outdated figure? Email hello@dueflow.co and we will correct it.