Raise Your Bar: A Strategic Plan for Every SigEp charts a new vision for Sigma Phi Epsilon. The Fraternity’s strategic plan is for every SigEp, because every one of us will benefit as we reach our goals and because each of us has a role to play in our path toward the summit. The plan calls for our Fraternity, and every one of our undergraduates, alumni, parents and partners, to raise our bar as we pursue a shared, ambitious goal — being the largest and best fraternity on every campus where the SigEp flag is planted.

It calls for increased financial investment and unprecedented volunteer support. It challenges us to meet the needs of this and future generations of young men with development opportunities that are essential to success. It demands that we grow and share the SigEp experience with more men than ever before in our history.

Launched in summer 2024, the plan will guide SigEp through the 2027-’28 fiscal year. Alongside the plan, the Fraternity recommitted to our mission statement and launched a new vision statement. This vision statement looks forward to what will happen when we achieve our goals as set forth in the plan.

 

Mission:

Building Balanced Men

Cardinal principles:

Virtue, Dilligence and Brotherly love

Vision:

We envision a new generation of men who lead with purpose and strong personal values; develop a sound mind and sound body through healthy, disciplined habits; and fulfill their potential through lifelong relationships. We seek to be the largest and best fraternity on every campus, accessible to every young man — because a new generation of SigEp leaders can transform communities and change the world.

SigEp’s Path to Peak Performance

Raise Your Bar: A Strategic Plan for Every SigEp sets bold goals for our future — and we’re already making progress on our journey to becoming the largest and best fraternity on every campus where we plant the SigEp flag. Here’s how we’re doing it: by reaching more undergraduates, strengthening our Balanced Man Program–focused experience, engaging more volunteers and fueling it all through financial investment.

Growth

• Chapter count: 192
• Total undergraduate manpower: 12, 153
• Overall membership growth: 3%, 2024 – 2025 (factoring in retention)
• New member growth: 2%, 2024 – 2025 (under goal of 6%)

Undergraduate membershp by year, as of 3/1 annual membership report:

• 2021 —  10,016
• 2022 — 10,811
• 2023 — 11,064
• 2024 — 11,807
• 2025 — 12,153

Connecticut Alpha (Connecticut)
The largest and best fraternity at UConn, with more than 100 brothers, this chapter combines strong formal and 365-day recruitment with a valuable Balanced Man Program–centered experience. Upperclassmen stay around at high rates for events like the annual chapterwide brotherhood retreat. The chapter has held the highest GPA on campus for six straight years.

Wisconsin Theta (Wisconsin-Platteville)
This chapter’s peak performance is evident to everyone on campus. On a campus without a rush process, the brothers have become the largest Greek organization through an exceptional Balanced Man Scholarship that garners hundreds of applicants, and social media lead generation through Raise Your Bar+. The new Balanced Man Program helps them retain members, helping them reach double the size of the average fraternity on campus.

Why Growth?

Each year, thousands of young men walk onto campuses anxious about college, hungry for real friendship and in desperate need of skills that are critical to personal and professional success. Meeting their needs has never been more important.

SigEp is positioned to provide answers through the crucial interpersonal skills and deep, lifelong relationships young men need. Yet fewer than 10% of young men come into college wanting to join a fraternity, and many who do join pursue inferior experiences at other organizations.

We can and must bring more men inside our welcoming chapter environments — where development, in-person connection, friendship and brotherhood are alive and well. By virtue of our experience — unique on college campuses and superior to our competitors’ — we must impact more lives by recruiting and retaining more men in SigEp. For many years in the 1980s and 1990s, we were the largest fraternity, and we enjoyed a streak of at least 14 consecutive years of initiating the most men of any fraternity. By reclaiming our title as the largest and best fraternity, we can shape the next generation of young men who will go on to lead our society.

Development

Retention rate: Are members finding the SigEp experience valuable throughout college?

• New members FY21: 62.8% — May 2024 graduating class
• New members FY22: 65.2% — May 2025 graduating class
• 73.8%: rolling last four years — Includes all FY22, FY23, FY24 and FY25 new members

New Balanced Man Program pilot

• Over 3,500 members in pilot chapters
• BMP pilot chapters are seeing 16% fewer members resign
• 57 chapters experiencing the new BMP
• BMP pilot chapter growth: 10% over 1 year ago
• BMP pilot chapter growth: 16% over 2 years ago

Why Development?

Ninety percent of college takes place outside of the classroom. It’s in these unstructured hours that students discover their passions and plan their futures. For SigEps, much of this time is spent with their chapter brothers — it’s where they build close bonds of friendship and become balanced men with a sound mind and a sound body. They learn how to communicate and work with others, to lead, and to speak in front of a crowd. Our brothers accomplish all of this throughout their entire college experience in the Balanced Man Program.

Over the past few years, dedicated volunteers and educational experts have reimagined the cornerstone of our experience — the Balanced Man Program. Our BMP was transformational when introduced to Generation X in the 1990s. The new BMP is built for and refined by today’s students.

At a time when young men face record levels of anxiety, loneliness and uncertainty, colleges offer few solutions. SigEp does. As we scale the new BMP to more chapters, SigEp has an unprecedented opportunity to reach every brother with an experience that not only meets their needs but sets them up for a successful, fulfilling life.

Volunteer Support

2,880 total volunteers mentoring undergraduates and supporting chapters

599 volunteers stepped into new roles in the past 12 months

707 Core Four volunteers — crucial volunteer roles essential to every chapter’s success

• 185 chapter counselors providing overall mentorship
• 164 balanced man stewards overseeing the BMP
• 189 mentors for recruitment supporting growth efforts
• 169 mentors for communication guiding brand-building and generation of recruitment leads
• 153 open Core Four positions

Why Volunteer Support?

Fewer than 1 in 5 college men report having a mentor, yet research consistently shows the value of mentors who guide and show the way for young men. At SigEp chapters, data clearly shows a difference in chapter performance and the quality of our experience when there is sufficient volunteer support.

There is much to learn about relationships, leadership, management and coaching that is not taught in the classroom. Our undergraduates depend on volunteers to coach them and share their invaluable experiences and knowledge.

The pandemic normalized virtual meetings, and those have a place in SigEp to an extent, but we need volunteers who are present in our undergraduates’ lives and can challenge them to understand and reach their potential. SigEp has the most volunteers of any fraternity. We must continue to recruit, train and equip more volunteers willing to give their time to our undergraduate brothers.

Financial Investment

Contributions in support of our undergraduate experience in calendar year 2024 came from 5,343 generous brothers and friends

• $6,301,367: All giving to local and national funds
• $1,507,254: Giving to the Annual Fund
• 3,770 donors on Founders Day of Giving gave $1,247,104 in support of the BMP and SigEp’s national leadership programs

Chapter financial sustainablity as of 3/1/2025:

• 92 chapters owe $0 in membership, programs, services and insurance fees
• 14 chapters are working toward financial  sustainability with 100% of outstanding balances captured on a payment plan

Why Financial Investment?

The cost of higher education today has created real affordability and accessibility challenges for our young men to earn a diploma. Financial investment in the SigEp Educational Foundation will ensure SigEp never has to compromise the quality of its educational programming and can reach every SigEp with funding to benefit their experience.

Financial acumen in the country is at shockingly low levels. As our chapters continue to build long-term financial sustainability, SigEp has an opportunity to instill invaluable financial habits and build basic knowledge that is necessary throughout life.

As contributions from generous donors to our Educational Foundation grow, we can reduce the cost burden on undergraduates so more young men join SigEp and benefit from the lifelong impact of our experience.