Membership Rates

A member's subscription rate depends on two main factors:

On the type of membership.
On the economic status of your primary country of residence. Note that it is the mean income level of the country, not of the individual member, that is relevant.

Membership Types

There are five main categories of membership are as follows:

Full / Individual Membership
Full membership provides access to all the benefits listed above.
Student Membership
The benefits are the same as for Full / Standard Individual Members, but the costs are greatly reduced. To qualify for student membership, you must at the time of paying your membership fee be registered as a full-time or part-time student with a school, college or university.
Family Membership
A reduced rate family membership ($25 a year) is available to the second or further members of a family who live at the same address as a member who has already paid for a full or sustaining membership. Each family member receives the standard benefits of membership.
Sustaining Membership
Sustaining Membership is for those members who would like to contribute extra ($140 - $200 per year) to support the work of the Society. They receive additional minor benefits and their support is acknowledged in Society publications.
Lifetime Membership
Lifetime members receive all of the benefits of full membership without the need to renew each year.

Primary Country of Residence

As indicated above, the subscription rate for a member depends on the member’s Primary Country of Residence, and whether that country’s economy is classified by the World Bank as a High Income Economy, Upper-Middle Income Economy, or Lower-Middle or Low Income Economy. Note that it is the mean income level of the country, not of the individual member, that is relevant. This system is used by several international learned societies, both for fairness and to encourage membership in developing nations, which is where the majority of coral reefs are located. Please see the current World Bank country classifications. This list is updated on an annual basis.

By Primary Country of residence we mean the home country of the member, normally corresponding to their principal nationality. Thus, for example, a student from the Philippines studying in the USA would count the Philippines as their primary country of residence, while a scientist from the USA working in the Philippines would count the USA as their primary country of residence. However a person from the Philippines who has immigrated into the USA should count the USA as their new country of primary residence.