Requirements for admission to Phi Beta Kappa
Selection of student members, or members-in-course, is generally made in the student's senior year, although a few juniors (usually five or six in number) are elected each year. Students do not "apply" for election to Phi Beta Kappa; the Chapter screens student records.
The criteria for election to Phi Beta Kappa are determined by the Chapter under guidelines of the national organization. There are two stages in the selection procedure; to be eligible for election, the student must satisfy certain minimum criteria:
1. Candidates pursuing a single major in Business Administration or a Bachelor of Music degree are not eligible. Those pursuing a single Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Music are eligible.
2. Candidates must have completed a minimum of 60 hours of primarily liberal arts course work at Trinity by graduation. Candidates for election as juniors must have completed a minimum of 75 hours of primary liberal arts coursework at Trinity at the time of the election.
3. Candidates must have completed at least one three-hour course in Mathematics at the level of calculus or higher. Advanced Placement and transfer credits are accepted. MATH 1301, 1310, 1330, and 2303 are not accepted. This requirement is not satisfied by high school experience or pass/fail work.
4. Candidates must have completed at least one course in a foreign language at the intermediate level (2301) or higher. Note that SPAN 2301, though it is the second course in the Spanish sequence, meets this requirement. Transfer credit, Advanced Placement credit, and Languages Across the Curriculum courses are also accepted. This requirement is not satisfied by high school experience or pass/fail work.
Those who are eligible, based on the above minimum standards, are ranked on the basis of grade point average. Others who do not meet the minimum criteria may be nominated for membership by individual members of the Chapter.