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. Persons taking a single major in business administration are not eligible. Persons taking only the Bachelor of Music degree are not eligible.
2. Candidates must have completed a minimum of sixty hours of primarily liberal arts course work at Trinity by graduation.
3. Candidates must have completed at least one three-hour course in mathematics at the level of calculus or higher. Pass/Fail work is not accepted.
4. Candidates must have completed at least one course in a foreign language at the intermediate level or higher. Pass/Fail work is not accepted.
Criteria three and four are not satisfied by high school experience. Advanced Placement Credit is accepted. 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.