Phi Beta Kappa

Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honors organization. For more than 200 years, the Society has pursued its mission of fostering and recognizing excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, and its distinctive emblem, a golden key, is widely recognized as a symbol of academic distinction.

Students are elected to Phi Beta Kappa for their stellar academic performance. Undergraduate members of Phi Beta Kappa are chosen from the top 12 percent of the fourth-year class and the top 4 percent of the third-year class. Students must have earned at least 60 hours at the University of Virginia to be eligible; credits earned at other institutions are not counted in these computations. If you meet these basic criteria you are automatically considered, so it is not necessary to apply.

Students chosen for Phi Beta Kappa not only have earned a high grade point average but have also consistently demonstrated scholarship in the liberal arts. As a rule, students elected will have: (1) carried a full load of courses (15 credit hours per semester; not 12, as stated in the Undergraduate Record), (2) demonstrated proficiency in challenging advanced-level courses, and (3) chosen courses that reflect a scholarly commitment to the liberal arts in general (including a balance of courses in sciences and/or mathematics and the humanities and/or social sciences). In sum, the students who are elected choose programs that have breadth, depth, and rigor. Extracurricular activities are not taken into account.

We hope that students interested in being elected to Phi Beta Kappa will consider these criteria with their advisors as they select their courses throughout their years of study at the University. Questions about Phi Beta Kappa or its University of Virginia chapter should be addressed to Richard Handler (), president; Mary Stegmaier (), treasurer; or Karlin Luedtke (), secretary.