Honor society - American Education

Any Greek-letter or similar society whose membership is based on academic achievement in higher education. The oldest and most prestigious honor society in the United States is PHI BETA KAPPA, which limits membership to juniors who rank in the top 7.5% of their college classes and seniors in the top 10%. Phi Beta Kappa considers factors other than academics, however, thus limiting the number of annual new members to about 30,000. Other honor societies include the following:

• Alpha Lambda Delta: merged with Phi Eta Sigma and accepts freshmen in the top 20% of their class with at least a 3.5 grade point average.
  
• Gamma Beta Phi: accepts the top 10% to 20% of upperclassmen or students with a 3.25 GPA.
  
• Golden Key: accepts the top 15% of the class.
  
• Mortar Board: accepts the top 15% of the class.
  
• The National Society of Collegiate Scholars: accepts the top 20% of the class, or students with a 3.4 GPA
  
• Phi Kappa Phi: accepts the top 7.5% of juniors and 10% of seniors.