Phi Beta Kappa | UMD

No, students may not apply for membership. Eligible students will be considered by the Members in Course Committee. Students selected for membership will be notified in April of their junior year, or in either November or April of their senior year.

You must officially register online and pay a one-time, life-time fee of $40 to become a member. In order to minimize the financial barrier to membership, UMD will pay just over half of the national fee, specifically $45 of the $85 fee. You will thus only pay the $40 remainder. After that, your name will be registered with the national Phi Beta Kappa Society. Students invited to membership will receive more specific instructions for registering online. If you need financial assistance for the $40 fee, please contact pbk@umd.edu

Per the national Phi Beta Kappa stipulations, a liberal arts and sciences course must “unambiguously embody the liberal arts and sciences.” It must focus on knowledge acquisition within the “traditional disciplines of the natural sciences, mathematics, social sciences, and humanities.” The course should not be centered on “applied” or “pre-professional” skills. While a liberal arts and sciences course might have elements of practical application, the focus must unambiguously be on knowledge acquisition in a traditional discipline—namely, on evaluation, analysis, synthesis, and interpretation using scientific and humanistic methods of inquiry. A course is not a liberal arts and sciences course if it takes knowledge developed in a traditional discipline and applies it to a particular practical field or career (e.g., Physics vs. Engineering, English vs. Journalism, or Government and Politics vs. Public Policy). Even courses within professional programs, though, may receive a liberal arts and sciences designation, depending on the content.

All courses approved for General Education count as liberal arts and sciences courses, with the exception of courses that have Scholarship and Practice (DSSP) with no additional GenEd designation(s). In addition, we maintain an expanding list of approved courses, including within professional programs.

If you have a question about whether a course counts, contact pbk@umd.edu. If you learn that we haven’t previously considered a course for inclusion, you may submit the course title, description, and syllabus to pbk@umd.edu for review.

Agricultural and Resource Economics
Agricultural Science and Technology
Architecture
Community Health
Computer Science
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Dance
Digital Storytelling and Poetics
Environmental Studies and Policy
Environmental Studies and Technology
Family Science
Hearing and Speech Sciences
Immersive Media Design
Information Science
Journalism
Kinesiology Landscape Architecture
Music: Professional Program
Nutrition and Food Science
Plant Sciences
Public Health Science
Public Policy
Studio Art
Theatre Performance
UMB Nursing Program

We reserve the right to amend this list as new majors are added. If you have any questions about whether your major is a professional major, contact pbk@umd.edu.

Yes, we accept four years of study of a second/additional language in high school towards the language requirement. Anything less than four years of coursework does not count, nor does training in different languages in different years. If you want to count high school language credits, we must be able to access your high school transcript to verify them.

Yes, any course determined to be a liberal arts and sciences course counts towards the Phi Beta Kappa requirements, whether taken at UMD or some other institution of higher learning. For a definition of a “liberal arts and sciences course,” see above.

Yes, students who graduate in August or December are considered as part of the fall review process in November.

Yes, transfer students are eligible for Phi Beta Kappa if they meet all the criteria for membership.

The chapter reviews the transcripts of all August and December graduates for eligibility in late October or early November. We review the transcripts of juniors and seniors for eligibility in late March or early April. Status as a junior or senior is based on credit hours rather than your specific date of graduation.

The chapter makes invitations to selected August and December graduates in mid-to-late November. We make invitations to selected juniors and seniors in mid-April. Status as a junior or senior is based on credit hours rather than your specific date of graduation.

If you believe you are eligible for selection but did not receive an invitation at the times specified above for sending out invitations, contact pbk@umd.edu to request a review of your transcript by the Members in Course Committee.

Yes, in order to minimize the financial barrier to membership, UMD pays over half of the national fee for our students ($45 of the $85), and our chapter has also declined to assess a chapter fee in order to keep your costs low. You will thus only pay $40. If you need financial assistance with the remaining fee, contact pbk@umd.edu. There is a national Phi Beta Kappa Student Fund that can cover fees for about 500 students per year. We can help you apply for that assistance.

If you have any questions, or would like advising towards qualifying for Phi Beta Kappa in the future, contact pbk@umd.edu.