Phi Theta Kappa Facts
This information has been adapted from the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society website.
The Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society recognizes and honors community and junior college students for outstanding academic achievement. To be eligible for membership, a student must complete a minimum of 12 hours of Associate’s degree course work and earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher.
Founded in 1918, Phi Theta Kappa is the largest honor society in American higher education, with more than 2 million members and 1,200 chapters in the United States, U.S. territories, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Germany, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, United Arab Emirates, and Palau. Approximately 100,000 students accept membership each year.
In 1929, the American Association of Community Colleges recognized Phi Theta Kappa as the official honor society for two-year colleges.
The average age of a new member is 29. Many members bring life experience and a drive to succeed in higher education and beyond.
Member career and academic interests span every imaginable field, with the top five majors being nursing, business, education, health-related fields, liberal arts, and accounting.
Phi Theta Kappa membership represents the broad range of ethnicity found in the United States and other nations with chapters. Most American minority students start their higher education journey in community colleges.
The annual Phi Theta Kappa International Convention draws about 4,000 attendees from all 50 states and from chapters across the world.
Members develop leadership skills as chapter, regional, and international officers, and particularly through participation in the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Program and the International Service Program.
More than 600 senior institutions in the United States and beyond provide almost $40 million in scholarships earmarked exclusively for Phi Theta Kappa members. These institutions include Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Columbia, NYU, Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Boston University.
To fund service and leadership programs and initiatives, Phi Theta Kappa has received grants from foundations and agencies including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the National Mental Health Association, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.