How to Judge the Credibility of an Honor Society

Choosing the right honor society can significantly impact your academic and professional trajectory. The right society should align with your specific goals, values, and field of study, ensuring that you receive the most relevant and beneficial opportunities. An appropriate honor society can offer tailored resources, valuable networking connections, and meaningful recognition that can enhance your resume and open doors to scholarships and career advancement. Conversely, selecting an organization that doesn't fit your interests or lacks credibility may result in missed opportunities and diminished value. By carefully choosing an honor society that complements your aspirations, you ensure that your membership contributes effectively to your personal and professional growth.

ACHS can help with narrowing your search.

Simply put, not every “honor society” is what it appears to be. To be a smart consumer, you need to have a basic understanding of certification of honor societies and the difference between certified honor societies and organizations that purport to be honor societies when in fact they are not. Certified member societies of ACHS are reviewed regularly to make sure they meet the requirements established and refined over the past 100 years by their peers as well as complement the standards set forth by the Council for Advancement of Standards (CAS).

Not every organization that calls itself an honor society chooses to or is eligible to join ACHS and undergo our review process. While some organizations that are not currently members of ACHS might meet some or all of our membership requirements, we also advise caution as anyone can slap the words “honor society” on their organization regardless of their membership criteria. Many decades ago, the higher education community recognized a difference between honor societies and recognition societies. Honor societies maintain academic standards while recognition societies do not. Check out the article that appeared in Baird’s manual as early as 1949.

Judging Credibility

Things to Look for to Determine Credibility of an Honor Society

If an honor society has not been certified as meeting the high standards of the Association of College Honor Societies (it is not in our directory of member Societies), examine the following criteria:

Does the organization require minimum scholastic criteria?

Undergraduate (Specialized and Leadership) – Rank in no more than the upper 35% of the class. Per the ACHS Bylaws, the top 35% should be no lower than a 3.3. ACHS member societies use class rank because of that variability. A 3.0 is likely too low in this age of grade inflation.
Undergraduate (General) – Rank in no more than the upper 20% of the class. Per the ACHS Bylaws, the top 20% should be no lower than a 3.5. ACHS member societies use class rank because of that variability. A 3.0 is likely too low in this age of grade inflation.
These criteria are minimum ones; many societies have higher standards.

Does the organization provide transparent governance?

Includes membership participation in setting authority for control of the affairs of the organization.
Organization is governed by officers/board members elected by the membership.
Allows membership participation in approving and amending bylaws.
Regularly provides full financial disclosure.
Is recognized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization by the Internal Revenue Service or is a subordinate of another 501(c)(3) organization.

Does the organization have campus chapters?

Formal chartering of each campus chapter by institution and college/department petition, approved by official action of the governing body of the national organization.
Candidate selection by the campus chapter.
Membership invitation by an official chapter.
Chapter representation in national governance.

Does the organization have a website that includes the following items accessible by the general public (missing items raise questions of credibility):

National elected officers and headquarters staff
National office mailing address, telephone, fax, and e-mail address
Public disclosure of criteria for membership
Benefits of membership
Membership fee
Bylaws
Chapter charter policies and procedures

Additional Factors that Raise Questions about Credibility

Address limited to Post Office Box/no physical address
Web site items (above) missing, especially bylaws, which means there is a lack of transparency and openness
Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director contact information is missing
Online application with no local, campus chapter - certified honor societies issue invitations to all qualified candidates from their institutional chapters
Vague and flexible eligibility standards
No institutional chapter structure
Lack of non-profit status (not sure if it’s a non-profit? See https://www.guidestar.org/Home.aspx.)