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Registrar's Web Team
11 September 1997

IN THIS FILE

Honors
   Honor Societies for Freshmen  |  Phi Beta Kappa  |  Phi Kappa Phi
   Leadership and Service Organizations
   British Marshall, Rhodes, and Truman Scholarships
   Junior Fellows Program  |  College Scholars  |  University Honors
   Graduation with University Honors

Honors

Except as noted, the following programs, scholarships, and organizations are open to all qualified undergraduates. Honors available through the colleges and schools are described in chapters 2 through 12 of The Undergraduate Catalog.

Honor Societies for Freshmen

Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma are national honor societies that recognize scholastic attainment during the freshman year. New members are selected each fall and spring. Membership is offered to students who earn a grade point average of at least 3.50 during the first semester of their freshman year while completing at least twelve semester hours of coursework. Students who do not qualify during the first semester may become eligible by earning a grade point average of at least 3.50 for the first two semesters of work combined.

Phi Beta Kappa

Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and best known honorary society in America, was founded by students at the College of William and Mary in 1776. The Alpha of Texas chapter was organized at the University in 1904. Eligibility is limited to upper-division students of the Colleges of Fine Arts, Liberal Arts, and Natural Sciences who achieve distinguished scholastic records while taking the Bachelor of Arts; the Bachelor of Arts in Art with a major in art history; the Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Dance; or the Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Computer Sciences, Geological Sciences, Mathematics, Microbiology, Physics, or Zoology. The student must have completed at least sixty semester hours of coursework at the University.

Elections to Phi Beta Kappa are held in the fall and spring each year. Alumni members are occasionally selected from among graduates of at least five years' standing who have won appropriate distinction since graduation; honorary members are selected for special merit.

Phi Kappa Phi

Phi Kappa Phi is a national honor society recognizing academic achievement in all fields. Members are selected twice a year. Upper-division undergraduates are eligible for membership if they have completed at least one year of coursework at the University and have a University grade point average of at least 3.70. Juniors must have completed at least seventy-five semester hours of college coursework and must be in the top 5 percent of their class; seniors must have completed at least ninety semester hours of college coursework and must be in the top 7 percent of their class. Graduate students are also eligible for membership.

Leadership and Service Organizations

Mortar Board and Omicron Delta Kappa recognize and encourage scholarship, leadership, and service. Members of Mortar Board are chosen each spring; members of Omicron Delta Kappa are selected in the fall and in the spring.

British Marshall, Rhodes, and Truman Scholarships

British Marshall scholarships are for single United States citizens under the age of twenty-six on October 1 of the year of participation. Each scholarship offers two years or more of postgraduate study at any British university. Applications are due to the College of Liberal Arts in early September.

Rhodes scholarships are for single United States citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four on October 1 of the year of application. Each scholarship offers two years or more of postgraduate study at the University of Oxford. Applications are due to the College of Liberal Arts in early September.

Harry S Truman Scholarships are awarded on merit to students who will be seniors the following academic year. Candidates must plan to pursue a career in public service. Each scholarship covers tuition, fees, books, and room and board, to a maximum of $3,000 for the student's senior year. In addition, Truman Scholars will receive $13,500 yearly if enrolled in a two-year graduate program or $9,000 yearly if enrolled in a three-year graduate program. Applications are due to the College of Liberal Arts in late October.

Junior Fellows Program

The Junior Fellows Program provides recognition for outstanding students who have completed four semesters, or approximately sixty semester hours of coursework. Chosen annually from about the top 1 percent of the student body, junior fellows are given the opportunity to do independent study and research with distinguished professors of their choice and to have that research supported by small grants, if necessary. The program is administered by the College of Liberal Arts, but undergraduates in all colleges and schools are eligible to take part. Students who wish to be considered should apply in February. Application forms are available in the office of Liberal Arts Interdisciplinary Programs.

College Scholars

On Honors Day each spring, the University designates outstanding students as College Scholars. To be designated a College Scholar a student must meet the following requirements:

1. The student must be registered as an undergraduate for at least nine semester hours of coursework, unless he or she lacks fewer than nine hours to complete degree requirements. Students who hold an undergraduate degree are not eligible.

2. The student must have been registered at the University at least once during the preceding calendar year.

3. The student must have completed at least thirty semester hours of coursework at the University, excluding credit by examination, and at least sixty semester hours of college coursework, including transferred work and credit by examination.

4. The student must have a University grade point average of at least 3.50.

Students eligible for recognition receive invitations to the Honors Day convocation approximately three weeks before Honors Day.

University Honors

Each semester, undergraduates who complete a full course load and earn outstanding grades are recognized by inclusion on the University Honors list. Each time a student is included on the list, his or her official record also shows the award of University Honors for that semester. The list is compiled at the end of the fall and spring semesters but not at the end of the summer session. To be included, a student must earn at least forty-five grade points and a grade point average of at least 3.50 and must have no incomplete grades (symbol X).

Students are notified on the semester grade report of their inclusion on the list.

Graduation with University Honors

To be eligible to graduate with University honors, an undergraduate must have completed at least sixty semester hours at the University of Texas at Austin. Graduation with University honors is based on the average of all grades earned in courses taken at the University, whether the courses were passed, failed, or repeated. Courses taken pass/fail are counted in the sixty-hour minimum, but only letter grades (including Fs in pass/fail courses) are used to determine the grade point average.

The faculty of each college or school determines the percentage of the graduating class of that division to receive honors, high honors, and highest honors and the minimum grade point average for each category, subject to the following requirements:

1. No more than 20 percent of the May graduating class of each college or school may receive honors, high honors, and highest honors. No more than 10 percent of the class may receive high honors and highest honors. No more than 4 percent may receive highest honors.

2. Honors graduates must have a University grade point average of at least 3.30.

The faculty may adopt college- or school-wide standards or may designate grade point average and percentage requirements for each program within the college or school, but the percentage of the college or school class receiving honors, high honors, and highest honors may not exceed those above.

Percentage requirements are not applied to August and December graduating classes. The grade point averages established for May graduates are applied to the following August and December classes to determine honors, high honors, and highest honors.

	Rank	Minimum GPA [15]
School of Architecture
Honors	top 20%	3.30
High Honors	top 10%	3.30
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.30
College of Business Administration
Honors	top 20%	3.50
High Honors	top 10%	3.65
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.80
College of Communication
Honors	top 20%	3.465
High Honors	top 10%	3.665
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.865
College of Education
Honors	top 20%	3.50
High Honors	top 10%	3.65
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.80
College of Engineering
Honors	top 20%	3.50
High Honors	top 10%	3.70
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.85
College of Fine Arts
Honors	top 15%	3.30
High Honors	top 10%	3.60
Highest Honors	top  2%	3.85
College of Liberal Arts
Honors	top 20%	3.30
High Honors	top 10%	3.667
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.867
College of Natural Sciences
Honors	top 20%	3.30
High Honors	top 10%	3.667
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.667
School of Nursing
Honors	top 20%	3.30
High Honors	top 10%	3.30
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.30
College of Pharmacy
Honors	top 20%	3.30
High Honors	top 10%	3.30
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.30
School of Social Work
Honors	top 20%	3.30
High Honors	top 10%	3.30
Highest Honors	top  4%	3.30

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