Election is based upon the evidence of broad academic interests, scholarly achievement, and academic integrity. Candidates for membership in course should have a distinguished record of performance in liberal arts courses, exclusive of professional and vocational training, internships, and practica. They should demonstrate a broad exposure to the liberal-arts - the fine arts, humanities, languages, mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences - as well as substantial work in areas outside their major.
Election to membership in Phi Beta Kappa is entirely within the discretion of the members of Gamma of Mississippi chapter, subject only to the limitations imposed by the Chapter's constitution and bylaws. No right to election shall adhere to any student solely by reason of achieving a minimum grade point average and meeting other minimum requirements for membership in course.
Although the honor bestowed by membership in the Society recognizes academic achievement, the qualifications for election to Phi Beta Kappa are entirely independent of the academic policies of Mississippi State University. It should not be assumed that fulfillment of the requirements for graduation render one automatically eligible for election to Phi Beta Kappa.
Graduate Student Eligibility
Graduate students shall be elected to membership in course only in strict accord with the provisions of the Chapter constitution. Specifically, if graduate students in course are elected, they must be completing, with an unusually high record, at least two years of graduate study leading toward the Ph.D. degree, must meet the same standards as to liberal studies as are applied to undergraduates, and shall ordinarily be graduates of institutions not having a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and the possessors of a superior standing in their undergraduate work. The number of graduate students elected in any year shall ordinarily be limited to a maximum of five percent of the candidates for doctoral degrees in the liberal arts and sciences.