Person smiling in front of building

Phi Beta Kappa

The oldest honors society in the U.S.

Phi Beta Kappa Key

Membership in Phi Beta Kappa is prestigious and recognized across industries as a mark of excellence, breadth of knowledge, hard work, and leadership potential.

Seventeen U.S. Presidents, 39 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and more than 130 Nobel Laureates have been inducted as members, along with authors, diplomats, athletes, researchers, actors, and business leaders.

An Exclusive Honor

Only approximately the top 10% of students from only 10% of the nation’s colleges and universities qualify for Phi Beta Kappa.

Why Join?

This honor provides a competitive edge in the marketplace since employers, as well as graduate and professional programs, recognize the importance of the credential. Those invited to join Phi Beta Kappa truly are “the best of the best.”

At UWM

UWM’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa — the ETA Chapter — will celebrate its 50th year in 2024, and we are one of only two chapters in the UW System. Milwaukee and Madison are the only two public university chapters in Wisconsin.

10% of students from10%of colleges & universities
Phi Beta Kappa chapters2in UW system
Presidents, SCOTUS judges186+& Nobel Laureates
UWM’s Eta Chapter50years old in 2024

The “secret” Phi Beta Kappa handshake

UWM Land Acknowledgement: We acknowledge in Milwaukee that we are on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homeland along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida and Mohican nations remain present.   |   To learn more, visit the Electa Quinney Institute website.