Information Alert!

At any given time, many organizations call themselves honor societies while operating more like profit-making ventures. In ACHS’s opinion, these societies offer little or no benefit in advancing student scholarship and leadership, and membership in them does not indicate that a student has attained “superior scholastic achievement” as defined by both the Association of College Honor Societies and the United States Office of Personnel Management.

Membership in ACHS guarantees that a society meets strict criteria designed to ensure student growth and tangible, lifelong benefits to belonging. Certification for membership is provided by the ACHS credentialing body only to organizations that complete a qualifying petition for membership.

ACHS strongly encourages all students and their parents to carefully examine invitations to join a society. Is it from an ACHS-certified honor society? If not, is it from a legitimate honor society, one that is a non-profit organization that bases acceptance on academic standards? ACHS recommends that you do not commit to a financial obligation until you verify that membership in any non-certified organization is, in fact, an honor that confers real meaning. 

Need help determining if the invitation is from a 501(c), tax-exempt nonprofit? See https://www.guidestar.org/Home.aspx or use the IRS tax-exempt lookup tool at https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search. Note: a for-profit corporation can have a nonprofit arm or foundation, but that is not the same as being fully a nonprofit organization.

ACHS Resources 

To assist you in making these determinations, we have developed tools you can use to verify that an organization truly exists to bestow an honor upon and provide a service to you or to your student. If any of these criteria are not met, we strongly encourage you to carefully consider your options.

Also see:

• How to Judge the Credibility of an Honor Society

• ACHS Checklist for Students, Parents and School Administrators to Evaluate Non-Certified Honor Societies

External Articles for Further Reading: 

• How to tell sketchy honor societies from legitimate ones (USA Today) 

• College Honor Society Scams Prey on Students and Parents (GoodCall.com)

• SHSU Warns Students (The Houstonian)

Certified member societies of the Association of College Honor Societies can be found at quick_link.