The Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS), founded in 1925, is the nation’s only certifying agency for college and university honor societies. ACHS sets standards for organizational excellence and for scholastic eligibility for the various categories of membership: general, specialized, leadership, freshman, and two-year honor societies. To assure member participation in governance, honor societies must be structured on a membership basis so that the interests of individual members are advanced.

Members and society-at-large are protected by the standards of excellence of the Association of College Honor Societies. Not all organizations calling themselves “honor societies” subscribe to the high honors’ standards of ACHS. Candidates for membership should assure that the honor society in question meets the rigorous standards of ACHS—both the business model and the scholastic eligibility criteria.