National Honor Society: Requirements, How to Get In, the Scholarship, and What Colleges Think
By Rona Aydin
What Is the National Honor Society?
The National Honor Society is the oldest and best known honor society for American high school students. The National Principals Association, long known as the National Association of Secondary School Principals, founded it in 1921, and the same organization runs the National Junior Honor Society for the middle grades and a national association of student councils.
Membership is local. A student is selected by the chapter at his or her own school, and a student at a school with no chapter cannot join. There is no national application, and membership cannot be bought.
What Are the National Honor Society Requirements?
Selection rests on four pillars. Scholarship is the gate: only students who meet the chapter’s GPA standard become candidates. The other three are then weighed by the chapter.
| Pillar | National rule | What the chapter decides |
|---|---|---|
| Scholarship | Cumulative GPA of at least 85, B, or 3.0 on a 4.0 scale | Whether to require a higher GPA |
| Service | Voluntary contributions to the school or community, made without compensation | The specific requirements |
| Leadership | Experience drawn from school or community activities, working with or for others | The specific requirements |
| Character | Cooperation, honesty, reliability, courtesy, respect for others, and generally a clean disciplinary record | The specific requirements |
Two details matter for planning. The GPA is cumulative, so 9th grade counts toward it. And a chapter may set the bar well above 3.0. The number that applies is the one in the school’s own published selection procedure.
How Do Students Get Into the National Honor Society?
Students in grades 10, 11, and 12 who have been enrolled at the school for one semester and who hold the required GPA are eligible to be considered. Each chapter decides in which of those grades it selects, and many hold selection once a year.
The usual steps are these. The chapter identifies the students who meet the GPA standard and tells them they are candidates. Candidates complete an information form, and often a short essay, describing their service, leadership, and activities. A faculty council reviews the forms and votes, and the process ends with an induction ceremony. Every chapter is required to publish a description of its selection procedure in an official school publication, and the chapter adviser can say when the cycle runs.
The form rewards a record that already exists. Oriel Admissions advises sophomores to find out their chapter’s GPA cutoff and service expectations at the start of the year, so that the hours and roles the council looks for are in place before the candidate form arrives. In the essay, one specific account of a commitment the student kept is stronger than a list that touches every pillar.
What Do Members Have to Do?
Membership is an obligation as well as an honor. Members attend chapter meetings and take part in chapter service projects and in individual service, and the chapter’s bylaws set out the details. A member who stops meeting the standards can be dismissed under those bylaws.
The time involved is modest at most schools. What a student makes of it varies widely, and that difference is what a college later sees.
What Is the NHS Scholarship?
It is the national award for senior members. Since 1946 the organization has awarded more than $30 million in scholarships, and in the current cycle it is awarding $2 million to 600 students. That comes to about $3,300 per recipient on average, by Oriel Admissions calculation, with larger awards at the top. Recipients are selected on the four pillars.
| Step | Date |
|---|---|
| Application opened | September 3, 2026 |
| Submission deadline | November 20, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time |
| Applicants notified | Mid-January 2027 |
| Trip to Washington, DC for the top 25 finalists and their advisers | Late February 2027 |
To apply, a student must be a high school senior, an active member in good standing of a chapter, and the holder of an NHS student account verified by the chapter adviser, and must plan to pursue a degree at an accredited US college or university, military institute, or trade school. There is no limit on the number of applicants per chapter.
Does the National Honor Society Matter for College Admissions?
A little, and less than its reputation suggests. Membership belongs in the Common App Honors section, and it confirms what the transcript already shows: strong grades and a clean record. Because so many strong students hold it, it does not set an applicant apart at a selective college.
The work behind it can. A chapter officer who ran a tutoring program for two years, or a member who built a service project that outlasted the school year, has something to describe in the activities list and in essays. In the view of Oriel Admissions, the membership is worth accepting and the leadership is worth pursuing, and neither should take time from the one or two commitments that define a student’s application. Our guides to extracurricular activity tiers and leadership activities explain how admissions readers weigh the difference.
How Should a Student List It on an Application?
As an honor, in one line, with the grade levels in which it was held. If the student held an office or led a project, that belongs in the activities list, where there is room to state the role, the hours, and the result.
A student with a full list of stronger honors can leave it off. The Honors section holds five entries, and national or state recognitions, academic awards, and competition results usually say more.
What If a Student Is Not Selected?
Selection is the chapter’s decision, and its published procedure explains how it is made and whether a student can be considered again in a later cycle. A student who misses the GPA line as a sophomore can often qualify as a junior.
Nothing is lost in admissions terms. Service, leadership, and grades count the same with or without the membership, and a student can build all three through any club, team, job, or independent project. Our guide to what counts as an extracurricular covers the options.
Are Honor Society Invitations by Mail the Same Thing?
No. Membership in the National Honor Society comes only through the chapter at a student’s own school, after selection by its faculty council. An invitation that arrives by mail or email from an organization that asks for a membership fee is from a different organization, whatever its name suggests. A family can confirm a real invitation with the school’s chapter adviser.
Frequently Asked Questions About the National Honor Society
A student in grades 10 through 12 must have been enrolled at the school for one semester and hold a cumulative GPA of at least 85, B, or 3.0, or the higher standard the chapter sets. Candidates are then evaluated on service, leadership, and character.
The national minimum is a cumulative GPA of 85, B, or 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Each chapter may require a higher GPA.
No. Membership is open to students in grades 10 through 12.
The chapter at the school identifies students who meet its GPA standard. Those candidates submit information about their service, leadership, and character, and a faculty council selects the members.
It is a national award for senior members. In the current cycle it awards $2 million to 600 students, and the application deadline is November 20, 2026.
It is a recognized honor, but it is common among strong applicants. Oriel Admissions advises that what a student did as a member, such as leading a service project, matters more than the membership.
No. The junior society serves grades 6 through 9 and has five pillars. The National Honor Society serves grades 10 through 12 and has four.
Membership cannot be bought. It comes only through selection by the chapter at the school the student attends, and a chapter may charge modest dues.
Sources: NHS: How to Become a Member, The NHS Scholarship, NHS: About, NJHS: Who We Are
About Oriel Admissions
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