Graduate Study Awards

Alpha Asso­ci­a­tion funds and admin­is­ters a schol­ar­ship pro­gram, called the Grad­u­ate Study Award, for ini­ti­ates of South­ern Cal­i­for­nia Phi Beta Kappa chap­ters.  Under this pro­gram, a cash award is made to one stu­dent from each Phi Beta Kappa chap­ter for use in the first year of graduate school, which must be in the same year fol­low­ing his or her receipt of the bac­calau­re­ate degree.

Each chap­ter is asked to select one stu­dent based on merit and need.  The recip­i­ent will receive the cash award based on proof of reg­is­tra­tion in grad­u­ate school in the same year as grad­u­a­tion. There is no geo­graphic lim­i­ta­tion as to the grad­u­ate school attended by the student.

The Grad­u­ate Study Award is in part a recog­ni­tion of the need to encour­age stu­dents to attend grad­u­ate stud­ies in the human­i­ties, arts, and sci­ences.  There are no spe­cific lim­i­ta­tions placed upon the types of grad­u­ate schools for which the recip­i­ents receive awards; how­ever, the Asso­ci­a­tion hopes that the Chap­ters will include this con­sid­er­a­tion in their delib­er­a­tions.  The pro­ce­dures to be used in mak­ing the selec­tions are left to the local Chapters.

Since mem­ber­ship in Phi Beta Kappa evi­dences the high­est level of schol­ar­ship, the recip­i­ents of these awards will have achieved aca­d­e­mic merit.  The Association’s intent, how­ever, is that the Chap­ters select awardees who are not only out­stand­ing aca­d­e­m­i­cally, but also in sub­stan­tial need of finan­cial support.

For more information, please contact your university's chapter office. You may also email gradscholarship@pbksocalalumni.com for general inquiries, but our association is not involved in the application process.