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Available November 3 to November 24, 2025!

Students qualify for induction into Tri-Alpha if they meet the following criteria:

• The student has earned at least 30 credit/semester hours (or 45 quarter hours) towards an associate's degree or baccalaureate degree (including half-time) AND

• The undergraduate student has achieved an overall undergraduate GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale. (For schools using a pass, high pass, etc. system, a "high pass" average is required.)

• Neither of the student's parents, nor step-parents, nor legal guardians, completed a bachelor's degree (or, for students at a community college, the parents did not complete an associate's degree)

• Graduate students who are first-generation students can be admitted if they have completed the equivalent of at least one term of study (9 or more graduate credits) and have a GPA in their graduate program of at least 3.5.  (NOTE:  The executive board voted to change the GPA requirement to 3.5, but now allows for part-time students in graduate programs to be admitted.). (For schools using a pass, high pass, etc. system, a "high pass" average is required.)

Faculty and staff may be inducted as well. To qualify, they must have met the definition of a first-generation student listed above at the time they completed their bachelor's degree. Faculty and staff must be willing to serve as mentors for first-generation students.

A small number of alumni and honorary inductees may be initiated each year. To qualify, these inductees must have been first-generation students (using the definition above) when they completed their bachelor's degree. They must remain connected in some way to the institution which is inducting them— a member of the board or alumni association; the sibling of a current student; a volunteer; a donor; etc.. They must have established themselves in their post-college lives in a manner that can be held up to first-generation students as something to aspire to, and must be willing to mentor first-generation students, if asked.  NEW UPDATE: Honorary members need not have been first-generation college students; rather honorary inductees may be first-gen students with some kind of connection to the institution (as indicated above) OR clearly be a first-gen student advocate, mentor, or supporter while maintaining a connection to the institution which is inducting them.

In any case, the emphasis at any induction ceremony should always be on the student initiates.

When inducted, initiates receive a certificate of initiation and a pin.  Honor cords for graduating students and members of the faculty/staff/alumni are available for purchase at an additional charge.