All freshmen who have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale at the end of any full-time curricular period are automatically eligible for membership, provided they have carried a normal academic load acceptable toward a bachelor's degree and rank in the upper 20 percent of their class.

Life-time membership is conferred upon induction, and maintaining the grade-point average is not required.

Although students will prefer to be inducted with their classmates, eligibility is not lost by missing an induction; one may be inducted at a regularly scheduled induction ceremony.

The national membership fee of $20 (a local fee is also required to meet the chapter's needs) pays for an academic key or tie tac, membership certificate, and a copy of the national magazine, Forum of Phi Eta Sigma. The fee also pays a portion of the expenses for a chapter delegate to attend the national convention; and a portion goes to the Founders Fund, which provides approximately eighty $1,000 awards and thirty $2,000 scholarships each year to members of Phi Eta Sigma for undergraduate study. Five $4,000 scholarships are also available for the first year of graduate study.