Founded in 1941 by a new director of the Police Science Academic Program at Washington State University, Alpha Phi Sigma aims to “promote excellence in scholarship and performance” in criminal justice studies. It is the only accredited national honor society for criminal justice and serves areas such as police, courts, corrections, forensics, nonprofits, and higher education.

The organization saw slow growth initially, but began gaining popularity in 1976 after The Executive Board of the Academy of Criminal Justice System designated it as the National Criminal Justice Honor Society. After gaining national notoriety, Alpha Phi Sigma rapidly grew from 14 to well over 550 chapters today. 

Alpha Phi Sigma has several levels of membership ranging from baccalaureate to doctoral students as well as faculty and honorary. Applicants must be actively enrolled at an institution where an APS chapter is located and have completed at least three full-time semesters with a minimum of a 3.2 GPA in criminal justice-related courses and rank within the top 35% of their class.

Members of Alpha Phi Sigma gain a leg up on the competition when applying for jobs post-graduation, especially within the federal government. The US Government’s Office of Personnel Management offers federal employees who are members of APS a two-level pay grade increase for “Superior Academic Achievement.” Other membership benefits include networking opportunities, leadership and development, access to job openings, chapter community service events, awards/scholarships/grants, and resume/job interview coaching.

Alpha Phi Sigma graduates are seen wearing gold stoles, medallions, and royal blue and gold honor cords on commencement day.

As a reminder, our team continues to operate with a modified business solution, complete with remote and isolated order processing locations. Our goal is to safely deliver honor and recognition gear to schools and institutions to have ready for their students once graduation dates have been reworked. We understand the importance of graduation regalia and what it means to students and faculty and want graduates to mark their accomplishments in a way in which they deserve. No matter what your commencement ceremony looks like this year, our honor and recognition gear means the same and looks just as great!