The National STEM Honor Society™ has established minimum eligibility requirements for student members. Chapters may increase those requirements, if they wish, provided any changes are consistent with the NSTEM Constitution. Please note that, pursuant to the NSTEM Constitution, a Chapter may not impose academic standards or requirements for non-STEM courses or programming.
A student who has not yet completed the required number of hours of academic curriculum or enrichment activities can join NSTEM as a provisional member for one year. This will allow the student to participate in NSTEM while completing their hours.
Chapters can prorate the requirements of their members if a chapter is created after the school year is in progress. The minimum number of hours required by each member shall be prorated for members based on the number of months remaining in the academic year.
The NSTEM minimum eligibility requirements are as follows:
Enrichment Activities: NSTEM Chapter student members must participate in one or more STEM-related extracurricular activities designed to increase a student’s knowledge of and engagement in STEM related topics. Enrichment activities may be sponsored by the chapter or any other organization or group, as long as the activity has been reviewed and pre-approved by the Chapter Advisor as being age and content appropriate for a STEM enrichment activity. Each grade level of NSTEM has required hours its members must engage in enrichment activities to remain an active member of their Chapter. Each Chapter must offer or approve a sufficient number of STEM extracurricular activities/programming to permit a student to satisfy the STEM enrichment activity requirements outlined in this subsection. Examples of STEM enrichment activities include: science fairs and competitions, math contests, STEM-related clubs (e.g. science, math, cyber, Lego, robotics), tutoring other students in STEM disciplines, coding, individual or group STEM projects, attending a lecture or film on STEM topics, working at a STEM-related internship/job, etc.
Organization Sponsored Chapters: Chapters sponsored by organizations will adhere to membership requirements for the grade level of their participating students, as outlined above.
Student Conduct: Members must conduct themselves in a manner that is acceptable to the guidelines of the educational institution.
Schools Without Letter Grades: In schools that do not give letter or number grades, written teacher recommendations will be the alternative criteria considered.
Demonstrated Passion: Students wish to join NSTEM are expected to demonstrate a passion and aptitude for STEM subjects, as reported by their teachers, especially when specific courses or grades are not provided.
