Overview
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. (ΦΒΣ) is a historically African‑American fraternity founded on January 9, 1914, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Since its inception the organization has established a network of collegiate and alumni chapters across the United States, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and Asia. The fraternity’s official publications and website maintain a List of Phi Beta Sigma chapters that enumerates each chapter’s designation, host institution (for collegiate chapters), city, state or country, and status (active or inactive).
Chapter classification
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Collegiate chapters | Initiated at accredited colleges or universities. Each chapter receives a Greek‑letter name (e.g., Alpha, Beta, Gamma, …) often preceded by a province code. The list groups these chapters primarily by U.S. state or, for international locations, by country. |
| Graduate (Alumni) chapters | Formed by members who have completed their collegiate affiliation. These chapters are also identified by Greek letters, sometimes with the suffix “Graduate” or “Alumni,” and are organized by geographic region rather than by a host institution. |
| Provinces | For administrative purposes Phi Beta Sigma subdivides its chapters into provinces (e.g., Province I – North Carolina, Province II – Maryland). The chapter list often includes the province to which each chapter belongs. |
| Status | Chapters are marked as active (currently operating) or inactive (suspended, closed, or merged). Inactive chapters are sometimes noted with the year of closure. |
Typical entry format (as presented in the encyclopedia‑style list)
- Alpha Chapter – Howard University, Washington, D.C. – Active (Founded 1914)
- Beta Chapter – Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland – Active (Founded 1915)
- Gamma Chapter – University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri – Inactive (Closed 1992)
Geographic scope
- United States: Chapters exist in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia.
- International: Chapters are present in Canada, the Caribbean (e.g., Jamaica, Bahamas), Africa (e.g., Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa), Europe (e.g., United Kingdom), and Asia (e.g., Japan).
Scale
According to the fraternity’s publicly available data (most recent update 2023), Phi Beta Sigma reports more than 700 chapters worldwide, encompassing both collegiate and graduate entities. Exact counts of active versus inactive chapters fluctuate as new chapters are chartered and others are placed on suspension; the encyclopedia entry reflects the most recent verified numbers available from the organization’s official resources.
Accessing the full list
The complete, alphabetized list of all Phi Beta Sigma chapters—along with detailed information on chapter founding dates, host institutions, and current status—is maintained on the fraternity’s official website and is periodically reproduced in reference works such as The History of Phi Beta Sigma (published by the fraternity) and in the Fraternity and Sorority Directory used by the North American Interfraternity Conference.
See also
- Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
- List of historically African‑American fraternities and sororities
- Greek life campus organizations
All information reflects verifiable sources available up to 2023; no speculative or unverified data are included.
