IEEE membership is open to professionals and Students with varying levels of academic accomplishment and work experience. Technical and non-technical applicants who would benefit by membership and participation in the IEEE enter as Associate members
Member and Senior Member grades recognize those who have achieved professional proficiency, as demonstrated by degrees received and/or work experience.
The IEEE membership cycle runs on a calendar year - January through December.
Below is a list of grades and categories for IEEE membership. Click on a link to view a description of each.
IEEE Grades of Membership |
Other Categories and Qualifications |
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Dues and Discounted Dues Categories |
IEEE Grades
Student Member
A Student Member mustcarry at least 50% of a normal full-time academic program as a registered undergraduate or graduate student in a regular course of study in IEEE designated fields.
- Student Members, upon graduation with at least a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from a program on the Reference List of Educational Programs (See Item 10 of the IEEE Bylaws), shall be transferred to Member grade.
- Student Members, other than those qualifying under the above subparagraph, upon graduation with at least a two-year degree shall be transferred to Associate grade
Student members transferring to a higher grade upon attaining their first professional degree pay reduced IEEE dues, assessments and society membership fees in the year following their graduation.
Associate
The grade of Associate isdesigned for technical and non technical applicants who do not presently meet the qualifications for Member grade, but who would benefit through membership and participation in the IEEE, and for those who are progressing, through continuing education and work experience, towards the qualifications for Member grade.
Member
The grade of Member is limited to those who have satisfied IEEE-specified educational requirements and/or who have demonstrated professional competence in IEEE-designated fields of interest. For admission or transfer to the grade of Member, a candidate shall be either:
- An individual who shall have received a baccalaureate (or equivalent) or higher degree from an institution, and in an IEEE-designated field, which is included in the REP (Reference List of Educational Programs) List defined in IEEE Bylaw 1-104.10 or
- An individual who shall have received a baccalaureate (or equivalent) or higher degree from an institution not included in the REP List and who has at least three years of professional work experience engaged in teaching, creating, developing, practicing or managing in an IEEE-designated field(s) included in the REP List,
- An individual who, through at least six years of, professional work experience in an IEEE-designated field(s) included in the REP List, has demonstrated competence in teaching, creating, developing, practicing or managing in that field(s), or
- An executive who, for at least six years, has had under his/her direction important technical, engineering, or research work in IEEE-designated fields included in the REP List.
Senior Member
The grade of Senior Member isthe highest for which application may be made and shall require experience reflecting professional maturity. For admission or transfer to the grade of Senior Member, a candidate shall be an engineer, scientist, educator, technical executive, or originator in IEEE-designated fields. The candidate shall have been in professional practice for at least ten years and shall have shown significant performance over a period of at least five of those years, such performance including one or more of the following:
- Substantial engineering responsibility or achievement
- Publication of engineering or scientific papers, books, or inventions
- Technical direction or management of important scientific or engineering work with evidence of accomplishment
- Recognized contributions to the welfare of the scientific or engineering profession
- Development or furtherance of important scientific or engineering courses in a program on the "reference list of educational programs" (REP list)
- Contributions equivalent to those of (a) to (e) in areas such as technical editing, patent prosecution, or patent law, provided these contributions serve to advance progress substantially in IEEE-designated fields.
For more details, see Senior Member Program. Prospective members who would like to apply directly for Senior Member grade should submit a MemberApplication along with a SeniorMember elevation form.
Fellow
The grade of Fellow recognizesunusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred only by invitation of the Board of Directors upon a person of outstanding and extraordinary qualifications and experience in IEEE-designated fields, and who has made important individual contributions to one or more of these fields. The year of election to the grade of Fellow is the year following affirmative action by the Board of Directors in conferring the grade of Fellow.
The candidate shall hold Senior Member grade at the time the nomination is submitted. Normally, the candidate shall have been a member in any grade for a period of five years or more preceding January 1 of the year of election; however, the five-year membership requirement may be waived for a Fellow candidate who has been engaged in professional practice (as needed to qualify for Senior Member grade) in a geographical area where, in the judgment of the Board of Directors, it was difficult to become a member previously, as evidenced by the absence of a Section previously and the recent formation of a new Section to cover that geographical area. In such cases, membership of five years or more in a recognized local electrical, electronics, or computer engineering society may substitute for the five-year IEEE membership requirement, when the nomination is submitted within four years after the formation of the new Section.
For more information, see the Fellow Program website.
Honorary Member
Honorary Members are elected by the Board of Directors from among those individuals, not members of IEEE, who have rendered meritorious service to humanity in IEEE's designated fields of interest. An affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the Board of Directors present at the time of the vote, provided a quorum is present, is required for election at a regularly constituted meeting.
Honorary Members shall be entitled to all rights and privileges of the IEEE except the right to hold office therein, including the use of IEEE or IEEE Honorary Member in their signature blocks, and on business cards, letterheads and such.
Other Categories and Qualifications
Affiliate
A Society Affiliate isa non-IEEE professional who is generally a member of another professional Society and wishes to affiliate with one of IEEE's Societies. For an annual Affiliate fee paid to IEEE plus the individual Society's membership dues, the affiliate is admitted to membership in a specific IEEE Society.
Society Affiliates are not IEEE members and are not entitled to any IEEE benefits or services that are reserved solely for IEEE members. All affiliate benefits and services come directly from the individual IEEE Society offering affiliation. For each and every Society affiliated with, the applicant pays a separate annual affiliate fee plus that IEEE Society's annual membership dues. Affiliate applications are provided by individual IEEE Societies offering affiliation. Visit the Society main website for information on all the IEEE Societies.
Current Society affiliates may convert to full IEEE membership by filling out the Affiliate to Member conversion application form.
GOLD
In 1996, IEEE instituted efforts to explore how to improve the retention and better meet the needs of recently graduated Student members. The concept of developing a peer group evolved and was named GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade). The GOLD group is defined as post-student members who are within ten years of receiving their first professional degree.
The most important action for GOLD members was to promote the concept at the local level. In 1998, the IEEE approved the formation of non-technical groups called Affinity Groups. Affinity Groups are formed under the joint supervision of the local Section and parent entity (GOLD, Women in Engineering, Consultants' Network). Since the inception of Affinity Groups, GOLD members have embraced this concept and formalized GOLD Affinity Groups worldwide. Many varied activities, both social and community minded, are planned and organized by this group to meet and interact with their peers.
To help with the organization of this GOLD community network, each IEEE Region has a designated Region GOLD Coordinator to communicate news and information, help with activity organization and assist GOLD members in their respective Region. There is a GOLD website and a quarterly electronic newsletter for GOLD members. A majority of the IEEE GOLD Affinity Groups maintain a web presence on their Region websites.
Dues and Discounted Dues Categories
Minimum Income
Applicants who certify that their prior year's income did not exceed US $11,300 or equivalent are granted a 50% reduction in IEEE dues, regional assessment and dues for one IEEE Society and its optional publications. Please submit written certification with application and payment. Student members are NOT eligible.
Retired
A retired member, not gainfully employed and not qualifying for Life Member Status, on attaining the age of 62 years, may apply for a 50% reduction in dues and assessments. An individual who qualifies for the IEEE Retired Member category may continue any and all Society memberships held for not less than the 5 prior years. Optional publication fees equal those established for Student members.
Unemployed
A 50% reduction in membership dues, Society dues, other subscriptions and assessments are available to a member or applicant who informs the IEEE Operations Center Office that he/she:(1) has become involuntarily unemployed and is seeking reemployment, or(2) has become voluntarily unemployed for reasons of raising children. A statement of continued unemployment shall be provided with each annual dues payment. In the case of voluntary unemployment, the provisions of this Bylaw shall not exceed four years. The reduced payments may not be made in installments.
Recent Graduates
IEEE Student graduates converting to full membership will receive a one-year discount of 50% off of the full higher grade IEEE and Society membership dues rates when renewing.
Life Member
The designation "Life Member"is applicable only to a member who has attained the age of 65 years and who has been a member of IEEE or one of its predecessor societies for such a period that the sum of his/her age and his/her years of membership equals or exceeds 100 years. All members having the designation "Life Member" or "Member-for-Life" in the predecessor societies shall be designated as a "Life Member" in the IEEE.
Any member who would have been qualified on or before 31 December 1963 to be a Member-for-Life of AIEE, under the rules of eligibility of AIEE, or to be a Life Member of IRE, under the rules of the IRE, shall be qualified to be a Life Member of IEEE. The Executive Director shall grant Life Membership status to any member who would qualify for Life Membership during the remainder of the transition period prior to 1998 under the previous IEEE Bylaw. Basic dues and assessments are waived for those achieving Life Member status.
Permanently Disabled
The IEEE membership dues and assessments, if any, shall be waived for those members who become permanently disabled. "Permanent disability" shall mean a medically determinable physical or mental impairment which (i) renders the individual incapable of performing any substantial gainful employment, (ii) can be expected to be of long-continued and indefinite duration or result in death, and (iii) is evidenced by a certification to this effect by a doctor of medicine approved by the Executive Director. The Executive Director shall determine the date on which the permanent disability shall have occurred if such determination is necessary.