American FFA Degree Requirements

The requirements to earn the American FFA Degree are set forth in the National FFA Constitution Article VI.  Degrees and Privileges of the Active Membership, Section F.  

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible to receive the National FFA Degree from the National FFA Organization, members must be an active "student" member and must meet the following minimum qualifications:

  1. Have received the State FFA Degree, have been an active member for the past three years (36 months) and have a record of satisfactory participation in the activities on the chapter and state level.

  2. Have satisfactorily completed the equivalent of at least three years (540 hours) of systematic school instruction in an agricultural education program or have completed at least the equivalent of 360 hours of systematic secondary instruction in agricultural education and one full year of enrollment in a postsecondary agricultural program, or have completed the program of agricultural education offered in the secondary school last attended. 

  3. Have graduated from high school at least 12 months prior to the national convention at which the degree is to be granted.

  4. Have in operation and have maintained records to substantiate an outstanding supervised agricultural experience program, through which the member has exhibited comprehensive planning and managerial and financial expertise. 

  5. A student after entering agricultural education must have:

  a. Earn at least $10,000 and productively invested $7,500 OR

  b. Earned and productively invested $2,000 and worked 2,250 hours in excess of scheduled class time.  Any combination of hours, times a factor of 3.56, plus actual dollars earned and productively invested must be equal to or greater than the number 10,000.  Hours used for the purpose of producing earnings reported as productively invested income shall not be duplicated as hours of credit to meet the minimum requirements for the degree.

  6. Have a record of outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement and have achieved a high school scholastic record of "C" or better as certified by the principal or superintendent.

  7. Have participated in at least 50 hours of community service within at least three different community service activities.                                                      These hours are in addition to and cannot be duplicated as paid or unpaid SAE hours.

APPLICATION PROCESS

The American FFA Degree application provided by the National FFA Organization is currently an online electronic application.  This is the only accepted application.  Applicants must submit the completed and signed application form to their State FFA Association through the process specified by that state.  All checklist items in the application must show MET to be submitted for additional review.  State FFA Associations will submit state approved applications through the electronic process specified by the National FFA Organization.  

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