Removing Barriers

Removing Barriers2025-03-06T08:37:14-05:00

Every Student. Every Chapter. Every Day.

Ensuring Every AG Student has a place in FFA

Today, many agricultural education students are missing out on the transformative opportunities that the three-component model offers because of a financial barrier—FFA student dues. These dues create an obstacle, particularly for students from underserved communities, preventing them from accessing the leadership, personal growth, and career success that a complete agricultural education program fosters.

State FFA leaders and advisors are uniquely positioned to champion a change to eliminate student dues and create opportunities for all agricultural education students. Your dedication to student success has the power to shape lives and the future of FFA.

Here’s how we can work together to eliminate student dues:

  1. Advocate for Support: Share the importance of removing financial barriers with stakeholders and decision-makers in your state or district.
  2. Share Models of Sustainable Funding: Collaborate with FFA at the state and national levels to create alternative funding models that maintain the quality of programs without burdening students.
  3. Tell the Story: Use real-life examples of students who have thrived in FFA to build momentum and inspire action within your communities.

Ideas from FFA Advisors

Get ideas for your state or chapter by watching the videos below from other FFA advisors on aspects of full FFA membership.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I still have the ability to suspend FFA members who do not follow our Code of Ethics?2025-01-17T13:14:29-05:00

The FFA Code of Ethics is not changing and applying it is still in effect. It should be assumed that all students enter SBAE with a clean slate and by default are FFA members in your chapter. Should a student do something that is a violation of the FFA Code of Ethics or commit a violation of your school’s activity policy, the student could potentially be a candidate for suspension from FFA activities. Ag teachers can contact their state staff to have a student suspended from FFA mid-year. Ag teachers should also confirm suspension with school administration to ensure that local policy has been followed and due process is honored in the loss of that student’s rights. In general, students in SBAE should be automatically listed on the FFA roster and only removed after committing an infraction that has been verified by the ag teacher and school administration. The only situation where a student would pre-emptively not be listed on the FFA roster is when the student enters a SBAE class while they have been barred by the school from belonging to all school-based activities.

How will local chapters be held accountable to ensure access?2025-01-17T13:14:28-05:00

National FFA will work with state associations in the development of the online roster system to include a local school administrator e-signature to verify program enrollment prior to membership roster submission. The local ag teacher will input an appropriate name, email address, and title. Suggested titles/roles include school superintendent, building principal or vice principal, CTE director, school registrar, or scheduling counselor. Certifying individuals will be subject to state staff review and ag teachers may be requested to identify a different name/title/role.

What will happen to the FFA New Horizons Magazine?2025-01-17T13:14:28-05:00

It is projected that each secondary FFA member will still receive a magazine delivered to their home. Middle School FFA chapters will receive classroom sets of magazines in addition to digital delivery options. This approach will keep printing and shipping costs manageable with the program affiliation model while still delivering a quality educational resource for students and teachers

What will be the options for Middle School programs?2025-03-05T14:21:39-05:00

While there are a growing number of middle school-only FFA chapters that would qualify for the $250 national flat rate, there are a significant number of middle school and high school combined programs across the organization. After first checking with your state association for guidance and existing state policy on this topic, combined programs may have the option of remaining combined or separating into two chapters to benefit from the lower middle school-only rate.

Under the direction of the state association, combined (middle and high school) programs can include participating middle school members on the roster but are not required to include all enrolled students except for when they are a middle school-only flat fee chapter. Middle school members included on the chapter roster will be included in the overall enrollment count for the program.

How will the model support new chapters?2025-01-17T13:14:26-05:00

To support new chapter/program development, all new chapters chartered or re-chartered after the initial nationwide implementation of 100% membership would start and remain at the Tier A fee for three years before adjusting to the appropriate SBAE enrollment rate.

Determining Your School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) Count2025-01-17T12:51:12-05:00

Article V of the National FFA Constitution states that to be eligible for membership, “a student must be enrolled in a state approved school-based agriculture education program not below the 5th grade level”. This is the basis for determining your school-based agricultural education count.

Will students be able to opt-out of FFA membership?2025-01-17T12:51:11-05:00

By default, all students enrolled in an SBAE course will be FFA members and have full access to the FFA opportunities. Guidance is being written to support state association management of opt-out requests of FFA membership as an integral part of agricultural education. Students that do opt-out via their state approved process are then opted-out of local, district/region, state, and national FFA membership. There is no avenue to opt-out of national FFA membership only.

How do we account for post graduation members?2025-03-05T14:23:14-05:00

Given that the program is fee-based instead of per-student-based, the three and four-year membership types will no longer be needed. Graduates who wish to retain FFA membership post-graduation can do so up to the age limit outlined in Article V, Section B of the National FFA Constitution. Ag teachers should renew graduated students on their roster on an as-necessary basis. These members will be included in the overall enrollment count for the program.

Will a chapter-based fee result in an increase in my dues?2025-01-17T13:14:33-05:00

This approach will not increase the total funds collected at the national level. However, it may result in some chapters having a higher or lower fee. It is important to note that dues have not increased since the 2010-11 membership year. Holding membership revenue to a minimum has been a priority to ensure cost does not become a barrier to membership.

Why am I being charged a different amount than the fee table indicates?2025-01-17T13:14:33-05:00

National FFA is committed to transparency in how we are calculating and assessing membership fees. In keeping with long-standing practice, the National FFA Organization bills each state for all membership fees. States then have the right to add their own fees to the national fee as fees are collected from chapters

What affect does chapter fees have on the FFA Constitution?2025-01-17T13:14:32-05:00

Article V, Section B, number 3 of the National FFA Constitution does state, “To become a student member and retain membership, a student must: Pay all current state and national dues or program affiliation fee by the date determined by the chapter.” An amendment will be proposed to the national delegates to modify the wording of this section to make clear that fees must be paid by the chapter or state, not each student individually.

Can states and local chapters continue to charge individual student dues?2025-01-17T13:14:30-05:00

States and local chapters will have flexibility in implementing the chapter fee-based system. However, in order to fully remove the barrier of dues to FFA membership for all agricultural education students, states and local chapters will not be able to charge an individual student a per-student fee for membership.

Can I assess an FFA member fee to help cover the cost of chapter operations?2025-03-05T14:19:05-05:00

Yes, ag teachers can continue to assess fees, conduct fundraisers, collect payments from students, etc. in the name of funding chapter operations so long as membership in FFA is not blocked for any student that cannot or chooses not to pay this type of fee. Ag teachers can place parameters and requirements around fee payment and a student’s ability to travel on FFA trips, show at a fair, participate above the local level, etc. so long as basic membership in FFA is not jeopardized.

TRANSITION RESOURCES
Letter To Administrators
Removing Barriers Proposal (includes fee table)
National FFA Congressional Charter|
Integral Nature of Instruction, SAE and FFA

CHAPTER FEE CALCULATOR

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FULL MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

  • Reinforces FFA as an integral part of agricultural education in the classroom and helps remove the “club” connotation.
  • One fee covers all students in the agricultural education program. How the fee is sourced will be up to the local chapter and state association.
  • State associations will have the flexibility to implement the chapter fee system as long as individual students are not required to pay individual dues.
  • It makes budgeting easier by providing the ability to budget the affiliation fee in advance for local programs and states.
  • If a student is accidentally left off the roster, they can be added at any time without the chapter having to pay additional fees.
  • Ensures access to FFA activities, awards, and programming to all enrolled agricultural education students.
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