Facts

Membership
Today, there are 490,017 FFA members, aged 12-21 in 7,210  chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

  • 36% of FFA members are female; women hold 47% of state leadership positions

  • 77% of our membership is Caucasian; 17% is Hispanic and 4% is African-American

  • 91% of FFA members are in grades 9-12; 4% are in grades 6-8; 5% are high school graduates

  • 27% of FFA members live in rural, farm areas; the remainder live in rural non-farm (39%), urban and suburban areas (34%)

  • FFA chapters are in 10 of the 15 largest cities, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia

  • The top five membership states are California, Texas Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio

  • The 75th National FFA Convention was host to more than 51,000 members, advisors and supporters

Education
 More than 12,000 teachers deliver an innovative, cutting-edge and integrated curriculum to students

  • 92% offer Agri - Science; 71% offer advanced Agri - Science and biotechnology; 59% offer agricultural mechanics; 49% offer horticulture; 43% offer animal science; and, 24% offer environment-related

  • In 2001, 59% of qualified agricultural education graduates pursued teaching as a career; over 35 agriculture programs closed due to lack of a qualified teacher and 365 agriculture teachers teach in more than one school

  • 23% of teachers have five or fewer years of teaching experience

  • The shortage of qualified agriculture teachers is the greatest challenge facing FFA and agricultural education

Career Exploration
Members participate in a hands-on work experience allowing them to apply knowledge learned in class

  • Collectively, FFA members earn $4 billion annually through their hands-on work experience

  • Members participate and learn advanced career skills in 45 national proficiency areas based on their hands-on work experience ranging from food science and technology to agricultural communications to wildlife management to production agriculture 

  • According to the student magazine readership study, 87% of our students are interested in learning about career exploration, 81% about college preparation and 81% about technology

  • Through 23 national career development events, such as public speaking, environment and natural resources and meats evaluation and technology, FFA members extend and test their industry knowledge in a variety of career fields

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Industry Support
Agriculture is the nation’s largest employer, with more than 22 million people working in some phase. FFA prepares members for more than 300 careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture.

  • 1,751 sponsors provided more than $8.0 million for FFA and agriculture programs and activities in 2001

  • $1.9 million in scholarships awarded; 1 out of 6 FFA members that applies receives a national scholarship; average grade point for FFA applicants is 3.66; average class ranking was 25

  • The annual FFA National Agricultural Career Show covers 400,000 square feet and attracts 362 exhibitors

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