National FFA Scholarship for the Future Advanced Agricultural of America

What Is the National FFA Scholarship?

FFA Scholarship is designated for students who are interested in and pursuing careers in all areas of studies related to agricultural industries. There are dozens of scholarship available from various sponsors like Bayer, Ford, Chevrolet, and many more. Facilitated by the National FFA Organization, most of the scholarships are eligible for students who are members of the National FFA Organization. The scholarship program aims to ensure the US future agricultural industries by helping students achieve success in a large number of fields in agriculture.

The FFA (stands for Future Farmers of America) foundation itself is an extracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. Although the name of the organization contains ‘the ‘Farmer’ word, the program is not limited for students who want to be production farmers only, it also welcomes those who aspire to be teachers, doctors, scientists, business owners, and many more. The reason is to facilitate the possibilities of growing diversity in the industry of agriculture. Until now, the National FFA Organization remains committed to help the students to achieve great leadership, excellent personal growth, and a successful career through agricultural education.

The selection process of all the FFA Scholarships is trusted to be administered by International Scholarship and Tuition Services (ISTS), a firm that specializes in managing sponsored scholarship, grant, tuition assistance, and tuition reimbursement programs. It is done in order to ensure complete impartiality in the selection of recipients and to maintain a high level of professionalism and security. National FFA Staff provides oversight of ISTS and has final approval on all scholarship winners.

 FFA Scholarships Option Based on the Sponsor

The scholarships described below are a small portion of a total of more than 100 FFA Scholarships. For a complete list of scholarships, please check here.

1. America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders – $1,500 Scholarship

America’s Farmers GrowAg Leaders scholarship program is funded by the Monsanto Fund, a philanthropic arm of Bayer. Bayer itself is a leading German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company.

This scholarship does not require FFA membership and will be funding students who meet these criteria:

Students:

• under the age of 23.
• high school seniors (public, private or homeschool) or full-time college students (enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours).
• have at least a 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
• plan to pursue a degree or certification in agriculture or chemical/electrical/mechanical engineering field.
  • A complete and specific list of majors is available here in America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders Program Overview PDF file or at America’s Farmers website.
• obtain two online farmer endorsements.

About Farmer Endorsements

1. Students will create an endorsement request for each farmer using the farmer’s name and email address during the application process.
2. Endorsing farmers will receive an email containing instructions for completing the online farmer endorsement form.
3. If the farmer does not have an email address, the student must print the instructions from their application and deliver them to their farmer with includes a unique “Supplement Code”.
4. If there is no internet service, farmers can call 855-332-2577 to submit an endorsement.
5. The farmer must be:
   • At least 21 years old.
   • Actively engaged in farming, in this term performs farming work, or hires and actively manages others who do so.

2. Chevy Trucks – $1,000 Scholarship

Who does not know the Chevrolet Company? Chevrolet, or colloquially known as Chevy, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM) who has a worldwide market target.

For a list of participating Chevy Trucks dealers in each state, you can get it here.

3. John Deere – $2,000 Scholarship

John Deere is the brand name of Deere & Company, an American corporation world leader in manufacturing machinery and equipment of agricultural, forestry, and construction. Since 2013, The John Deere has been supporting the National FFA Organization through the dealers’ scholarship program. This non-renewable scholarship will award $2,000 for up to 200 students each year. The applicants are required to be an active FFA member in a chapter selected by a local dealer.

Applications are evaluated based on the following categories:

• Academic achievement                                          30 points maximum
• Leadership                                                                30 points maximum
• Community service                                                 10 points maximum
• Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE)        30 points maximum

If you want to know the list of participating John Deere dealers in each state, you can download it here.

Basic Eligibility

Each scholarship has specific criteria depends on the sponsors. Basic eligibility that applies to all scholarships is listed below.

All applicants have to:

• be less than 23 years of age at the time of application.
• be a current FFA member with active membership status, unless stated otherwise (only small number of scholarships that open to nonmember applicants).
• be a US citizen or permanent resident.
• plan to attend post-secondary school in the US.
• be a high school senior or currently enrolled in college.
• be a full-time student, in this term enrolled in school and actively attending classes.

How Much Is the Amount?

The amount received depends on the sponsors. Scholarships can be for either two-year or four-year degrees or vocational programs and range in size from a $500 scholarship to full tuition for four years. As for representation, in 2019, 100 sponsors awarded 1,493 individual scholarships worth more than $2 million.

For comparison, you can see the 2019 FFA Scholarship results here.

If awarded, all the scholarship cheques will be received in middle July. Some of the scholarships can be renewable for up to three additional years.

How Do I Apply?

1. Be a Member of the FFA Organization
   Most of the scholarships require the applicants to be an active member of the FFA organization. Currently, there are 669,989 FFA members, aged 12-21, in 8,630 chapters from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. To join FFA, you have to be enrolled in an agriculture course at your school. Learn more about how to join FFA.
2. Choosing College / University and the Major
   If you have not come to a final decision of university or college you want to attend yet, you should choose your first choice university on the application. You can change your choice any time before the deadline. If selected as a recipient, you will be asked to confirm your final decision. If your decision changes after the acceptance deadline, you will be able to update this information on your “My Profile” page. However, some scholarships are awarded based on specifically intended majors or intended institutions. So, if you are awarded one of those scholarships and no longer meet the eligibility criteria, the award will be forfeited.
3. Apply for Many Scholarships
   If you are interested in applying for more than one scholarship, you only need to submit the online application once. The system will let your application enter the selection process of all scholarships whose eligibility meets yours.

Important Date*

• Application Open                           : middle November
• Application Deadline                     : early February
• Endorsement Deadline                  : middle February
• Notification of Selection Results : late May
• Funds Disbursed                             : early August

*Based on 2019 academic year application

Required Documents

• High School Transcripts
  Required for current high school seniors and current college freshman and sophomores.
• College / University Transcripts
  Required for current college sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
• The Latest FAFSA Student Aid Report (SAR)
  Required for all applicants.
• Fort Dealer Endorsement
  Required for all applicants applying for the Ford Motor Company and Ford Trucks/Built Ford Tough scholarship.
• B.R.I.D.G.E Endowment Fund Verification
  Required for all applicants wishing to apply for the B.R.I.D.G.E. Endowment scholarship.

Additional Information You Need to Know

• Students may transfer from one university to another and still preserve the award if allowed by the correspond scholarship program.
• Academic record is important, but not always the determining factor in the selection process. Each applicant received an evaluative score for FFA activities and/or work experience, leadership, and service activities as well as academic record. Some sponsors also take financial need into consideration in the selection process.
• The average GPA of the winners in 2019 was 3.78 on a 4.0 scale. The average class rank was 26 out of 137.
• The top five areas of studies awarded are agribusiness systems, animal systems, power, structural and technical systems, plant systems, and biotechnology systems.

Sponsors and Donors

• Platinum Sponsors who have donated more than $1 million.
• Gold Sponsors who have funded the foundation in a range of $500,000 – $999,999.
• Silver Sponsors who have given $250,000 – $499,999.
• Five-stars Sponsors who have granted $100,000 – 249,999.
• Four-stars Sponsors who have provided the foundation with $50,000 – $99,999.
• Three-stars Sponsors who have donated $25,000 – $49,999.
• Two-stars Sponsors who have given $10,000 – $24,999.

The funding comes from the partnership built by the FFA Foundation with individuals, business and industry, and organizations. As for the feedbacks, for sponsors, brands can reach more than a half-million student members, more than 450,000 alumni members, and more than 11,000 educators. For individuals, many wish to give back to the organization or to society in continuing to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Contact Person

Please read this FAQs handout for better information. If you still have an unclear question, don’t hesitate to contact the foundation through:

National FFA Organization
6060 FFA Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46268-0960
1-888-332-2668
scholarships@ffa.org