Field of StudyWorth a shot

National FFA Scholarship Program

Offered by National FFA Organization · Free to apply

The National FFA Organization, the agricultural student group long known as Future Farmers of America, runs this program to help members turn hands-on agricultural experience into further education and careers. Selection centers on the Supervised Agricultural Experience, the real project, placement, or venture at the heart of FFA membership. FFA was established on November 20, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri, where its first national convention drew 33 delegates from 18 states. Its fundraising arm, the Future Farmers of America Foundation, was formed in Washington, D.C. in 1944 to raise money for FFA programs and activities. A single application in the FFA Application Center enters a student for more than 180 donor-funded scholarship funds worth roughly $2.5 million a year, with individual awards from $500 to $10,000. Each donor sets its own extra conditions, so one form gets matched against many awards by state, intended major, career plan, and FFA activity, and agriculture, trade, technical, and general studies paths are all represented. Nearly the whole pool requires current FFA membership, and applicants must be under 23 and enrolled or enrolling full time at a college or trade school. The application has opened in November and closes in mid-January, so gather transcripts and activity records in the fall. Confirm the current dates on ffa.org, since the window shifts a little each year.

Other deadlines near this one

How hard is the National FFA Scholarship Program to win?

Real competition, but not a lottery. The time cost is low enough relative to the award that a qualified student comes out ahead by applying.

Published odds: roughly 1 in 9 applicants
Reported applicant field: ~8,000 students
Awards each cycle: 823
Payoff per hour of work: $139 / hr

What drives the odds here

Odds on a scholarship are mostly a question of how many students can enter. Each rule below changes the size of that field.

More rivalsOpen nationwide, so the field is large
Fewer rivalsAn official transcript is required
More rivalsA five-figure award attracts a bigger field

Where this number comes from: This provider publishes its real applicant and winner counts, so the rate above is the actual published rate from a recent cycle, not a Solyo model. Rates shift a little from cycle to cycle, and nobody can promise a win, but this is as real as scholarship odds get.

Who can apply for the National FFA Scholarship Program?

These are the eligibility rules Solyo verified against the official award page, translated into plain English. Your student must meet each one.

Open to high school seniors and current college students
Age 22 or younger

Confirm these before applying

Must be an FFA member; the program serves high school seniors and college freshmen, sophomores, and juniors
Must plan to enroll, or be enrolled, full time at a U.S. postsecondary institution or vocational/trade school and actively attend classes
One application covers more than 180 donor-funded scholarship funds (823 awards in 2025-26), each with its own additional criteria such as state, major, or career focus

Good to know

Must be under 23 years old when submitting the application

Personalized matching

Does your student actually qualify?

Not sure your student clears every rule above? Solyo checks 20+ criteria against their real profile: GPA, state, grade level, intended major, and more, across every award in this directory at once.

Match my student to scholarships

What the application takes

Transcript required. Request it from the school registrar ahead of the deadline.

Deadline and application cycle

The next projected deadline is January 15, 2027 (estimated). The last verified deadline has passed; the next cycle is projected from this award's usual January 15 deadline. Confirm the exact date on the official site. Applications open typically November. Join or renew FFA through the school chapter in the fall: the application checks active membership at submission.

Application opens: typically November 2026
Confirm FFA dues are current: Fall
Application closes: January 15, 2027 (estimated)

Track the next deadline Apply on the official site

Free to apply. Legitimate scholarships never charge a fee. We use your student's information only to build their plan.

Common questions about the National FFA Scholarship Program

How much is the National FFA Scholarship Program worth?

Individual FFA scholarships range from $500 to $10,000, and FFA says the pool totals nearly $2.5 million per year. The published 2025-26 recipient list bears that out: 823 awards across more than 180 donor funds, totaling about $2.44 million, with most awards falling between $1,000 and $5,000 and a small band of $10,000 flagships such as the FFA Future Leaders Scholarship by Tractor Supply. The fine print families miss: there is no single sticker price. Each award's amount is set by the donor who endowed it, so what you are actually competing for depends on which donor criteria your student matches, not on the program average.

When is the National FFA Scholarship Program deadline?

January 15 is the deadline; the application opens November 1. In the most recent completed cycle the application ran November 1, 2025 through January 15, 2026, closing at midnight in the applicant's own time zone, and as of September 2026 FFA had not yet posted 2026-27 dates, so treat November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027 as the expected window rather than a confirmed one. The trap is at the back end, not the front: winning is not the last step. Selection results go out in late April, and winners must formally accept before the acceptance portal closes in late May or the money is left on the table. Funds then go out in mid July.

Who is eligible for the National FFA Scholarship Program?

Current FFA members who are high school seniors or college freshmen, sophomores or juniors, under age 23 when they submit, and planning to attend a post-secondary or trade school in the U.S. as full-time students. Two cutoffs surprise families: college seniors cannot apply at all, and the under-23 rule at submission time quietly excludes older non-traditional students even if they are still FFA alumni members. Those five requirements are just the floor; every individual scholarship layers on its own donor-defined criteria (major, state, SAE type, and so on), and you are only matched against the awards whose criteria you actually meet.

Do you have to be an FFA member to win a National FFA scholarship?

Yes. In the current program, FFA membership sits on the list of criteria that apply to every single scholarship, so there is no non-member lane. That is worth stating plainly because older articles and third-party scholarship sites still describe past cycles in which some donor awards were open to non-members; FFA's own application portal now says otherwise. Note the wording on ffa.org: the program addresses "a senior FFA member in high school or FFA Alumni in college," so a college applicant qualifies through FFA Alumni membership rather than chapter membership. If your student let membership lapse after graduation, sorting that out belongs on the fall to-do list, before the January deadline, not after.

How does a student apply for the National FFA scholarship?

Through one online application on Kaleidoscope, FFA's scholarship partner, linked from ffa.org's scholarships page. You fill it out once and you are automatically considered for every scholarship whose donor criteria you meet, which is the whole appeal: one evening of work buys entry to more than 180 funds. Have an unofficial transcript ready, high school for seniors and college for college applicants, and read the Scholarship Opportunities list inside the portal to see which donor criteria fit. One deadline quirk worth knowing: FFA says Kaleidoscope will help finish applications that were started before the deadline and hit technical trouble, so starting early is genuine insurance, while an application never begun gets no such grace.

When are FFA scholarship winners announced?

In late April. For the 2025-26 cycle, both winners and non-winners were notified on April 23, 2026, so families are not left guessing; everyone hears either way. Then comes the step that actually forfeits money: winners had until May 29, 2026 to accept through the portal, and funds were not distributed until July 16, 2026. Put the acceptance window on the calendar the day the notification arrives, because a scholarship that is won but never accepted quietly evaporates during graduation season, precisely when seniors stop checking email. Status checks run through the same Kaleidoscope account used to apply.

Can college students apply for FFA scholarships?

Yes, through their junior year. The program is open to college freshmen, sophomores and juniors who are FFA Alumni members, full-time students, and under 23 when they submit; college seniors are the one class year shut out. College applicants upload a college transcript instead of a high school one. The mechanism families underuse: this is an every-year opportunity, not a one-shot. FFA has profiled a member who won the same donor scholarship as a high school senior and then again in three separate college years through what FFA called a simple reapplication process, so a strong applicant can compound the program across four application cycles before aging out.

When do National FFA Scholarship Program applications open?

Applications open typically November, and close January 15, 2027 (estimated). Join or renew FFA through the school chapter in the fall: the application checks active membership at submission.

Does the National FFA Scholarship Program require an essay?

No essay is required. The application does ask for a transcript. Expect to spend about 4 hours on it.

How hard is it to win the National FFA Scholarship Program?

Solyo estimates the odds at roughly 1 in 9 applicants, against a modelled field of ~8,000 students. The pool stays that size because an official transcript is required. At 4 hrs of work, that is about $139 of expected value per hour. This is an estimate from award structure, not a published acceptance rate.

Is the National FFA Scholarship Program free to apply?

Yes. The National FFA Scholarship Program is free to apply. Legitimate scholarships never charge an application fee, and Solyo verifies every listed award against its official page.

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Lists this award appears on

Award details are curated by Solyo and verified against the official scholarship page. Deadlines and requirements can change between cycles, so always confirm on the provider's site before applying.