Greenhand Degrees

On meeting the following minimum qualifications, the Greenhand FFA Degree may be conferred by the chapter:
 

1. Be regularly enrolled in a vocational education course for an agricultural occupation and have satisfactory and acceptable plans for a program of supervised agricultural experience.
2. Learn and explain the FFA Creed, Motto, Salute, and the FFA Mission Statement.
3. Describe the FFA emblem, colors, and symbols.
4. Explain the proper use of the FFA jacket.
5. Have satisfactory knowledge of the history of the organization.
6. Know the duties and responsibilities of FFA members.
7. Personally own or have access to the Official FFA Manual.
8. Submit written application for the degree for chapter records

Chapter Degress

On meeting the following minimum qualifications, the Chapter FFA Degree may be conferred by the chapter:
 

1. Must have held the degree of Greenhand for at least one complete semester of instruction and have a record of satisfactory participation in the activities of the local chapter.  It shall be understood that conformance with the provisions of this article precludes a member from receiving both the Greenhand FFA and Chapter FFA Degrees during the same academic year.
2. Must have satisfactorily completed at least one year of systematic instruction in agriculture education, at or above the ninth grade level, have in operation an approved supervised farming and/or other supervised agricultural experience program, have developed plans for continued growth and improvement in a supervised farming and/or other supervised agricultural experience program, and be regularly enrolled in an agriculture education class.
3. Be familiar with the purposes and programs of activities of the state association and national organization.
4. Be familiar with the provisions of the constitution of the local chapter.
5. Be familiar with Parliamentary Procedure.
6. Must have led a group discussion for fifteen minutes.
7. Must have earned at least $150 by his/her own efforts from his/her supervised farming and/or other supervised agricultural experience program, and have it productively invested or deposited in a bank, or have worked 100 hours on his/her SOEP in excess of scheduled class time.
8. Have a 2.0 scholastic record in an agricultural course.
9. Participate in activities for community improvement as evidenced by participating in at least two distinctly different activities, to the extent of spending at least 10 hours of personal time, which you seek to serve and/or improve the quality of life in the local community.

State Degrees

To be eligible to be elected to the State FFA Degree a member must meet all of the following minimum qualifications:
 

1. Must have held the Chapter FFA Degree for at least one year immediately preceding application for the State FFA Degree.
2. Have been an active member of the FFA for at least two years preceding application for the State FFA Degree.
3. At the time of application for the State FFA Degree,

• must have completed at least two years of instruction in agriculture education, at or above the ninth grade level, which included an agricultural Supervised Agricultural Experience Program; and
• must be regularly enrolled in an agriculture education class at the secondary education level, an agriculture course at the post-secondary education level, or be a graduate of a secondary agriculture education program who is engaged in an agricultural occupation.

4. Have worked for a minimum of 500 hours, in excess of scheduled class time, on his/her Supervised Agricultural Experience Program, and

• must have earned by his/her own efforts from an agricultural enterprise or other agriculturally-related work and deposited in a bank or otherwise productively invested at least $1,000.00; or
• show an investment cost of at least $2,000.00 in depreciable property inventory; or
• have earned by his/her own efforts from agricultural enterprise or other agriculturally-related work and deposited in a bank or otherwise productively invested a combination of dollars and unpaid labor hours which, when summed, equal at least $1,000.00.  When qualifying based on a combination of dollars and hours, the hours counted for qualification must be unpaid labor hours of agriculturally-related work which are hours in excess of class time and which are hours over and above the minimum of 500 hours required in (4) above.  Under no circumstances shall a member be qualified for the degree when qualifying based on a combination of dollars and hours without posting a minimum of $750.00 of earned and productively invested income For the purposes of this subsection, productively invested is defined as any, all, or any combination of the following: amounts held in secured liquid financial investments, expenses paid for educational purposes, financial support of the immediate family, and/or that proportion of the purchase price of a motor vehicle which is equivalent to the proportion of the vehicle's normal usage which is used for transportation to, from, or in the conduct of educational and/or SAE activities.
  
  

5. Demonstrate leadership ability by:

• performing ten procedures of parliamentary law OR demonstrate proficiency in parliamentary law as evidenced by passing a written examination prepared and administered by the local agriculture instructor;
• giving a six-minute speech OR lead a group discussion for forty-minutes on a topic relating to agriculture or the FFA;
• serving as an officer, committee chairperson, or participating member of a committee;
• participating in at least five distinctly different FFA activities at the chapter level;
• participating in at least two distinctly different non-FFA school activities which are conducted outside of normal classtime;
• participating in activities for community improvement as evidenced by participating in at least two distinctly different activities, to the extent of spending at least 25 hours of personal time, which seek to serve and/or improve the quality of life in the local community; and
• being familiar with the provisions of the constitution of the State Association and National FFA Organization as certified by the local FFA advisor.               

The scoring committee's decision regarding a candidate's worthiness may not be disputed or re-evaluated based on an applicant's complaint that pertinent information was omitted and/or misstated on the application form.
A member who has received the State FFA Degree may apply for Star consideration at all levels provided he/she:

6. Have a  2.0 scholastic record as certified by the local principal or superintendent.
7. Have participated in the planning and completion of the Chapter Program of Activities.
8. Have participated in at least five FFA activities above the chapter level.
9. Written records of achievement, verified by the local advisor, shall be submitted to the state advisor by the local chapter's governing body at least two months prior to the State Leadership Conference.  These written records shall be based on the member's own entries in the California Agricultural Education Record Book which is currently approved by the California state staff for Agricultural Education as the official recordbook for California Agricultural Education students.  Such a record book is the only substantiation a member may use for the purpose of applying for advanced degrees and awards in this association.  A committee appointed by the state advisor will then review the records and submit its findings to the state advisor, who will make his/her recommendations to the State Executive Committee.  The Executive Committee will nominate and elect the candidates who have been found qualified to receive the degree. The state officers shall, at each region's special awards program, raise to the State FFA Degree those candidates who have been elected by the State Executive Committee.
10. Must receive seventy percent (70%) of the possible points on his/her Record Book score.
11. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant, under the supervision of the local FFA advisor, to submit an application for the State FFA Degree which is thorough, complete, and accurate.  Information which appears on the application form that is submitted to the State FFA office shall be the primary  information which the scoring committee shall consider in its evaluation of the candidate's worthiness for the degree.  In the interest of providing maximum flexibility and fairness to all candidates, the regional supervisors of agriculture education shall be empowered under this section to make minor modifications to state degree application forms during the scoring and verification process.
12. There shall be four annual awards for the State FFA Degree recipients known as the California Star Farmer, California Star in Agribusiness, California Star in Agricultural Placement, and the California Star in Agriscience.

• is a Junior, Senior, or first year Graduate,
• is an active FFA member in good standing at the time of application, and
• has an ongoing supervised occupational experience program which has been continuously under the supervision of the local agriculture instructor.

Selection of the sectional and regional Stars will be selected in each region. The California Star finalist shall be based on the Regional Star Winners in each region. The California Stars will then be evaluated and decided on three criteria: FFA Record book Score, State FFA Star Application Score, and Interview Score.
In any given year a student may only apply and be considered for Star honors under one Star category.

13. An Honorary State FFA Degree may be awarded to any person performing an outstanding service to the FFA organization.

American Degrees

FFA members who qualify for the American FFA Degree:

• Have received a Greenhand FFA Degree, Chapter FFA Degree and State FFA Degree.
• Have been FFA members for at least three years.
• Have completed at least three years (540 hours) of high school agriculture classes, or 2 years of high school agriculture classes and one year of college agriculture classes (360 hours.)
• Have graduated from high school one year prior to the National FFA Convention at which their degree will be awarded.
• Have maintained detailed SAE records, which demonstrate outstanding planning, managerial and financial skills.
• Have earned and productively invested at least $7,500, or have earned and productively invested at least $1,500 and worked 2,250 hours beyond scheduled school hours through their SAEs.
• Have a record of outstanding leadership skills.
• Have a record of participating in community service activities. Updated Community Service Requirements
• Have maintained a “C” grade average or better.