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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
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36% of FFA members are female; women hold 47% of state
leadership positions
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77% of our
membership is Caucasian; 17% is Hispanic and 4% is African-American
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91% of FFA members
are in grades 9-12; 4% are in grades 6-8; 5% are high school graduates
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27% of FFA members
live in rural, farm areas; the remainder live in rural non-farm (39%),
urban and suburban areas (34%)
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FFA chapters are
in 10 of the 15 largest cities, including New York, Chicago,
Philadelphia
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The top five
membership states are California, Texas Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio
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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
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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
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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
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23% of teachers have five or fewer years of teaching
experience
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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
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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
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.
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1,751 sponsors provided more than $8.0 million for FFA
and agriculture programs and activities in 2001
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$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
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The annual FFA National Agricultural Career Show covers
400,000 square feet and attracts 362 exhibitors
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