Eagle Scout Rank Requirements

1. Be active in your troop for at least six months as a Life Scout.

2. As a Life Scout, demonstrate Scout Spirit by living the Scout

Oath and Scout Law. Tell how you have done your duty to God,

how you have lived the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your

everyday life, and how your understanding of the Scout Oath

and Scout Law will guide your life in the future. List on your

Eagle Scout Rank Application the names of individuals who

know you personally and would be willing to provide a

recommendation on your behalf, including parents/guardians,

religious (if not affiliated with an organized religion, then

the parent or guardian provides this reference), educational,

employer (if employed), and two other references.

3. Earn a total of 21 merit badges (10 more than required for the

Life rank), including these 13 merit badges:

(a) First Aid

(b) Citizenship in the Community

(c) Citizenship in the Nation

(d) Citizenship in the World

(e) Communication

(f) Cooking,

(g) Personal Fitness,

(h) Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving

(i) Environmental Science OR Sustainability

(j) Personal Management

(k) Swimming OR Hiking OR Cycling

(l) Camping

(m) Family Life.

You must choose only one of the merit badges listed in categories

h, i, and k. Any additional merit badge(s) earned in those

categories may be counted as one of your eight optional merit

badges used to make your total of 21.

4. While a Life Scout, serve actively in your troop for six months

in one or more of the following positions of responsibility11:

Scout troop. Patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior

patrol leader, troop guide, Order of the Arrow troop

representative, den chief, scribe, librarian, historian, quartermaster, junior assistant Scoutmaster, chaplain aide, instructor,

webmaster, or outdoor ethics guide.

5. While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others

in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any

school, or your community. (The project must benefit an

organization other than the Boy Scouts of America.) A project

proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from

the effort, your Scoutmaster and unit committee, and the

council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle

Scout Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512-927,

in meeting this requirement. (To learn more about the Eagle

Scout service project, see the Guide to Advancement, topics

9.0.2.0 through 9.0.2.16.)

12APPEALS AND EXTENSIONS

If a Scout believes all requirements for the Eagle Scout rank have been completed but a board of

review is denied, the Scout may request a board of review under disputed circumstances in

accordance with Guide to Advancement topic 8.0.3.2.

If the board of review does not approve the Scout’s advancement, the decision may be appealed

in accordance with Guide to Advancement topic 8.0.4.0.

A Scout who foresees that, due to no fault or choice of their own, it will not be possible to

complete the Eagle Scout rank requirements before age 18 may apply for a limited time extension

in accordance with Guide to Advancement topic 9.0.4.0. These are rarely granted and reserved

only for work on Eagle.

AGE REQUIREMENT ELIGIBILITY

Merit badges, badges of rank, and Eagle Palms may be earned by a registered Scout or a qualified

Venturer or Sea Scout. Scouts may earn these awards until their 18th birthday. Any Venturer or

Sea Scout who has achieved the First Class rank as a Scout in a troop or as a Lone Scout may

continue working up to their 18th birthday toward the Star, Life, and Eagle Scout ranks and Eagle

Palms.

An Eagle Scout board of review may occur, without special approval, within three months after

the 18th birthday. Local councils must preapprove those held three to six months afterward. To

initiate approval, the candidate, the candidate’s parent or guardian, the unit leader, or a unit

committee member attaches to the application a statement explaining the delay. Consult the

Guide to Advancement, topic 8.0.3.1, in the case where a board of review is to be conducted

more than six months after a candidate’s 18th birthday.

If you have a permanent physical or mental disability, or a disability expected to last more than

two years or beyond age 18, you may become an Eagle Scout by qualifying for as many required

merit badges as you can and qualifying for alternative merit badges for the rest. If you seek to

become an Eagle Scout under this procedure, you must submit a special application to your local

council service center. Your application must be approved by your council advancement

committee before you can work on alternative merit badges.

A Scout, Venturer, or Sea Scout with a disability may also qualify to work toward rank

advancement after reaching 18 years of age if the guidelines outlined in section 10 of the Guide to

Advancement are met.

6. While a Life Scout, participate in a Scoutmaster conference.

In preparation for your board of review, prepare and

attach to your Eagle Scout Rank Application a statement

of your ambitions and life purpose and a listing of

positions held in your religious institution, school, camp,

community, or other organizations, during which you

demonstrated leadership skills. Include honors and

awards received during this service.

7. Successfully complete your board of review for the Eagle

Scout rank.12 (This requirement may be met after age 18, in

accordance with Guide to Advancement topic 8.0.3.1.13).