- Be active in your troop, team, crew, or ship for a period of at least six months after you have achieved the rank of Life Scout.
- Demonstrate that you live by the principles of the Scout Oath and Law in your daily life. 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, educational, and employer references.
- Earn a total of 21 merit badges (10 more than you already have), including the following:
- Camping
- Citizenship in the Community
- Citizenship in the Nation
- Citizenship in the World
- Communication
- Cooking
- Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving
- Environmental Science OR Sustainability
- First Aid
- Cycling OR Hiking OR Swimming
- Personal Management
- Personal Fitness
- Family Life
You must choose only one merit badge listed in items g, h, and j. If you have earned more than one of the badges listed in items g, h, and j, choose one and list the remaining badges to make your total of 21.
- While a Life Scout, serve actively in your unit for a period of six months in your unit in one or more of the following positions of responsibility. List only those position served after your Life board of review date.
- Boy Scout troop. Patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior patrol leader, Venture patrol leader, troop guide, Order of the Arrow troop representative, den chief, scribe, librarian, historian, quartermaster, junior assistant Scoutmaster, chaplain aide, instructor, Webmaster, or Leave No Trace Trainer.
- Varsity Scout team. Captain, cocaptain, program manager, squad leader, team secretary, Order of the Arrow team representative, librarian, historian, quartermaster, chaplain aide, instructor, den chief, Webmaster, or Leave No Trace Trainer.
- Venturing crew/ship. President, vice president, secretary, treasurer, quartermaster, historian, den chief, guide, boatswain, boatswain’s mate, yeoman, purser, storekeeper, Webmaster, or Leave No Trace Trainer.
- 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 Boy Scouting.) A project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your unit leader 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 9.0.2.15.)
- Take part in a unit leader conference.
- Successfully complete an Eagle Scout board of review. 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. (This requirement may be met after age 18; see below.)
Notes
AGE REQUIREMENT ELIGIBILITY. Merit badges, badges of rank, and Eagle Palms may be earned by a registered Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, or Venturer. He may earn these awards until his 18th birthday. Any Venturer who achieved the First Class rank as a Boy Scout in a troop or Varsity Scout in a team may continue working 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, his 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 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 or Venturer with a disability may work toward rank advancement after he is 18 years of age if he meets the guidelines outlined in the Guide to Advancement.