Who can Attend?

All Boys Staters must have a sponsor to pay the cost of attending Boys State. Any individual or organization can be a sponsor. Each sponsor has different procedures for selecting attendees to Boys State. We do have a few guidelines and qualifications for selection to Boys State.

• Only males who have successfully completed their junior year of high school and have at least one more semester of high school remaining are considered eligible to participate.
• Any boy who has previously attended an American Legion Boys State is not eligible to attend a second session.
• Only boys with outstanding qualities of leadership, character, scholarship, loyalty and service to their schools and community should be considered. In the actual selection of boys as citizens of Boys State, merit and ability alone are the basis for selection.

For girls, there is a Girls State that is similar to our program, and it is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary. For more information, visit their site.

If you are interested in attending Boys State, the first step would be to contact your high school guidance counselor and/or your government teacher to see if your school has a program for sending students to Boys State. Second, you can contact your local American Legion Post or other civic organizations in your area that may sponsor students to attend Boys State. Thirdly, you can contact us directly using the information at our contact page.