Do High School Students Who Participate in State FFA Career Development Events Matriculate at the Host University? A Case Study with Horticulture CDEs at Kansas State University

In recent years, many Horticulture departments around the United States have been concerned with recruiting and retaining an adequate number of students.  One potential opportunity for recruitment is horticulture FFA Career Development Events (CDEs).  Annually, hundreds of high school students travel to a state’s land-grant university to compete in state-level CDEs that are often coordinated by faculty with teaching and extension appointments in horticultural disciplines.  For each of the past 14 years (1999 to 2012), over 100 students have participated annually in the state-level nursery and floriculture CDEs held at Kansas State University, totaling 1,462 participants. Using the rosters from these two CDEs, we referenced the university student information database to determine whether the high school students who participated as FFA horticulture CDE contestants ultimately matriculated to Kansas State University. We investigated whether each FFA CDE participant was accepted to K-State; enrolled at K-State; the degree program enrolled in; and whether the student graduated, among other factors.  We found that just over half (51.7%) of these former FFA horticulture CDE contestants were accepted to K-State, with 32.1% matriculating at the university.  Of those who matriculated, 57.8% enrolled in the College of Agriculture and of these, 18.5% majored in horticulture.  This means that of the total number of students who participated in the FFA CDEs, 3.4% majored in horticulture. These results suggest that FFA CDEs have the potential to serve as a valuable recruitment tool and that organizers should create experiences that expose students to career opportunities associated with horticultural disciplines.