To achieve the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout, a Scout must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges. Exactly 13 of those badges must be Eagle-required, consisting of 10 mandatory core badges plus one badge selected from each of the three option categories below.
13Eagle-Required Badges
+
8Elective Badges
=
21Total for Eagle Rank
17Eligible Badges in Catalog
Official Policy Update • Feb 27, 2026
Citizenship in Society Discontinued as Eagle-Required
Effective February 27, 2026, Scouting America officially discontinued the Citizenship in Society merit badge and removed it as an Eagle requirement. The Eagle-required badge count returned from 14 to 13, and the number of required electives returned from 7 to 8 (keeping the 21 total).
Grace Period: Scouts who started before Feb 27, 2026, have until December 31, 2026, to finish for Eagle credit.
Earned Credit: Scouts who already earned the badge retain full credit toward their 21 total badges.
For categories 11, 12, and 13, only one badge from each group counts as your Eagle-required badge. However, Scouts are encouraged to earn more than one! Any additional badges earned in these groups (such as earning both Swimming and Hiking, or both Emergency Preparedness and Lifesaving) will automatically count toward your 8 elective merit badges.
Plan Ahead: 4 Badges Require Multi-Week Tracking
Four Eagle-required merit badges cannot be completed in a single weekend. They require continuous, mandatory logs of 90 days to 13 weeks. Start these early in your Scouting career so you aren't racing the clock before your 18th birthday:
Every Scout pursuing the rank of Eagle Scout must complete each of these 10 merit badges. Click any badge to view the full current requirements online or download the printable, fillable PDF workbook.
Camping is the big one — twenty nights under the sky, and a long list of skills to go with them. Most of this badge cannot be done at a table: you plan the trek, pack the pack, pitch the tent, cook the meal, and log the nights as you go. Start the night log early and keep it honest; it is the part Scouts most often wish they had written down at the time.
Citizenship in the Community invites you to explore the local roots of democracy and civic responsibility. You will map key community facilities, chart your municipal government structure, attend a public council meeting, interview a local official, complete eight hours of volunteer service for a local charity, and present a multimedia portrait of your hometown's heritage, people, and future.
Citizenship in the Nation guides you through the founding documents, constitutional principles, and civic structures that unite the United States. You will analyze the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and historic speeches, follow national news, visit national landmarks or federal facilities, and communicate directly with your members of Congress on issues that matter to you.
Citizenship in the World expands your horizons beyond national borders. You will explore how nations interact through international law, trade, and diplomacy, examine differing forms of government across the globe, investigate major humanitarian organizations like the UN, WHO, and Red Cross, and discover what it means to be an engaged, responsible global citizen.
Communication is essential to leadership, teamwork, and lifelong success. In this Eagle-required badge, you will analyze your personal communication and listening habits, write and deliver a formal five-minute speech, interview an expert, report objectively on a public meeting, teach a skill using the EDGE method, create digital or print publications, and serve as master of ceremonies for a major unit event.
Cooking is an Eagle-required badge about nourishing yourself, your family, and your patrol safely and well. You will master food safety and nutrition guidelines, plan balanced multi-day menus, cook meals at home, outdoors at camp, and on the trail using a wide variety of cooking methods, and learn to manage time, budgets, and clean-up.
Family Life is an Eagle-required badge focusing on fostering healthy, supportive, and communicative family relationships. You will explore what makes a family vital to society, reflect on your personal role within your household, maintain a 90-day record of at least five regular home chores, plan and execute both an individual home project and a collaborative family project, facilitate structured family meetings addressing real-world challenges, finances, and etiquette, and reflect on effective parenting.
First Aid is an Eagle-required badge that equips Scouts with critical life-saving skills for acute illness, trauma, and wilderness emergencies. You will learn scene safety, primary patient assessment, triage, and shock management; assemble and inspect personal and troop first-aid kits; master care for non-bleeding and bleeding wounds; respond to breathing emergencies, unconsciousness, cardiac arrest, CPR, and AED deployment; demonstrate bandages and splints for fractures; manage spinal precautions and patient carries; treat thermal extremes and mental health crises; teach a first-aid skill using the EDGE method; and explore emergency medical careers.
Personal Fitness asks you to look honestly at how you live, measure where you actually are, and then spend twelve weeks changing it. The measuring is the point: you set your own tests with your counselor, record where you start, and prove you improved. Fitness here means more than muscle — mental, emotional, social, and spiritual fitness all count.
Personal Management teaches how money, time, and long-range planning shape your future. Requirement 2 is the big commitment: tracking every penny of your income and expenses in a budget for 13 consecutive weeks. Start that ledger immediately. You will also calculate loan interest, compare major family purchases, and map out a full project timeline.
Emergency Preparedness is an Eagle-required badge about being ready when crisis strikes. You will explore disaster risk across the five phases of emergency management (prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery), create family evacuation and shelter-in-place plans, practice life-saving rescues for live wires, carbon monoxide, fires, and drowning/ice accidents, demonstrate distress signaling and improvised stretcher transports, study NIMS and Incident Command, assemble a personal Go Bag, and plan troop emergency mobilization.
Lifesaving requires strong swimming skills and calm judgment under pressure. You must earn the Swimming merit badge before starting. The badge focuses on the rescue order — Reach, Throw, Row, Go — and trains you in defensive releases, underwater approaches, and towing conscious and unconscious subjects without endangering yourself.
Environmental Science is an Eagle-required badge that explores the complex interactions between living organisms and their environment. You will define environmental science, conduct a 2-day ecosystem observation, complete deep-dive studies in air, water, and land pollution, investigate endangered species and pollution prevention, study regional pollinators, evaluate invasive species, prepare an environmental impact assessment for a construction project, and research environmental careers.
Sustainability teaches how everyday choices in consumption, energy, food, and waste affect the global environment. You will audit your household utility usage, explore community composting, and analyze product life cycles. Requirement 2 involves testing real reduction habits with your family over a multi-week trial period.
Swimming is an essential water safety skill and a prerequisite for all advanced aquatic badges. After demonstrating the BSA swimmer test, you will refine five distinct strokes — crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke, and butterfly. Requirements include an endurance 150-yard swim, surface dives to retrieve weights, and survival floating.
Hiking is an Eagle-required badge focusing on endurance, trail safety, meticulous planning, and outdoor ethics. You will learn hiking first aid and footwear selection, practice Leave No Trace principles and the Outdoor Code, design a conditioning plan for distance trekking, prepare written hike plans for five major treks, complete four 10-mile hikes and one 20-mile hike (60 miles total), and compile reflective post-hike reports.
Cycling is an Eagle-required badge about fitness, self-reliance, and the freedom of two wheels. You will learn traffic laws and bike handling skills, perform regular safety checks and mechanical maintenance, and complete a progressive series of endurance rides — either on paved roads culminating in a 50-mile road tour, or on trails culminating in a 22-mile mountain bike trip.
Map your roadmap early and break the journey down into steady milestones:
Set a target date: Pick a firm goal—such as completing all Eagle-required merit badges by age 16—so you aren't racing against your 18th birthday.
Work backward: Map out your remaining requirements and set small weekly or monthly goals to stay consistent.
Start time-sensitive badges early: Family Life (90-day chores), Personal Fitness (12-week log), Personal Management (13-week budget), and Camping (20 nights) take months of logging, so start them right away.
Take it one step at a time: Concentrate on finishing merit badges or your service project in manageable stages so you never feel overwhelmed.
The Eagle Scout Service Project
Plan ahead and lead with confidence on your service project:
Get approval first: Your project proposal must be approved by the beneficiary organization, unit leader, unit committee, and your district or council advancement committee before you start any work. Starting early without approval can invalidate your project.
Focus on leadership: The project is about how well you lead others, not how much physical labor you do yourself. Remember that you are the one holding the clipboard, not the hammer.
Allow time for review: District project reviews can take anywhere from several weeks to several months depending on the time of year.
Contact references early: Personally call the references listed on your application ahead of time to confirm they are willing to complete and return your reference forms promptly.
Be prepared for your review: Know your Scout Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan by heart, and be ready to discuss your merit badges, personal growth, and leadership project.
Eagle Scout FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About Eagle-Required Badges
How many total merit badges are required for Eagle Scout?
A Scout must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges. Exactly 13 must be Eagle-required (10 mandatory core badges plus one from each of the 3 option groups), and 8 are electives chosen from any of the other approved merit badges.
Which Eagle-required merit badges take the longest?
Four badges have mandatory multi-week tracking requirements: Personal Management (13-week budget), Personal Fitness (12-week exercise program), Family Life (90 days of chore tracking), and Camping (20 nights). Scouts should start these early!
What happens if I earn multiple badges in a "choose one" group?
You get full credit for both! For example, if you earn both Swimming and Hiking, one satisfies Requirement 13 (Eagle-required) and the other automatically counts as one of your 8 elective merit badges toward your 21 total.
What happened to Citizenship in Society on February 27, 2026?
On February 27, 2026, Scouting America officially discontinued the Citizenship in Society merit badge and removed it as an Eagle requirement. The Eagle-required count returned from 14 to 13 (with 8 electives needed for the 21 total). Scouts who started the badge before February 27, 2026, have a grace period until December 31, 2026, to finish it for Eagle credit. Scouts who already earned it may count it toward their 21 total badges.
