Abstract
Introduction Agricultural education aims to prepare students for careers in agriculture and related industries through three critical components: classroom and laboratory instruction, leadership through the National FFA Organization (FFA), and supervised agricultural experiences (SAEs). This combination of learning strategies is critical to agricultural education's student engagement, which can lead to increased career preparedness, the development of employability skills, and becoming an informed consumer of agricultural products. Methods This study analyzed data from the Agricultural Experience Tracker (AET), a web-based record-keeping platform used by agricultural educators for SAE and FFA records. The data were collected from 230,228 students in 1,245 agricultural education programs in nine purposively selected states. This data was utilized to describe patterns of student engagement in FFA and SAE activities. We used Welch's F -test to assess statistical differences in FFA and SAE engagement between states included in the study. Results We found that annual FFA and SAE engagement varied among students, with only 24.56% of members engaged in community service, 35.19% engaged in at least two FFA activities at the local level or higher, 33.37% of first-year students with an SAE project with over 10 h of engagement, and 29.29% of continuing students participating in an SAE project with over 50 h of engagement. Furthermore, the results indicated that some states included in the study engaged students in FFA and SAE at significantly higher rates than other states. Discussion Engagement in SAE was most common among first-year students participating in a foundational project, though this often did not translate into sustained involvement in an immersion project. It is recommended that educators further integrate FFA and SAE components into classroom instruction and that agricultural education continue to expand opportunities for participation and ensure equity for all students. Additionally, states with lower rates of FFA and SAE engagement should use states with higher rates as examples to identify effective strategies to increase participation.