To be eligible to attend Arizona Boys State, a student must be a boy who will have just completed his junior year of high school in June 2025. In addition, a student must be able to attend Boys State for the full duration of the program (limited exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis).
In general, there are two ways for students to get to Boys State:
First, students may be selected to attend Boys State by their high school (potentially in coordination with an American Legion Post). Participating high schools will begin selecting students in January 2025, and must select students for Boys State by March 1, 2025. Schools may use any procedure they wish to select students for Boys State, such as a faculty nomination process, an essay or oratorical competition, or interviews with interested students.
To find out whether your school is participating in Boys State recruiting, click here to see the current list of participating high schools. If your school is not on the list but would like to send students to Boys State, please have a school guidance counselor or other faculty or staff member complete the form on this page.
Second, students may apply directly through the Boys State website to be added to the waitlist. This option is appropriate for home school students, for students whose high school does not participate in Boys State recruiting, and for students whose high school selected another student to attend Boys State but who still wish to be considered. Students on the waitlist will be notified in mid-March 2025 whether they have been invited to attend Boys State. The waitlist application will be available in January 2025.
A limited number of students may be selected to attend Boys State through other means, such as direct nomination by an American Legion Post or Boys State staff member. These situations will be handled on a case-by-case basis.Â