Everything you Need to Know About DECA

DECA, or Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a high school program that helps introduce high school students into the world of business. DECA provides hundreds of opportunities for students to dive into their desired fields of interest and share their passions with judges and students from around the world. But how does DECA actually work? What does it take to make it to national competitions? Is DECA “worth it”? Let's break it down. 

Competitive Events:

There are two main categories that students can participate in each year: role-plays and manuals. 

Role-plays:

The role play category is often regarded as the less competitive category for students because of the amount of preparation needed to score highly. DECA themselves defines role-play competitions as “developed through industry research to reflect current issues and trends in business and industry.” 

Role-plays are essentially interviews interviewers conduct with you and/or your team. Prompts are given, and there is a period of preparation where teams decide the best way to approach the problem posed. Here's the ideal layout for how a role-play should go:

• Introduction (0.5 minutes)

• Roadmap (0.5 minutes)

• Performance Indicators (2.0 minutes)

• Solution (4.0 minutes)

• Summary (1.5 minute)

• Outro (1.5 minutes)

Detailed approaches are shown here: 

When it comes to competitions, role-play participants must compete in a regional competition at a local school. There, judges will grade your team’s score and decide whether or not it is high enough to move onto state-level conferences. The same process happens at states, where competitors can qualify for national and sometimes international competitions. Because of the required preparation needed for a high score, there is less competition when it comes to qualifying for state and national conferences. 

Manuals:

The manual category is by far the more competitive and popular event that students pick. DECA provides 59 different events under the manual category that students can choose from when preparing their projects. A full list of categories can be found here. 

Unlike role-plays, manual projects require a written component rather than just an interview. Manual projects (up until 2025) also directly qualify students for state conferences. No regional competitions are required to qualify for states. Manuals are either 10 or 20 pages depending on the selected category. Each event is grouped into one of 6 clusters:

• Business Management and Administration

• Entrepreneurship

• Finance

• Hospitality and Tourism

• Marketing

• Personal Financial Literacy

The entrepreneurship and finance clusters are by far the most competitive and popular clusters that students select. If your goal is to compete at national conferences, selecting a less competitive cluster will give you a better shot. 

Manual competitions require teams to submit their completed written project by December, and have roughly 2 months to prepare for the pitch/oral report of their projects at state conferences in March. Oral reports usually take 5 minutes, essentially detailing the core concepts and important information discussed in the written portion of the project. DECA encourages oral reports to include prepared presentations or physical aids that can enhance a judge’s understanding of the topics being discussed. 

DECA’s Value:

The biggest question students ask all the time is whether or not pouring hours and hours of time into DECA projects actually serves a purpose. Believe it or not, the answer is almost always yes. 

Chances are, teams that are genuinely dedicated and put in an effort in their projects are the teams that make it right to the top. But whether or not you qualify for national competitions, DECA still provides value when competing at regional or state conferences. Networking opportunities alone with students and administrators can help create relationships that are invaluable. 

Looking for other business-oriented activities just like DECA? Check out the extracurricular tab!