Frequently Asked Questions

Texas has several membership options and divisions. Membership dues include state and national dues and are paid directly to nationals.

Middle level (Grades 6-8): $16

Secondary (Grades 9-12): $22

Associate (Grades 9-12): $20  (The Associate Division is designated for students with Special Population designations. Beginning the 2021-22 membership year, Associate students will have access to all competitive events. The benefit of this division is that students compete in a smaller group setting to provide a greater opportunity of success.) Associate Division Guidelines

Post-Secondary (College/University or Technical School): $21  Note: A special offer is extended to our Post-Secondary students to assist us as judges at the state and national levels. To support their endeavors, Texas BPA will waive SLC registration fees if Post-Secondary members fulfill duties as judges during SLC.

Virtual Membership: $25 available for Middle Level, Secondary and Post-Secondary Levels. This membership option is available to any student who does not have access to a BPA chapter at their school. Membership in the Texas Virtual chapter allows members to participate in all programs and have access to competitions. Registration for competitions are at an additional cost.

Membership dues are processed online at register.bpa.org 

Go to this website and review the membership procedures and online registration section. You will need a username and password to access the system.

Once your invoice is generated, you will send your dues to:

Business Professionals of America
NATIONAL CENTER
P.O. Box 729
Westerville, Ohio 43086

Visit register.bpa.org and click the "Forgot Password" button. You can also email the state advisor for a quick reset of your password.

If you are a new chapter, click on the red "New Chapter Request" button to complete the necessary information to obtain your username and password.

You are automatically entered by way of being a chapter advisor. You will see your name at the top of the first invoice you create for your chapter in the online membership registration system. When you login to the membership registration system at register.bpa.org, if you do not see your name list in the “Advisors” box in the upper-right corner of the page, you may click the “Add/Edit” link to add additional advisors. Alternatively, you can click this link to delete advisors as well.

NOTE: Advisors who oversee multiple chapters will be invoiced on only one dues invoice.

The deadline for membership is February 15. However, regional competitions are in January and their registration dates are usually in November or December. Please be mindful of these deadlines. 

Please submit a copy of your invoice along with your payment to:

Business Professionals of America
P. O. Box 729
Westerville, OH 43086.

Please ensure that your business office has the correct address and that they mail a copy of the invoice with the check to ensure that it is credited correctly. It is recommended that if you are submitting a PO, that you request that the membership check be sent to you so that you can mail the check directly to Nationals. Please keep a copy of the check and the invoice to assist us if we need to track payments.

Yes. You may pay via credit card.

Follow the instructions on the membership website to complete the transaction.

Membership names can only be swapped on a membership list within five (5) business days of submitting an invoice. This is stated on the national invoice and in the pop-up window that appears before an invoice is submitted.

If it is beyond those five days, the original student’s name must remain on the list and membership dues payment is required for that student.

As it relates to the student who you would have added onto your membership roster, you can always add additional members before the deadline by creating a new invoice.

Because of this strict policy, it is highly recommended that you do not enter members into the system until you have received their dues. Students will often change their mind about joining and that will leave you, and your chapter, stuck with the cost of their membership.

In order to fix any students’ names that are misspelled, please complete the following steps:

1. Login to the membership system online at register.bpa.org
2. Click the “Enter/View Your Members” link
3. Click the “List All Members” button
4. Locate the student whose name is misspelled then click the “Name Spelling Correction Request” next to that person’s name.
5. Fill out the name correction form and push the “Submit” button
6. Wait for the confirmation message, within several business days, to confirm that the change has been made

You can apply for a new chapter by going to register.bpa.org and clicking on the "New Chapter Request" button.

The National Center may reach out to you if there is already a chapter at your school to see if you are replacing another advisor or if you are looking to create a second chapter at your school. If you know that you are replacing another teacher, you can contact Diana Weber @ mrsweberbpa@gmail.com to update the chapter contact information and connect you to the advisor resources.

Members can count all activities they participated in while a member of Business Professionals of America. For example, if a senior has been a member for four years, he/she can count activities done during those four years. This includes activities done during the summer. Furthermore, if someone is a freshman, they can only claim activities since they joined BPA not activities prior to that time.

Once the Ambassador Torch Award is received, the points reset and members must begin again. You can earn the Ambassador Award each year if all requirements are met.

Many chapters allow their members to apply for the same award a following year. Members may carry over a limited number of points in each category, but a majority of the points must be for new activities. NOTE: Students who have obtained their ambassador award in a previous school year must start over at zero points.

When the student logs on to their résumé online, he/she will see the reason the application was rejected. Advisors can also see the reason their student(s) résumé was rejected.

If your application/submission for the Diplomat Award is rejected, you may still apply for the Statesman and/or Ambassador Award.

These guidelines are posted online under Opportunities.

T-Shirt Design Contest--Design our t-shirt that will be used at the State Leadership Conference and worn to our Friday night Special Event.

Pin Design Contest--Design our Texas trading pins that are used for pin trading at the National Leadership Conference.

After graduating from high school, your BPA journey can continue in college. We do have a Post-Secondary division and you can start a chapter at your college. If you are not able to start a chapter or if one is not available at your university, you can also join the Texas Virtual Post-Secondary chapter. Post-Secondary students can still compete in all events as secondary and even have a few additional ones available. In Texas, we love our Post-Secondary members and encourage them to assist us as judges at RLC and SLC and we are even willing to waive your registration fees if you can commit to assisting us.

After college, we still need you!

Alumni members help at the various conferences as contest administrators, proctors, graders, judges, and more. In addition, alumni members are involved with assisting current members at the local chapter level. Membership in the alumni division is free to any and all past BPA members or anyone interested in volunteering to help at our events. You can join the National Alumni Association and stay connected.

Virtual events are neither conducted at nor associated with regional competition. In addition, they do NOT count as one of the student's two main events. They can compete in as many virtual events as they wish IN ADDITION TO all the competitions to which they are eligible to participate in at the regional level.