Start a Chapter

By starting a TSA Chapter at your school you are

  • Given the opportunity to mentor student members

  • Enriching your classroom through hands-on experiences

  • Gain access to the TSA Competitive Events Guide - Middle School or High School level which can be used to bolster your curriculum and provide ideas for group activities

  • Gain leadership materials and experiences for student members

  • Gain STEM-focused career and college preparation resources

  • Collaborate with other educators, administrators, parents, and community leaders

  • May fulfill Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) requirement

TSA Membership System Chapter Affiliation Instructions

Membership in TSA covers each school year.  TSA membership begins when a chapter completes affiliation and ends at the conclusion of the national TSA conference. 

TSA offers three curriculum-integrated membership programs. Chapters choose the program that works best for them (note that each affiliation type also requires a $10 advisor fee that is not included in the fees shown below):  

  1. Red Chapter Affiliation Program (Red CAP) 
    A chapter affiliates up to 10 members and a Chapter Advisor by paying a flat fee (members may be added during the year for an additional fee). The membership fee for Red CAP is $120 at the national level, plus state dues.

  2. White Chapter Affiliation Program (White CAP) 
    A chapter affiliates 11 or more members by paying a per member fee for state and national dues. The membership fee for White CAP is $12 per member at the national level, plus state dues. 

  3. Blue Chapter Affiliation Program (Blue CAP) 
    A chapter affiliates an unlimited number of members in a school for a flat fee. This option is popular among chapters in which students rotate through a STEM class for a portion of the year because it enables all students to be members. The membership fee for Blue CAP is $400 at the national level, plus state dues.  

Follow these easy steps to start a chapter in your school: 

Step 1: Review the Member Affiliation Policies

Step 2: Click the Advisor Login tab on the TSA website

Step 3: Start a new chapter and follow the onscreen instructions 

Step 4: Pay Membership Dues 

MEMBERSHIP AFFILIATION POLICIES

Affiliation Process

  1. Membership is only processed through the national TSA online affiliation system. Faxed or mailed affiliation forms will be returned with instructions to affiliate online.

  2. If a chapter that originally affiliated as a Red CAP adds more than ten members, it automatically becomes a White CAP once the additional fees are paid. Red CAP and White CAP may change to Blue CAP at any time during the year by paying the difference in fees. Blue CAP may add members at any time at no additional cost.

  3. A chapter that has paid White CAP fees in excess of the Blue CAP fee may change to Blue CAP status.

  4. Any chapter reporting national TSA membership that does not have a state TSA delegation is placed in the chapter-at-large category. All chapters in the chapter-at-large category have rights and privileges of any other national TSA chapter, with the exception of state delegation officer representation.

  5. Members of chapters in the chapter-at-large category are considered members in good standing when all applicable chapter and national TSA dues are paid in full.

  6. A school may affiliate more than one chapter, provided the chapters represent different levels, i.e., a middle school level chapter and a high school level chapter may physically exist at one school, but two middle school chapters or two high school chapters at one school are not permitted; separate membership affiliations must be submitted to the national TSA office; separate registrations for the National TSA Conference must be submitted to national TSA.

  7. Any chapter affiliation submitted to national TSA must be personally completed by the chapter advisor (or an appointed officer).

  8. Unpaid invoices must be paid in full to national TSA prior to any chapter member participating in a state or National TSA Conference

  9. An online school (a school without a "brick and mortar" building) may affiliate a TSA chapter with full membership privileges. An online school must choose among TSA’s three curriculum-integrated membership programs and pay the applicable affiliation dues. An online school which affiliates a Red, White or Blue CAP chapter is limited to having 1000 members. TSA members (of both “brick and mortar” and online schools) who want to compete in the annual national TSA conference must participate in-person as no virtual competitions are available.

Chapter Management

  1. Chapters must have student members to affiliate with TSA.

  2. Chapter membership type (Red CAP, White CAP or Blue CAP) must be the same at both the state and national levels.

  3. A student may belong to only one local chapter and to only one state TSA delegation.

  4. TSA membership must be affiliated through a local state-registered education district. "Home-schooled" students may only become members through an agreement with one affiliated chapter.

  5. Advisors of TSA chapters must be registered state-certified educators working in existing school facilities. It is recommended that a science, technology, engineering or mathematics teacher serve as a TSA chapter advisor. However, some other state-certified educator may be appointed by the school’s principal. The appointed advisor has the same rights and privileges of any advisor as long as he/she maintains the chapter in good standing.

  6. The chapter level (middle school or high school) is designated by the chapter advisor when affiliating each year.

  7. Two schools may not combine to form one chapter at the same level or different levels. Each school must have a separate affiliated chapter.

  8. A member may only belong to a TSA chapter where he or she attends school, unless they are home-schooled (per the policy in #4 above).

Membership Dues

  1. Membership is not processed until all dues (national and state) are paid in full. State dues received at the National TSA office will not be remitted until all dues are paid in full.

  2. All membership dues must be paid at the time of affiliation. Affiliations without dues will not be processed and neither the chapter nor its members will be in good standing until all dues are paid. 

  3. TSA membership dues are non-refundable and non-transferable.

  4. TSA operates under a unified dues policy, whereby all members must affiliate and pay applicable dues at the local, state, and national level. Individual dues at all levels (high school and middle school) consist of local chapter dues (determined by the chapter), state dues (determined by the state delegation), and national dues (determined by TSA, Inc.).

  5. A written notification of transfer must be sent to the National TSA office if a student has paid individual membership dues and transfers to another chapter/school.

  6. Any advisor affiliated with a chapter must pay the annual advisor dues.

Champion Fund

When paying for TSA membership dues poses a challenge, the Champion Fund may provide an opportunity to bring TSA to middle schools and high schools. Through the Champion Fund, Red CAP membership costs (up to 10 members and one advisor) for approved schools are covered for one school year. Newly-affiliated chapters can discover all that TSA membership has to offer, including a wide range of challenging STEM-related competitions, and education, leadership, and career resources.

The Champion Fund is for brick-and-mortar schools (online schools are not eligible) that: 

  1. have never had a TSA chapter and there is no school or community financial support available to pay membership dues.

  2. have not had a TSA chapter for at least three years and there is no school or community financial support available to pay membership dues.

  3. have had a TSA chapter within the last three years, but currently is experiencing economic hardship because of a disaster and cannot pay membership dues.

Submitted applications are reviewed by a committee to determine eligibility and are processed on a first come, first served basis depending upon available funding. All applications require a principal’s signature. Schools receiving financial support from the Champion Fund are kept anonymous.

Apply

Download the Champion Fund application.

Donate

Through your donations, the Champion Fund continues to help start TSA chapters at schools with financial considerations. Tax deductible donations may be made by individuals (such as members, officers, advisors, alumni, or parents), local chapters, state delegations, schools, communities, businesses, or other individuals or groups. Donors will receive an electronic receipt.

Donate to the Champion Fund

For more information about the Champion Fund, contact Maria Raza.