2024 National Leadership Conference
Honor Code

FBLA Honor Code

The Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Honor Code embodies principles of integrity, trust, respect, and responsibility essential for fostering excellence an ethical leadership in a community devoted to learning.

Every member, local adviser, and state leader must maintain and enforce these principles. To ensure a high standard across FBLA, every competitor registered in any competitive event must agree and certify to comply with the following guidelines:

  • Compliance: Competitors are required to read and adhere to the FBLA Competitive Event Guidelines relevant to their event.
  • Original Work: Competitors must ensure that all content submitted for FBLA competitive events is their own work or that of their team members. Proper citation of sources is mandatory.
  • Use of Materials: Only materials explicitly allowed by FBLA Competitive Event Guidelines may be utilized.
  • Independence: No external assistance beyond what is explicitly permitted in FBLA event instructions or guidelines is allowed.
  • Cell Phones and Smart Watches: Cell phones and smart watches are prohibited in the objective testing area unless pre-approved accommodations require their use. Any visibility or report of these devices will be considered a violation of the Honor Code.
  • Data Storage: Competitors are prohibited from saving any FBLA competitive event or test materials provided by the FBLA National Center or a state organization to any storage device or cloud storage.
  • Originality: Competitive entries must be entirely original and not previously entered in FBLA national competition by the competitor or others. (It is the intent to preclude local chapters from rewriting the same event, and it is recognized that chapters may utilize the same or similar activities on an annual basis in some events. In this case, chapters may use these activities, ensuring that the project or portions of projects are not rewritten and therefore plagiarized.)
  • Honest Participation: Competitors must engage in all FBLA competitive events with honesty and integrity.

In the event of an alleged Honor Code violation, the National Competitive Events Committee for the designated FBLA division will investigate. If a violation is confirmed, penalty points, including disqualification, may be imposed at the discretion of the National Competitive Events Committee. Additionally, information regarding the violation may be forwarded to the appropriate state FBLA organization for future action regarding academic integrity.

By registering for the 2024 National Leadership Conference, participants acknowledge their understanding of the Honor Code and the consequences of violating it.