Everything we hand you to prepare
These are the materials we actually use with members: DECA's own preparation library, the official guidelines for every competitive event, which is the area you focus on and are judged in all year, and the reading that helps you sound like you belong in the room. Start with the first card and work across. If something here is locked, confusing, or missing, tell us and we'll sort it out with you.
The three we point every member to first
DECA+
DECA's own preparation library, and the fastest way to practice. It holds practice exams, case studies and role-play scenarios, and sample written entries that scored well at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC), all written by the people who write the real thing.
The subscription belongs to the chapter rather than to individual members, so email Mr. Hoertz for the login and he'll send you the chapter credentials.
Open DECA+Your event's own page
Every one of DECA's 60 high school events has a page on deca.org carrying its official guidelines, the performance indicators the exam is written from, the exam blueprint, and released role-plays you can practice with. Our event list links straight out to each one, so find your event and go.
See the event listThe DECA Guide
DECA republishes the Guide every year, and it is the national rulebook: how each competitive event is scored, what you may and may not bring in front of a judge, and how the conference ladder works. Read the pages for your event before you start preparing.
Read the DECA GuideWhere to go once you know your event
The rest of what DECA publishes is free and open to anyone. We'll work through plenty of it together at meetings, but nothing stops you from getting ahead of us.
Sample exams and role-plays
DECA releases past exams and past role-plays, which are the scenarios that put you in a professional role and give you preparation time to build a recommendation. Filter by your event or by career cluster, the industry area your event belongs to, and practice on the real thing.
Browse the samplesDECA Direct Online
DECA's magazine for members, written largely by members. It runs competition strategy from people who have competed at ICDC, interviews with the professionals who judge us, and college and career advice worth reading whatever you end up studying.
Read DECA DirectDECA scholarships
DECA Inc. and its corporate partners award scholarships to members every year, and applying costs nothing. The current list, the eligibility rules, and the deadlines are posted here. Bring us your draft and we'll read it before you submit.
See the scholarshipsThe details that are ours, not DECA's
Kentucky and Lafayette specifics live on our own pages, and those are the ones to trust for dates, dress, and deadlines.
Conferences
Where the Regional, State (SCDC), and international (ICDC) conferences are held this year, what a conference day actually looks like, what the chapter covers, and the roster deadlines you have to beat to travel with us.
See the conferencesDress code
The three levels of dress we use, what is never acceptable at a conference, and exactly when the official DECA blazer is required. If you don't have those clothes, say so early and we'll figure it out together.
Check what to wearChapter calendar
Meetings, practice sessions, conference travel, and the deadlines that do not move. You can subscribe to it so every chapter date lands in the same calendar as the rest of your week.
Open the calendarWhat members ask us about these resources
Email Mr. Hoertz and ask. The DECA+ subscription is bought by the chapter and shared by its members, so there's no account for you to create and nothing for you to pay. The credentials are only for Lafayette DECA members, so please don't pass them to students outside the chapter.
No. Everything on this page is either free from DECA or already paid for by the chapter. Membership dues are the one cost, $35 for 2026-27, due Friday, September 25, and the membership page explains what they cover.
On your event's page on deca.org, which our event list links to from every row. Performance indicators are the specific skills DECA says a competitor in your event should be able to demonstrate, and both the exam questions and the judge's rubric come from them. Downloading that list is the single most useful thing you can do in your first week of preparation.
DECA publishes an exam blueprint that shows how many questions come from each instructional area, and it posts released exams from past years. Both are linked from your event's page. We run practice exams at meetings too, and we go over the answers together rather than just handing back a score.
Yes. DECA releases past role-plays, the scenarios that put you in a professional role and ask you to brief a judge, and you'll find them on your event's page and in DECA's resource library. What you may never do is share a scenario from a conference you're competing in, which DECA's competitive integrity agreement treats seriously. Practice on released material, and we'll write fresh scenarios for you in meetings.
There is. A written event is one where you research and submit a document, like a business plan or a marketing campaign, and then present it. DECA+ carries sample entries that scored well at ICDC, which are the best models you'll find anywhere. Read two or three before you outline yours, and send us your draft early enough that we can actually help.
Start with our event list and filter by career cluster, the industry area an event belongs to, until you find two or three that sound like something you'd enjoy. If this is your first year, look hard at the Principles of Business Administration events, which DECA writes specifically for first-year members whatever grade you're in. Then bring your shortlist to a meeting and we'll help you choose.
Ask us for the DECA+ credentials.
DECA+ is the one resource here that isn't public, because the subscription is the chapter's. Send Mr. Hoertz a note and he'll reply with the chapter login. Tell him which event you're preparing for while you're at it, and we'll point you at the practice material that matches it.