What is DECA?
DECA is the organization for high school and college students interested in careers in marketing, management and entrepreneurship.
High school
The high school division serves more than 185,000 high school students, mostly juniors and seniors, DECA’s high school division is recognized and endorsed by all 50 state departments of education and the U.S. Department of Education. There are 5,000 chapters, located in the United States, Canada, Germany, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Membership in the high school division is open to students with a career interest in marketing, management, hospitality, finance, entrepreneurship, and/or business administration. DECA programs are co-curricular, meaning programs complement nationally recognized curriculum standards in the classroom and then go further to incorporate realistic educational experiences not available through classroom instruction alone.
College
DECA’s college division is called Delta Epsilon Chi. More than 13,000 students from 200 campuses participate in the organization. The institutions include community colleges, technical colleges, four-year colleges and universities.
Delta Epsilon Chi enhances the student’s college experience by providing recognition and leadership activities directly related to classroom study. Delta Epsilon Chi members are at various stages in their educational lives, enabling our members to fit into a variety of employment stages.
To learn more about DECA, go to www.deca.org.
NAAEI and DECA
L-R: Tom Shelton, CAPS, CPM, Western National Property Management; Londie Huggins, Western National Property Management; Luisa Knight, Lincoln Military Housing; Alison Brown, Equity Residential; Tara Abbott Davis, BRE Properties; Daniel J. Hernandez, Pinnacle. Representing NAAEI at the national DECA conference, these industry professionals served on a panel attended by more than 250 business management college students.
The NAA Education Institute recently participated in the national DECA college and high school conferences in Anaheim, CA. NAAEI sponsored a panel at the DECA Business Management Academy with over 250 college students in attendance. College students learned about exciting career opportunities in apartment management and were impressed to meet apartment industry professionals who had been able to advance quickly in their careers and find their niche in apartment management. NAAEI exhibited at the DECA Career Fair which was visited by 1600 college students and at the high school career exposition which was visited by over 15,000 high school students, advisers and parents. Thanks to BRE Properties, Equity Residential, Lincoln Military Housing, Western National, Gables and Pinnacle for recruiting associates to serve on the NAAEI Panel, work at the Career Fair, judge competitive events and serve as mentors.
To learn how you can connect with DECA at local high schools or colleges, contact Shana Treger at shana@naahq.org or 703/518-6141, ext 115.