Welcome to Merit Badge University 2026

Registration for MBU will CLOSE for printing on Wednesday Jan 28th at 11:59pm. ANY changes you wish to make will have to be done at MBU, and will be on a space available basis. Please consult the Class Counts GRID on the sidbar for what classes will have openings.

WALK-IN Registration IS allowed at MBU on Saturday. Cost is $60 (cash, credit card, or check) Class choices are limited to those with space available. Please check the Class Count GRID to see your options.

Here is a list of SOME of the Merit Badges that have extra room as of January 22: American Cultures, American Heritage, American Labor, Aviation, Bird Study, Cit. In the Nation, Cit in the World, Composite Materials, Digital Technology, Disabilities Awareness, Energy, Engineering, Forestry, Genealogy, Geocaching, Inventing, Landscape Architecture, Music, Personal Management, Nature, Pets, Plant Science, Reading, Safety, Salesmanship, Scholarship, Signs Signals & Codes, Snow Sports, Space Exploration, Theater, Traffic Safety, Truck Transportation, & Weather.

When MBU began 29 years ago - less than 100 Scouts attended. Today, over 1,500 Scouts from all over the United States attend this event, making our MBU one of the largest in the Nation. Whether this is your first visit to MBU or you are a veteran, please read the instructions carefully as some of our registration procedures have changed.

• DATE: Saturday, January 31, 2026 at York High School, 355 W. St Charles Road, Elmhurst, Illinois.
• TIME: 7:30am Registration begins / 9am 1st period / 4:30pm last period ends
• COST: $56 - Lunch & Patch are Included

Ready to get started? First, review the Class Schedule, Availability Grid, and read through the Event Class Catalog. These documents contain class times, descriptions, pre-requisites, requirements and special instructions from our Instructors. 

MBU is an all day event. Participant registration begins at 7:30am, 1st class begins at 9am, and 4 class sessions are offered during the day. Scouts are dismissed around 4:30pm or after their last MB session. A hot lunch and beverage are provided as part of the fee. Snacks and additional drinks are available for purchase during the day and a trading post is onsite with Scouting items. See the MBU Website for details.

General Information: MBU is a uniformed event. Scouts, Staff, Adult Leaders and Instructors are required to be in uniform throughout the day.

• Need to talk to a human? Email one of us!
• If your Scout has special dietary requirements, he or she is welcome to bring a sack lunch with their special dietary needs to suppliment the hot lunch provided.

READY TO GET STARTED?  Please use the Registration button at the top of this page. 

WHAT TO BRING to MBU: Please remember to BRING a PAPER COPY of the BSA Health Form Parts A & B. These will be collected & destroyed at the end of the event. ALL Scouts and Adult Staff & MBCs MUST turn in a Health Form to participate. This is a BSA requirement.

Once again we are doing a Food Drive to help local families. Please remember to bring non perishable items to drop off when you enter the School! Thank you in advance for yrou generosity!

The pre-requisites should be done ahead of time if possible or can be finished up after MBU. (Pre-Reqs can be found in the MBU Catalog on the sidebar.) Scouts should read the Merit badge book and come prepared. The MB Counselor will check off the prerequisites that they have done outside of class when they show proof of completion, The other requirements will be done in class. You  can access online free versions of all the merit badges at HERE. Or you can google them. The requirements are listed in the front of the book or on the worksheets. Having said all that, your Scouts will get their Schedule, patch lunch wristband and other stuff when they check in on Saturday. Make sure that they have a throw away COPY of their AB, BSA Health form to turn in at check-in.

WHEN WILL MY BLUE CARDS BE READY TO ACCESS?  'Blue Cards' are electronically available after each session of MBU 2026. You are able to access them and download them using your registration confirmation # and the email address you used when you signed up. Click on LOOK UP in the upper right hand corner of this page to get started.  Badges and partials from MBU 2026 will be ready to download as they are entered into the system, about 1-2 weeks after MBU and you will receive an email notification when they are ready. You can also access a draft of your Scout's schedule using the conformation email. Once ALL of the MBU badge requirements have been entered into the system we will automatically download all completed and partial Merit Badges into your unit's Scoutbook account, for those of you that use Scoutbook. (Approx. 2 weeks after the event.)