ADVANCEMENT IS THE PROCESS by which youth members progress through ranks in the Scouting program by the gradual mastery of Scouting skills.

Regardless the program—Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Varsity Scouting, Venturing, or Sea Scouts—where advancement takes place, it is nothing more and nothing less than a method. It is a means toward accomplishing the Boy Scouts of America mission. It is not an end in itself.

“Advancement is one of the eight methods used by Scout leaders to help youth fulfill the aims of the BSA.”