Merit Badges are an invitation to explore an exciting subject. By earning Merit Badges, Scouts gain career, social, and physical skills, and they may even begin new and healthful hobbies that are kept for a lifetime. There are currently 138 Merit Badges offered. 14 of these are specifically required Merit Badges for the Eagle rank (along with 8 additional miscellaneous of a Scout’s choosing). The Scout ranks of Star(4+2), Life(7+4), and Eagle Ranks(14+7) each have minimum numbers of these Eagle-required Merit Badges, and a minimum number of non-Eagle (any of the Scout’s choosing) Merit Badges needed for the Rank.