Beginning with the 4-H professional research and knowledge base in 1986, to the recent launch of an online master's degree in youth development by the GP-IDEA consortium of land-grant universities in 2003, to the implementation of the U.S. Department of Labor's certificate in youth development, youth development is now recognized as a district discipline with an identified academic base. As a result, 4-H youth development faculty affiliated with land-grant universities are expected to engage in scholarship. The challenge, however, is to identify appropriate definitions and assessment standards of scholarship in teaching, research, and service and within the four functions outlined by Boyer. This paper summarizes some of the challenges facing 4-H youth development scholarship and its relationship with land-grant universities.