Professional Pilot

A professional pilot possesses a commercial pilot certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Students graduating from this course usually begin their careers as flight instructors. After working as a flight instructor for one to two years, most progress into charter flight, corporate flying, and commuter or major commercial airlines.

This program is approximately eight quarters in length, depending on the time students need to satisfactorily complete all graduation requirements.

In addition to the program course requirements, students must also complete the general education requirements for the degree they seek to obtain. The two degree options in this program are the Associate of Applied Technology (AAT) or the Associate of Applied Science –T (AAS-T) the different requirements for each degree are listed below.

AAT Degree General Education Requirements (15 credits):

ENGL& 101 English Composition or CMST& 200 (or higher)

MAT 105 Math for Industrial Professions (or higher)

PSYC& 100 General Psychology (or other social science or humanities class)

AAS-T Degree General Education Requirements (20 credits): 

All AAS-T degrees must have a minimum of 20 credits of transferable general education. These credits replace the academic courses required for the AAT degree. Required credits include:

1. 5 credits in Communication: ENGL& 101
2. 5 credits in quantitative reasoning: MATH 110, MATH& 141, MATH& 142, MATH& 146 or MATH& 151
3. 10 credits in social science, humanities or science (choose two from the following): PSYC& 100, PSYC& 200, PSY 210, PSYC& 220, SOC& 101, ART& 100, MUS& 105, ASL& 121, BIOL 118, BIOL& 241, BIOL& 242, CHEM& 121, CHEM& 110, GEOL& 110, PHYS& 121, ECON 101, ECON& 201 or ECON& 202

Students pursuing an AAT or AAS-T degree must complete all college degree requirements prior to graduation. This includes courses that meet the capstone project, diversity, and computer literacy requirements.

Prerequisites: Must be at least 16 1/2 years of age. Must comply with FAA licensing standards, and must obtain a second-class FAA medical examination prior to the first day of class. Please contact Instructor for details.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requires that U.S. citizens prove citizenship status before beginning flight training by providing a current passport or birth certificate and driver’s license. Non-U.S. students must submit to a background and fingerprint check from the TSA prior to beginning training. Contact Instructor for details.

Admission Dates: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer quarters

AAT Program Requirements

*Articulated courses with High Schools for Dual Enrollment

AAS-T Program Requirements

Note: Students complete the Professional Pilot Program requirements at different rates due to their own skills and abilities, availability of planes, and weather conditions that can alter scheduled flying times. Thus, the number of quarters needed to satisfactorily complete all graduation requirements may exceed those listed above. Students must meet FAA flight time requirements prior to graduation.

Optional Training

Optional Elective Courses

To review course descriptions, please click here.