How to Earn a Four Year Aviation Degree in Just Two Years?

Say “Hello!” to the new era of license crediting and online studies: only two years are now required to get a four year degree, instead of four years. Read on!

Do I need a degree?

That depends on the airline and the world-region you are targeting for your permanent airline employment. Many airlines out there have recently dropped the aviation degree requirements. Why? Because, let’s face it: aviation degrees are pretty much useless. It’s nice to have some peripheral knowledge about aviation science, quantum physics and advanced calculus integration, but it is definitely not required for a safe and efficient operation of an aircraft. Also, if a person really wants to gain this type knowledge, perhaps if they want to obtain a management position in n airline, he/she can do this on their own time later in their career. 

Which airlines require an Aviation Degree?

Most regional, major and even Legacy (Delta, United, American, Air Canada) airlines in the United States and Canada have dropped the degree requirements, but do cite a four-year degree (in any major) as a preference. This means that they will consider you as a valid applicant, and they will not mind that you don’t have a degree, as soon as you have other dazzling aspects of your life in the resume, such as military service, lack of check-ride failure, high academic GPA in your high school diploma, good track record as a flight instructor, and so on. Same rule goes to all airlines in the Middle East (Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, FlyDubai and so on), and to almost all airlines in the EU, Asia and South America (Cathay, Dragon, Malaysian, Copa, etc). None of these major airlines require applicants to have a degree. Some US airlines still have a degree requirement, such as FedEx. Some airlines in Europe have emphasis on the degree requirements, such as British Airways and Lufthansa. But these airlines would not normally employ someone who isn’t British or German and have flown in the RAF or Luftwaffe for at least 20 years of their aviation career. So, the degree requirement by such airlines is… moot. 

What if I really, really want an Aviation Degree?

Well, there are several modern cost- and time-effective ways to obtain a full four-year aviation degree in North America. Why modern? Because they only recently became available, mostly due to COVID and resulting from it Nationwide online learning accreditation drive. Because most universities went online during COVID, their study programs received full academic accreditation to be taken 100% online. This means that, if only a few years ago a student had to visit campus and sit the lectures in order to earn the required academic credits for his degree, now he doesn’t need to do it. The entirety of the degree program can be taken online: all the courses, all the exams - everything!

How to get a 4-year Aviation Degree in under two years?

A lot of universities in the United States and Canada grant Academic Credits to the FAA and Transport Canada certified pilots. For example, if you hold a CPL with multi-engine and single-engine ratings and an instrument rating and 200-250 hours of flight time, you may be granted as many as 32-37 academic credits towards an aviation degree. Also, if you hold a full ATPL and a CFI (instructor) license, you may be granted as many as 60 academic credits before you even begin your degree studies. What does this mean? Consider that a full 4-year degree in Aviation Science requires you to complete 120 academic credits in order to graduate. Each academic course, like “Principles of Flight” or “Meteorology” or “Technologically Advanced Cockpit” are worth between 3 and 4 academic credits. Because you have already completed these studies during the course of your flight training and certification towards the pilot licenses, the universities will admit you that you have already taken these courses elsewhere and will grant you these academic credits for free, because you hold the appropriate licenses. Now, consider this: if you were granted 60 academic credits for your licenses, and a full aviation degree requires 120 credits, then you have, effectively, competed half a degree, before even starting your actual degree studies. Not bad, right? So, now, all you need to do is compete the following 60 academic credits - and you are done! If you take 12-18 academic credits per academic semester (each semester is approximately 4 months in length), you can then graduate in just 14 months! Yes, some students can’t take that many, and instead adopt a very relaxed study pace of 12 credits per semester. Then, it will take them only 2 years to graduate. 

Can I work and study at the same time?

Absolutely! Consider the following situation: you have obtained a Canadian ATPL and are now working for a regional airline in Canada, such as Jazz Aviation. You are flying CRJ aircraft as a first officer, you are building that valuable for your future career in Emirates passenger jet time. You are earning $5,500-$6,000 CAD per month. Fantastic! A normal airline pilot schedule will allow you to fly 15-18 days per month and get 15-13 days off. During your ample off-time you can enroll into the online degree study program and earn your fully-accredited Bachelor of Science in Aviation in under two years. So, to recap: you are building jet time, you are making good initial income to pay off your student loans, and you are simultaneously finishing your aviation degree in a record time-frame. Now, let’s also consider that you have finally logged your 1000th hour in the Jet and Emirates hired you as a First Officer. You need to love to Dubai to start your dream career. Now what? Well, as you can probably remember, the study program is 100% online. As soon as you have intent connection in Dubai - you can continue your studies as if nothing happened. 

So, what should I do?

We suggest that you enroll into a regular fast-track aviation program, which will get you your licenses in the fastest time, and then allow you to build your flight hours as a flight instructor in order to obtain a full ATPL and become eligible for the initial airline employment. Once you have completed all that, we suggest that you enroll into an online degree program and obtains your BSc in Aviation in under 2 years. 

How much will it cost me?

Estimated current cost for this type of degree program for ATP holders is between $20,000 and $25,000 USD. Considering that flight training costs around $75,000 USD, you can obtain your licenses and degree in under $100,000 USD! This is much better than paying for a full degree and integrated flight training program at a cost of over $200,000 USD.

Most popular online Aviation Degree universities: Liberty University  Thomas Edison State University  University of North Dakota  More Information of online Aviation Degree is available here >>>