Find out about some Scholarships for Aviation Students – requirements, award amounts, eligibility – so that you can offset high university costs and attain a career in aviation. Also included are resources that can help you find more scholarships and grants related to this profession. Save your career aspirations from a crash landing by allowing Aviation Scholarships fend off soaring educational costs.

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If you’re interested in a career in aviation, finding Aviation Scholarships could help lower the high rates of expensive educational costs. A good place to start your search would be at the Federal Aviation Administration where they provide tons of information on scholarships and grants to people interested in aerial careers. Just visit their Training & Testing page for more information. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the best place to find work would be at regional airlines and budget carriers as major airlines (Delta, Southwest, United Airlines) require applicants with significant flying experience stiffening the competition for recent graduates. To help you get started, below are a few scholarships that will provide funding for your college education.

Aviation Scholarships from NAAA

The National Agricultural Aviation Association has a few scholarships for those interested in pursuing careers in agricultural aviation. The purpose of their Agricultural Aviation Scholarship is to assist students financially so that more pilots can be brought in the aerial application industry (crop-dusting, fire protection, rescue). They award one $5,000 scholarship and another $2,500 to help students afford degrees related to agricultural aviation. Simply have a letter of recommendation from an NAAA Operator who’s sponsoring you, a 250 word essay and a one page resume. The $2,500 scholarship will only be awarded if there are a large number of applicants. They also have a Scholarship Essay Contest from the Women of the National Agricultural Aviation Association (WNAAA) to be used for any educational purposes not necessarily limited to aviation. You can find more information concerning requirements and essay topics and other scholarship information on the website.

PAMA Foundation Scholarship Program

The Professional Aviation Maintenance Association awards students interested in aviation maintenance with $2,000 in college funding with their Brian Bennett Scholarship. This is a memorial program dedicated to a PAMA Scholarship program founder whose son died in an accident while in college. If you’re a student interested in aviation maintenance and meet specific requirements, you can apply for this scholarship. PAMA provides other scholarships and grants that can be found on their website. In total PAMA awards over $30,000 in scholarships to eligible applicants. Some criteria they look for include work experience, financial need, career promise, professional commitment and related extracurricular activities.

Flight Path Learning Center Scholarships

If you reside in Southern California and are interested in a career in aviation, the Flight Path Learning Center in partnership with Mr. Clay Lacy is willing to award you $5,000 to offset college costs. They’ll look at financial need, academic performance and recommendations. They also provide a scholarship in honor of the third man who walked on the moon via the Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr., Scholarship. Pete Conrad was the commander on the Apollo 12 mission when it was launched in space on November 14, 1969. The award amount for this scholarship is $2,000. Both of these programs require a short 250 word essay, transcripts of grades and letters of recommendations from two faculty members of either your high school, college, university or technical school. The deadlines for both are on May 12th. Just visit their homepage for more info.

Reach your Destination

Working at a major airline is the goal of many aviation students since people in this profession receive the highest pay in the industry (median wage for pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers was $111,680 in 2008 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). But if you have a love of flying and simply enjoy being in the air, then a modest wage and safe equipment is acceptable to most. Whatever your goals, Aviation Scholarships will help you reach your destination without tons of student debt.