Eight Add'l Colleges Sign Up For CTI

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected eight additional colleges or universities to participate in the Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) program. Approved colleges and universities in the program prepare and train students interested in a career as an air traffic controller.

"These schools are an excellent jump start for a job in air traffic control," said Robert A. Sturgell, the FAA's acting administrator. "These institutions will give thousands of future controllers an inside track on a great career."

The FAA plans to recruit and hire more than 17,000 new air traffic controllers over the next 10 years. Over the last three years, the agency has hired 5,000 new controllers and plans to hire more than 2,000 in fiscal year 2009. In the past five years, CTI schools have graduated more than 4,000 students from their aviation programs. Three thousand of those graduates were hired by the FAA.

The addition of new schools in the program increases the number of CTI schools from 23 to 31. The schools are accredited and offer a non-engineering aviation degree.

The most recent schools added to the list include: Aims Community College (Colorado), Broward Community College (Florida), Eastern New Mexico-Roswell (New Mexico), Embry Riddle-Prescott (Arizona), Jacksonville University (Florida), LeTourneau University (Texas), St. Cloud University (Montana), Tulsa Community College (Oklahoma).

The other CTI schools are: Arizona State University, Community College of Baltimore County (Maryland), Florida Community College-Jacksonville, Green River Community College (Washington), Lewis University (Illinois), Kent State University (Ohio), the Metropolitan State College of Denver (Colorado); Middle Georgia College, the University of Oklahoma, Community College of Beaver County (Pennsylvania), Daniel Webster College (New Hampshire), Dowling College (New York), Embry-Riddle-Daytona Beach (Florida), Hampton University (Virginia), Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, Miami Dade County College (Florida), Middle Tennessee State University, Minneapolis Community and Technical College (Minnesota), Mount San Antonio (California), Purdue University (Indiana), University of Alaska, University of North Dakota, and Vaughn College of Aeronautics (New York).

FMI: www.faa.gov