To the Flight Levels Via the Indiana Prairie

Ivy Tech, the public community college system in the U.S. state of Indiana, has partnered with Indianapolis-based Leadership in Flight Training (LIFT) Academy to offer a Professional Flight Associate of Applied Science degree.

The program comprises 32 credit hours of didactic classroom instruction and approximately 260 flight hours. Students will contemporaneously purse Associate degrees and FAA Commercial Pilot certification. Graduates will have the option to obtain their Flight Instructor certificates.

Ivy Tech Chancellor Dr. Steven Combs states: “Our Professional Flight program has helped prepare students on their pathway to becoming pilots since its inception five years ago. LIFT Academy’s unique programming will connect our students with top-notch training and lead to potential employment. We welcome LIFT aboard as a partner to Ivy Tech Columbus Professional Flight.”

Based on the Indianapolis International Airport, LIFT Academy is among the largest flight schools in the U.S. The institution operates a sizeable, modern fleet of training aircraft in which, every year, it instructs some three-hundred students in the wondrous art of heavier-than-air flight.

Graduates of the joint Ivy Tech-LIFT Academy program will receive an interview with Republic Airlines—on account of LIFT being a subsidiary thereof. LIFT also has a working relationship with Cape Air, a Hyannis Massachusetts-based regional airline with which program graduates will be granted interviews for initial pilot positions.

LIFT Academy director of operations Ed Bagden remarks: “As the first flight school of its kind in the nation with a direct pilot career pathway to Republic Airways, we’re proud to continue forming valuable strategic relationships, such as this with Ivy Tech, to bring aviation closer to a broader population, making a career as an airline pilot more attainable and accessible.”

Positions in the Ivy Tech-LIFT Academy degree program are limited. Furthermore, prospective students will be obligated to pass requisite FAA medical examinations and background checks prior to gaining admittance. 

LIFT Academy will host an open house at its Indianapolis International Airport facility on Thursday, 18 August from 16:00 to 19:00. The event is free and open to the public. Ivy Tech officials will be on hand to share information about the degree program. A Fall Open House is also scheduled for 13 October.

FMI: www.ivytech.edu,  www.flywithlift.com/admissions, www.ivytech.edu/apply-now/index.html