University Offering Pre-College Pathways in Maintenance and UAS

Kansas State University recently opened aviation maintenance and unmanned aerial systems courses to local high schoolers. The classes, hosted at the Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus, offer hands-on learning opportunities and direct degree pathways.

“These courses are unique education options that high school students might not otherwise be able to obtain,” stated Monte Couchman, K-State Salina’s director of pre-college pathways. “Between learning how to become an aircraft mechanic or how to operate a drone or exploring virtual environments, the K-State Salina campus is offering nontraditional access to industries with budding career potential.”

K-State’s pre-college programs include aviation maintenance, applied business, applied cyber systems design, and uncrewed aircraft systems. The classes provide real college credits towards an associate or bachelor's degree at a heavy discount - up to 73% lower than the typical rate.

Students will mostly tune into classes online to make the programs more accessible, though several opportunities for hands-on learning are available. The Aviation Maintenance Management courses allow high school students to work with simulators and more than 10 aircraft, including a Bell 206 helicopter and a King Air 90 twin-engine turboprop plane.

If students choose to pursue an associate degree, they can graduate after just one year of postsecondary education with all the tools necessary to take the Airframe and Powerplant exam. The testing can even be conducted on the K-State campus since it is an FAA-certified site.

The UAS pathway is a 14-credit-hour course with one in-person flight lab. It gives students the option to earn an FAA part 107 Remote Pilot in Command Certificate as well as continue their education in K-State’s UAS Bachelor’s programs for flight and operations or design and integration.

“High school students should be interested in a program like this because we’ve got campus data that supports that all four of our pathways are directly attributable to quality jobs,” Couchman continued. “Students can also see what college education rigor looks like in a technical program, albeit in an online modality, but with less risk because of how affordable the price is.”

FMI: www.salina.k-state.edu