Up 60 Percent Over The Past Four Years

The aviation program at Minnesota State University's Mankato campus has grown about 60 percent over the past four years, according to the university.

The program, the only such four-year degree program offered in the state of Minnesota, has been around since the 1970s, according to coordinator Tom Paterson, and was at risk of being eliminated in 2010 because of a state budget shortfall.

But forecasts of a need for hundreds of thousands of pilots in the coming decades has given new life to the program. Minnesota Public Radio reports that the the program, which was recently accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International, has 176 enrolled students.

The university has a contract with North Star Aviation to provide flight training. Many students become instructors for North Star to build hours needed to apply for airline jobs, according to the report.

But those graduates are spending less time instructing, according to Rob McGregor, the flight school manager at North Star. He said that they can "pretty much pick the airline they want to go to," and that just two years ago, they might have spent two or three years instructing waiting for a slot.

Earlier this month, North Star Aviation ordered two Piper Seminoles and several Piper Warriors which will be flown by students it the program.

(Image from North Star Aviation Facebook timeline)

FMI: http://ed.mnsu.edu/aviation/