Parkland College Institute of Aviation Announces New Partnership

Parkland College Institute of Aviation Announces New Partnership with Southern Illinois University Carbondale

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Parkland College Institute of Aviation, in collaboration with Southern Illinois University Carbondale, will provide a new opportunity for students and community members to advance their flight training credentials, starting next month.

SIU Carbondale will offer accelerated Bachelor of Science in  Aviation Management degree classes at the Institute of Aviation during the spring semester. The program will take approximately 16 months to complete. Classes will be held every other weekend at the Institute and taught in person by SIU Carbondale faculty.

The Aviation Management accelerated program is designed to build upon students' technical training in professional flight, aviation maintenance, flight avionics technology, air traffic control, aircraft operations support, and other aviation-related technical fields. This career-oriented program will meet the educational needs of individuals who have an aviation-related professional background and/or training from various fields.

This program allows students to stay local while being taught by a nationally recognized aviation program and its faculty, according to Wendy Evans, director of Parkland's aviation institute. 

"Our students can start this program while completing their Parkland Aviation requirements," Evans said. "In addition, students who complete an Associate of Science degree in Aviation from Parkland along with the approved qualifying training hours at SIU Carbondale may have the opportunity to earn the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Restricted Air Transport Pilot certificate (R-ATP), which is 1,000 hours."

SIU's Aviation Management program is open to other students and community members who meet the requirements for admissions; R-ATP does not apply to these individuals. Students who enroll in this program will become SIU Carbondale students as well and thus will have access to all SIU Carbondale offerings.

To learn more about the Aviation Management program and to apply, please visit admissions.siu.edu/apply.