Expert: David A. NewMyer - 5/3/2009

Question
Hi,
my name is Brandon and I was wondering what do you know about Oklahoma States Aviation pilot program and how well it places students in the industry. I know that it is not ranked among the best but i wanted to know is it one of the top half of schools.
Thank you,
Brandon

Answer
Hi, Brandon:

Nice to hear from you, I will try to assist.

I am not really too sure about its placement record.  I would think that is a question that you would want to ask them directly...for example, not only what percentage of graduates get jobs and where, but, also, what sorts of things that they do to assist graduates in looking for jobs (such as, do they offer an on-campus aviation career fair or expo at least once a year...that sort of thing; also, do they offer internship and cooperative education programs with various segments of the aviation industry, as a way to place graduates?).

There are few ways available to rank aviation programs, but, one way I use is to look at a university's participation in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association's national SAFECON meet that happens each Spring.  This year, Oklahoma State has qualified for going to nationals by placing in the top five in its regional competition.  Also, as recently as 2004, Oklahoma State has placed as high as seventh in the NIFA nationals in the overall schools ranking.  More recently, they have placed around 20th.  From that perspective, you can say that they are somewhere in the top 20 of larger aviation schools....and, there are about 80 flight programs (give or take a few) at postsecondary institutions (community colleges and four year schools) in the nation.  So, that puts them in the top 25%, just from that perspective alone.  You can check the NIFA results out yourself by going to their website at www.nifa.us

I hope that this information is of help to you.  Best wishes in your search for a college or university aviation program that fits you!

Sincerely,

David A. NewMyer, Ph.D., Professor and Chair
Aviation Management and Flight
Southern Illinois University Carbondale