Expert: David A. NewMyer - 3/30/2004

Question
Dear Mr NewMyer,
I'm a 19yo German attending college in Germany. After finishing college, I am thinking about starting a career going into the aviation business - aviation management, for example. Since there is only one university in Germany offering this programme, I am now trying to find out whether there are other countries I could go to university which offer this programme - I actually found a lot schools in the US offering aviation management. So, here are my questions: First of all, I wonder if you know anything about foreign students getting scholarships for US universities, the prerequisites and any further information on that. Then, I would like to know something about the career chances of aviation management, airport management and so on - you will probably be able to give me information on the US market (which would be very nice, especially if you could provide me with some facts and figures or links to such pages), but if you have any further information on career chances and future outlooks for this market in other countries than the US (Canada, Europe...) I would be grateful if you could give them to me. When surfing the websites of US universities, I noticed that aviation management is offered in two different categories: the Bachelor of Science and the Bachelor of Arts. Concerning the programme of aviation management, where exactly is the difference between the BSc and the BA? And, would you recommmend doing the Bachelor and then continue to the Master directly (because of better job perspectives) or is the Bachelor an adequate degree to come to higher positions in the aviation business? One last question - I am wondering what kinds of jobs the university graduates are able to get when coming straight from university, and what the average wages and the chance to find a "good" job directly is like.
Thank you very much already - I know these are a lot of questions. If you have any information, facts, figures or links concerning this topic, I would be glad if you could give them to me!

Answer
Hi,

I am sorry I have taken so long to respond.  It has been very busy at work....

In any case, I will now try to assist.

A.  Scholarships, etc.  As far as international students' ability to obtain scholarships and other financial aid, the chances of that are small BUT there ARE some specialized scholarships that may well be available.  Three places to check are:

1.  This website:  www.AvScholars.com  This website has very good aviation-related financial aid and scholarship information.

2.  The Collegiate Aviation Scholarship listing provided by the University Aviation Association is available for about $25 US and lists $1.4 million in aviation-related scholarships.  Their Email contact is:  uaa@auburn.edu   You should be able to order it via Email with a credit card.

3.  Individual universities or colleges:  Some individual institutions may have some financial aid, loans and scholarships available for international aviation students, particularly those that are privately-funded rather than those that are publicly-funded.  Examples of Privately- funded postsecondary institutions in the USA that offer Aviation Management at both the bachelor's and master's level would be:

Concordia University (Montreal, Canada)--master's only
Embry Riddle Aeronautcial University
Florida Instiute of Technology (also called Florida Tech or FIT)
Dowling College, NY (although their master's may not be pur aviation management...you will have to ask them)
Parks College of St. Louis University

The reason privately-funded institutions have the chance to give such grants and scholarships is that they do not receive as much public money AND they have their own endowment from which to draw funding, which is not restricted by government rules.

B.  As far as "aviation career chances" are concerned, here are the overall statistics for the US Civil aviation market:

Aerospace and aviation manufacturing=689,000 jobs

Airlines (including major, national, regional
and all-cargo airlines)= 704,000 jobs

General Aviation (this is big in America and includes
all flying EXCEPT that done by the airlines and the military including private aircraft owned by corporations and businesses, fueling companies, parts and repair companies as well as flight training companies=638,000 jobs

Government Aviation (including federal, state and local government jobs in aviation at such agencies as the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Agency, National Transportation Safety Board, State aviation and aeronautical agenices...which operate airports....and, local government entities and agencies and own and operate airports)=176,000 jobs

Miscellaneous aviation jobs=25,000

TOTAL US CIVIL AVIATION JOBS=2,232,000 JOBS

Of the above approximately 250,000 of these jobs are pilot or flying jobs and another 300,000 to 350,000 are aircraft maintenance-related jobs.  Therefore, almost 1.7 million people in the US aviation job market do something other than fly or work on aircraft.  Also, some of these 550,000 pilots and mechanics also have Aviation Management degrees since they have taken those degrees for both career advancement as pilots or mechanics AND are striving to move up into management in the pilot or mechanic side of the aviation business.

As far as some potential job titles that aviation management graduates have:

Airport Manager or Airport Director
Airport Operation Specialist or Director
Airport Marketing Director
Airport Planning
Airport Analyst
Inflight manager (for an airline)
Airline customer service manager
Crew Scheduler (for an airline or a general aviation company)
Airline marketing analyst
Airline marketing manager
Cost estimator (with an aerospace manufacturer)
Pricing specialist (with an aerospace manaufacturer)
Aviation technical writer (could be with an airline or an aerospace manufacturer)
Aviation logistical specialist
Manager of government affairs


The above are just some of the jobs out there.  You might check on these websites for some additional ideas:

www.aviationemployment.com
www.avcrew.com
www.aviationinterviews.com

C.  Bachelor of Science vs. Bachelor of Arts:  The difference is normally what you have to take IN the major as well as WITH the major coursework to obtain the overall degree.  That is, most undergraduate degrees contain at least two key parts:

The Major Requirements (such as the requirements to obtain the BS or BA in Aviation Management); and,

The General Education Requirements such as science, math, language, humanities, social studies, health and the like.  In other words, the common components of any undergraduate degree in the USA.  

At some universities, the major of Aviation Management might be located in a portion of the university that only offers Bachelor of Science degrees and, therefore, that is why they offer a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management.  Many times, to BE a Bachelor of Science, it is also true that there might be some general studies or major coursework that must be taken in the science area that helps the major conform to the concept of the Bachelor of Science (or, the Bachelor of Arts, as the case may be).  In any case, I think that what you want to do is explore the nature of the individual course offerings, the quality of the faculty offering the courses (and, do they have aviation industry experience that is applicable to your needs and interests) and other charateristics of the degree offered.  I think it would make little differnce as to whether it is a BS or BA.  

D.  Bachelor's or Master's?  I would think that someone with only a bachelor's degree in Aviation Management and little to offer the industry in terms of experience should consider one of two things:

1.  An internship to gain hands-on aviation management work experience while still an undergraduate student.  An internship is a work experience that one does while an undergraduate student for cre