Aviation-minded professionals considering an advanced college degree have an online option with Delta State University’s Master of Commercial Aviation program. The 30-semester-hour master’s degree is taught in a non-traditional learning environment that affords professionals the latitude to enroll and take courses from their existing location.
Julie Speaks, the university’s commercial aviation department chair, said the institution will have an open house April 15 at Cleveland Municipal Airport. The facility is the home for Delta State’s fleet of Cessna and Diamond aircraft that are in use for the university’s commercial aviation undergraduate degrees.
“Our curriculum includes 10 classes and you can take it in as quick as a year or as long as five years,” said Speaks, who is a pilot and a multiengine certificated instructor. Speaks said the program allows students to learn at their own pace as long as they fulfill the degree’s requirements.
Tuition is $3,600 per semester for up to 12 hours at the graduate level, so the cost is a little over $1,000 per class. No flight courses are involved because the master’s degree is in commercial aviation management.
Speaks said a lot of Delta State’s incoming master’s students are nearing age 65 but they aren’t yet ready to retire so they are enrolling in the program to branch over to a management career.
Visitors to the open house will experience “one-stop shopping at the hangar” where students, housing representatives, registration, and financial aid representatives will be available. Speaks expects current students and graduates to fly in and talk about the school’s programs, which began in 1981 with two instructors and 20 students.
The college also offers undergraduate degrees in flight operations, aviation management, and logistics management.
The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
