Visit an A&P School

You would not buy a car without test-driving it. Do not commit to an aviation maintenance program without walking through the hangars, talking to students, and seeing the aircraft you will be working on. A campus visit is the single most useful thing you can do before enrolling, and it costs you nothing but a Saturday.

What Is an FAA Part 147 School?

The FAA certifies aviation maintenance technician schools under Title 14 CFR Part 147. These are the only schools authorized to provide the structured training path to your Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) certificate — the credential you need to legally sign off aircraft maintenance in the United States.

Every Part 147 school must meet the same FAA curriculum requirements: a minimum of 1,900 hours of combined instruction covering both the Airframe and Powerplant ratings. That breaks down into roughly 750 hours of general coursework, 750 hours of airframe-specific training, and 400 hours of powerplant-specific training. Most programs compress this into 15 to 24 months of full-time study.

The key thing to understand: whether you attend a $3,000-per-year community college program or a $40,000 private school, you sit for the same FAA exams at the end, and you earn the same A&P certificate. The FAA does not print the school name on your certificate. Employers care about the certificate, your skills, and your attitude — not where you went to school. While the core A&P curriculum is FAA-mandated, forward-thinking programs are supplementing it with training in digital tools and AI-assisted diagnostics that are rapidly becoming standard at airlines and MROs.

How to Find Schools Near You

The FAA maintains an official directory of every approved Part 147 school in the country. Go to faa.gov/mechanics/schools and search by state. As of 2025, there are roughly 170 approved programs across the US, so unless you live in a very remote area, there are likely options within driving distance.

Make a list of every school within a reasonable radius. Include both community colleges and private institutions — you want to compare them side by side.

Notable Schools Worth Knowing About

The cost range across Part 147 schools is enormous, and you should understand that range before you visit anywhere.

Most affordable options:

• San Bernardino Valley College (California) — roughly $1,380 per year for in-state students. One of the cheapest A&P programs in the country. Same FAA certificate at the end.
• Ivy Tech Community College (Indiana) — approximately $3,389 per year in-state. Excellent value for a well-regarded program.
• Dallas College (Texas) — launched a new aviation maintenance program in 2024. Community college pricing with brand-new facilities.
• Northland Community & Technical College (Minnesota) — affordable community college pricing and they have Boeing 727s in their training fleet. You will work on real jet aircraft.

Private institutions (higher cost, more campuses):

• Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) — 15 campuses nationwide, tuition runs $30,000 to $40,000 total. The largest private A&P school network in the country. Convenient if there is a campus near you.
• Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA) — $25,000 to $35,000 total. Long track record, strong industry connections in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
• Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology (Tulsa, Oklahoma) — one of the oldest aviation schools in the country, founded in 1928. Strong alumni network.

The high school shortcut:

• Aviation Career & Technical Education High School in Queens, New York — this is a free public high school where students can earn their A&P certificate before graduation. If you are a New York City resident in middle school, this is one of the most extraordinary opportunities in aviation education anywhere. You graduate high school with an FAA certificate that adults pay tens of thousands of dollars to earn.

What to Look for During Your Visit

Walk in with your eyes open. Here is what separates a great program from a mediocre one:

The hangars and shop spaces. Are they clean, organized, and well-lit? Are the tools in good condition? Is there enough space for students to actually work, or is everyone crowded around one aircraft? The physical environment tells you how seriously the school takes hands-on training.

The aircraft fleet. What types of aircraft will you work on? A school with a variety — piston singles, turboprops, turbofan engines, maybe a regional jet or older airliner — gives you broader exposure. Northland CC has Boeing 727s. Some schools have only small piston aircraft. Both can prepare you for the FAA exams, but variety is better.

Instructor experience. Ask instructors about their backgrounds. The best instructors have years of real-world maintenance experience at airlines, MROs, or military units before they started teaching. An instructor who spent 20 years on the line at Delta will teach you things a textbook cannot.

Student-to-instructor ratio. In hands-on lab sessions, you want small groups. A ratio of 15:1 or better for lab work means you will actually get to use the tools, not just watch someone else use them. Classroom lectures can be larger, but shop time should be intimate.

Technology integration. Ask whether the school teaches digital maintenance platforms, electronic logbooks, or predictive maintenance concepts. The industry is moving fast toward data-driven maintenance, and schools that are incorporating AI diagnostic tools and augmented reality maintenance trainers into their curriculum are preparing students for where the industry is heading — not just where it is today. A school that only teaches paper logbooks and legacy troubleshooting methods is already falling behind.

The students themselves. Talk to current students, not just admissions staff. Ask them what surprised them about the program. Ask what they would change. Ask if they feel prepared. Students will give you the unfiltered truth that a brochure will not.

Questions to Ask Admissions

Bring a list. Do not be shy about asking hard questions — you are evaluating a significant investment of time and money.

1. What is your job placement rate? Get a specific number. Ask how they calculate it. A school that says “95% placement” should be able to show you the data. Ask what counts as “placed” — is it any job, or specifically an aviation maintenance job?

2. Which airlines and companies hire your graduates? Names matter. A school that regularly feeds graduates to Delta, United, Southwest, or major MROs like AAR or ST Engineering has established pipeline relationships. That is worth something.

3. What is the ratio of lab hours to classroom hours? You want at least 50% of your time in the shop. More is better. You do not learn to safety wire by reading about it.

4. What is the first-time pass rate on FAA exams? The national average for A&P written exams hovers around 80-85%. A strong school should be at or above that. Ask about oral and practical pass rates too.

5. What scholarships or financial aid do you offer? Many schools have institutional scholarships, and some have partnerships with airlines that sponsor students. Community colleges participate in federal financial aid. Ask specifically about Pell Grants, state workforce grants, and any industry-sponsored programs.

6. What does the schedule look like? Some schools run day programs, some run evening programs, some offer accelerated tracks. If you need to work while attending, an evening or weekend option matters.

7. Do graduates earn any additional credentials beyond the A&P? Some programs include OSHA certifications, composite repair training, or other industry credentials bundled into the curriculum.

8. Does the curriculum include any digital maintenance tools, predictive analytics, or AI-assisted diagnostics? Airlines and MROs are rapidly adopting these technologies, and training that includes them gives you an edge on day one.

9. Are you incorporating augmented reality or digital twin technology into your training? These tools are becoming standard at major airlines for everything from engine inspection to wiring troubleshooting. These questions signal to the school that you are thinking ahead, and the answers tell you whether the program is evolving with the industry or standing still.

The Cost Conversation

This is the most important comparison you will make. A community college A&P program can cost $3,000 to $10,000 per year. A private school can cost $25,000 to $40,000 total. At the end of both, you take the same FAA exams and earn the same certificate.

There are legitimate reasons to choose a more expensive school — location, schedule flexibility, newer facilities, specific airline partnerships, faster completion time. But do the math with your eyes open. If Ivy Tech at $3,389 a year gets you the same A&P certificate as a $40,000 private school, you need a very good reason to pay ten times more.

Visit both types. Walk through a community college hangar and a private school hangar. Talk to students at both. Then make your decision based on what you actually saw, not what a marketing brochure told you.

After Your Visit

Take notes while everything is fresh. Compare schools on a simple grid: cost, location, schedule, fleet, placement rate, gut feeling. Talk to your family about what you saw. If a school felt right — if you could picture yourself in that hangar, turning wrenches, learning from those instructors — that feeling matters.

The aviation maintenance industry needs 690,000 new technicians over the next 20 years, according to Boeing. Schools are actively competing for students. You have leverage. Use it. Visit multiple schools, ask hard questions, and choose the program that gives you the best training for the best price.

Your A&P certificate is the key to a career that pays $45,000 to start and can reach $100,000 or more within a decade. The school visit is where that career starts to feel real.