Hey all,
Quick question for those that are in the beginning stages of flight training. Do you know of any scholarships that are offered to private pilots or commercial? I’ve applied to EAA and AOPA but having to wait till June for the announcements. Call me impatient but I’m eager to get into the sky if at all possible!
Thanks!
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Logan,
Flight training scholarships are few and far between. I wouldn’t know where to point you beyond Googling it.
Financial assistance for aviation more often comes in the form of Tuition Reimbursement and sign on bonuses since you’ve already proven that you’re worth the investment.
Tory
Understood. Thanks Tory!
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Tory this is totally random but you are with Horizon? Correct? Do you know James Hinchey? It just dawned on me that he is now a captain for horizon I believe. He was my old instructor at Regal air in everett
I wish that I could say I’ve met him before, but his name doesn’t sound familiar. I’ll keep an eye out. Did he fly the Q before upgrading?
Tory
No idea! Just thought it’d be a cool small world kinda moment 
I did some more digging on our friend James. He has a year of seniority on me. That means he flew the Q. The 175s didn’t arrive until a year later. Not likely that I would have flown with him.
Oh right on!
Below are 3 additional aviation organizations that have large scholarship programs.
National Business Aviation Association. The NBAA Charities scholarship program, generously supported by NBAA member donors, offers nearly $100,000 annually in cash awards as tuition reimbursement for enrolled students and nearly the same amount in monetary and training awards for working professionals in business aviation, including pilots, maintenance professionals, schedulers, dispatchers, flight attendants and flight technicians.
Women in Aviation gives scholarships to both women and men.
National Gay Pilot’s Association. The only universal requirement is that you must be an NGPA member at the time of application submission. Will a scholarship be awarded on the basis of an individual’s gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation? No. But the applicant should provide evidence of his or her contributions to the LGBTQ community. This can be accomplished in a number of ways such as volunteer work…
Thank you!
Same case here, I’ve applied for over 20 different scholarships but all to no avail, please help this passionate guy here. Any more suggestions for flight training scholarships…?
Joel,
Frankly I’m surprised you found as many as you did! Flying scholarships are hard to come by and I didn’t think there were that many.
The fact is until you start flying there’s really no way of knowing if you’re any good at it, therefore schools and other entities are reluctant to take a chance. This is also why, while not scholarships, virtually every Regional is offering Tuition Reimbursement and other huge bonuses that will cover the cost of training, AFTER you’re done.
While I encourage you to keep looking, it might become a situation where you’re simply going to have to get your finances together so you can get a loan or self-fund your training as is the most common route.
Adam
Joel,
I was just as surprised as Adam you even found that many. The sad reality is there are still many barriers to becoming a pilot. The biggest one, the upfront cost of flight training.
I recommend you build your credit, save what you can if you won’t have the option of a co-signer. In time, you might have a better shot applying for the loan.
Hannah
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