PSI, the third-party contractor that administers all FAA tests, has been purchased by ETS, a Princeton, New Jersey nonprofit that is one of the largest language testing organizations in the world. ETS’s main business is in administering language tests for admissions requirements for universities, but it bought PSI as a diversification move to expand into workforce skills testing, like the various tests PSI gives for the FAA. “This is an important milestone for ETS as we forge ahead into the workforce development space to become the trusted source to measure, certify and license skills and demonstrate progress,” said Amit Sevak, CEO of ETS.
For its part, PSI seems to have emerged from the acquisition mostly intact with the same leadership, workforce and organizational structure. Although it’s a nonprofit, ETS is allowed to own and operate some for-profit companies like PSI to support its nonprofit activities. PSI is more than FAA tests, too. It does English testing for the U.K. Home Office for visas, work, study and residency requirements. The two companies combined administer more than 50 million tests a year. The acquisition finalized in late January and wasn’t mentioned by the FAA or PSI’s FAA division.
