Citing the growing global pilot shortage, the University of North Dakota on Wednesday announced it has established a $1.5 million scholarship endowment for high-achieving students to earn their wings. The endowment is funded by $500,000 contributions from the nonprofit UND Aerospace Foundation, UND Promise Scholarship Program and the James C. Ray Foundation. The scholarships will go to incoming freshmen. “We are constantly looking for ways of attracting the best and brightest students to UND,” said UND President Mark Kennedy. “Endowments like this will help us by providing scholarship dollars specifically for recruitment.”
The school offers majors in aviation/airport management, commercial aviation, air traffic control, flight education, aviation technology management and unmanned aircraft systems. Students can earn private pilot, commercial pilot and certified flight instructor certificates, and are often employed as flight instructors on-site. “UND Aerospace soars far beyond training and educating qualified pilots,” said UND Aerospace Foundation chairman Larry Martin. “We prepare students for leadership positions in government, business and industry. Our graduates fly for major U.S. and international airlines and enter highly challenging careers working for corporate flight departments, aircraft manufacturers, NASA and the FAA, among many other organizations.”
