2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The aviation industry’s ongoing shortage of pilots and management professionals underscores the need for effective pre-college outreach, early engagement, and targeted student recruitment for collegiate aviation programs to build awareness and encourage participation of the students. This study examines how new and established collegiate aviation programs engage pre-college students to build awareness and strengthen the aviation education pipeline. This study focuses on key areas such as program size and structure, local and national feeder high schools, recruitment activities and strategies, student interests, and enrollments.
This research will use a mixed methods approach that may include institutional enrollment data, program documentation, faculty and student perceptions, and faculty experiences. This research aims to discuss the different outreach and student recruitment strategies and how these strategies affect student enrollments, retention, and program growth. For instance, preliminary observations suggests that sustained relationships with education partners, visibility of aviation industry in the community, and hands-on learning opportunities - such as drone labs, mechanic workshops, or introductory flight experiences - are key drivers in promoting student enrollment and engagement in aviation programs.
On the other hand, this study will also discuss faculty reported challenges related to recruitment process such as limited institutional resources, lack of name recognition, issues with under-prepared, minority or first-gen students, seeking partnership with flight schools, and competition from other STEM and technical institutions. The findings of this study may be useful to collegiate aviation programs in constituting an effective recruitment framework in either satisfying short-term enrollment or long-term goals. This study may also benefit aviation program administrators and faculty to seek possible solutions to address their recruitment needs and ultimately achieving sustainable aviation programs.