Coming soon to Chestnut Hill College is a new bachelor’s degree in aviation science, where students can choose between two tracks: aviation business management or professional pilot. This program will be the only one in the Philadelphia region that sets up graduates to go directly into a career as a commercial pilot.

Chair of the Center for Data & Society and associate professor of political science Jeffrey Carroll is excited for their program launch next fall.

“What’ll set [this program] apart, in addition to being the first, is we’re going to partner with our nearby airfield, Wings Field in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania,” Carroll said. “Wings Field is about five to seven minutes from Chestnut Hill, so that is really unusual to not only have an aviation program, but to have [an airport] as close as you do.”

When following the aviation business management track, students will take classes such as Private Pilot Ground School I, Aerodynamics and Aircraft Performance, Aviation Safety, and Senior Seminar in Aviation Management. The college says these courses are designed to provide students with a strong education in business that can lead them to different careers in aviation management.

The courses also are included in the professional pilot track, in addition to more hands-on courses like Commercial Pilot Ground School and Human Factors in Aviation. By combining these hands-on activities, with the technical skills of being a pilot, the goal is to give students a well-rounded education.

“We are really careful when we do take on a program because usually when we take it on, there’s a limited amount of capacity, but when we do it, we do it really well,” Carroll said. “So, I think that’s what is different about us, at least for our students.”

According to Carroll, programs like these are a good way to prepare students for the aviation field. Due to pilots having a required retirement age of 65, the field has faced struggles hiring enough pilots to fill the demand.

While this is an issue faced by many airlines around the country, this new aviation program will target students in the Philadelphia region. Chestnut Hill College sees the program as a benefit not only to the students but the industry as well. Carroll is ready to tackle the challenges.

“There’s always some growing pains when you’re out of the box you know, when you’re one of the first in the region,” Carroll said. “So that’s why it’s taking a little bit of time to find how all the pieces fit together.”

Chestnut Hill College plans to announce more details in the spring, in time to enroll students for the fall semester.

“Our students say, ‘That’s interesting. We see where it fits. We see your trajectory,’” Carroll said. “And it’s just one extra option, but in this case, they think it’s a really cool option.”