FAA pathway launched at Aims

Aims Community College in northern Colorado has started a Federal Aviation Administration-approved air traffic control track that lets some graduates skip the agency’s academy in Oklahoma City. (faa.gov) The Federal Aviation Administration approved Aims for the Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative on March 2, 2026, and Aims said it completed the designation after an on-site evaluation in January. The college is in Windsor and Greeley, with simulator and lab-based air traffic control courses listed at its Windsor campus. (faa.gov) (aims.edu) (catalog.aims.edu) Aims says it is one of 30 air traffic control schools in the country with this kind of program and the first community college authorized to offer both terminal, or tower, and enroute training pathways. Its associate degree includes radar simulation, non-radar simulation and enroute radar simulation courses. (aims.edu 1) (aims.edu 2) (catalog.aims.edu) Air traffic controllers direct planes on the ground and in the air, and the Federal Aviation Administration still requires graduates to pass the Air Traffic Skills Assessment and clear medical and security checks. The change is that qualified graduates from approved schools can go straight to facility-specific training if the agency hires them. (faa.gov) The Federal Aviation Administration and Aims are building this pathway while the controller workforce remains below past levels. The Government Accountability Office said the agency employed 13,164 controllers at the end of fiscal year 2025, about 6% fewer than in 2015, even as flights using the system rose about 10% between fiscal years 2015 and 2024 to 30.8 million. (gao.gov) The Federal Aviation Administration said Aims is the 11th institution in the Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative program. The agency also said it hired 2,026 new controllers in fiscal year 2025, part of a broader push to speed recruiting and training. (faa.gov) Aims says the designation followed more than two years of curriculum work, technology upgrades and faculty coordination. Federal rules for the enhanced program require instructors teaching the academy-equivalent curriculum to have at least three years of fully credentialed controller experience. (aims.edu) (faa.gov) The college’s catalog says students aiming for Federal Aviation Administration controller jobs must be U.S. citizens and must be hired before age 31, so Aims recommends starting the program by age 28. The program is an Associate of Applied Science degree that the catalog lists as two years long. (catalog.aims.edu 1) (catalog.aims.edu 2) For students in Colorado, the new route does not guarantee a controller job, but it moves a key piece of federal training closer to home. For the Federal Aviation Administration, it adds another school-based pipeline as the agency tries to rebuild staffing at towers, approach controls and enroute centers. (faa.gov 1) (faa.gov 2)