Saint Vincent College bringing back aviation program
LATROBE, Pa. (KDKA) -- At Saint Vincent College, their motto is "Together, We Rise." And rising from campus this fall will be a new Bachelor of Science in Aviation.
This new program is being overseen by Dr. Michael Urick, the dean of the McKenna School of Business, Economics and Government at the college. Urick says that this is precisely the time for Saint Vincent to create such a focus.
"Right now is a good time to do this. There is a projected pilot shortage over the next couple of years, as much as perhaps 40% to 50% over the next 10 to 15 years and now is a great time to start training pilots," he said. "So this is a great time in terms of need. It's a great time in terms of just our location and our proximity to the airport."
In a recent CBS News report, this year alone, airlines will be short thousands of pilots and plane maker Boeing estimates that the United States will need 127,000 new pilots by the year 2043.
"There's really four parts to this," said Urick. "You have the excellent liberal arts college core at Saint Vincent College, so all students in the program will be taking that. There is also the business core, so it's an aviation management program, so you'll be taking the business core in the program. Then you will have your flight ground courses and then you will have, actually, airtime as well, so actually getting into the plane and flying."
This is not the first time that Saint Vincent College has had flight training. In fact, the college started educating pilots all the way back in 1929. This made Saint Vincent the first ever school in the nation to have a flight and ground program. Though that program ended during the Great Depression, an aviation club remained on campus and at the now-Arnold Palmer Regional Airport for years.
But the official renewal of this aviation program has people like Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, excited by the possibilities.
"It's quite a big deal for us," said Monzo. "People like the airport and they love Saint Vincent. Now that we are collaborating between ourselves and making this happen, it's a great thing. The opportunities that we feel will be available to us once this starts are endless."
The college is set to formally announce this new program to the public next week and classes will begin in Latrobe this coming September. And hopefully, in four years, Saint Vincent graduates will be able to ease the turbulence of America's pilot shortage.
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