Senators Push for Increased Loan Aid for Student Pilots

Lawmakers ask the Education Department to define aviation and flight training as ‘professional degree’ programs

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is pushing to give students enrolled in aviation programs and FAA-certified Part 141 flight training schools increased access to federal loan aid.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in July, sets up new lifetime borrowing caps for graduate and professional degree students. These limits, which are higher than those used for undergraduate programs, apply to fields such as medicine, law, and veterinary science.

But because of ambiguity in the law’s language, it is not clear if aviation and flight training students are included.

Pilot training programs are offered only at the undergraduate level or at Part 141 flight schools, though to become a commercial airline pilot students must go on to earn their Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, which requires a minimum of 1,500 flight hours.

“These requirements result in education and training costs that often exceed $80,000 to $100,000 beyond standard tuition,” the senators wrote in a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Education on Monday. “Yet federal student aid policies currently limit these students to standard undergraduate loan caps, leaving them without access to the same federal support available to students pursuing other professional degrees.”

The lawmakers, led by Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, are asking the Education Department to issue a regulation or guidance that explicitly defines aviation and flight training as “professional degrees” under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The change would allow students in those programs to take advantage of the higher loan caps.

Industry Support

The Regional Airline Association (RAA) threw its support behind the senators on Tuesday, citing the need for a “strong supply of pilots” to support “our country’s economic growth and nationwide connectivity.”

“RAA strongly supports this bipartisan effort and thanks Senators Sullivan and Baldwin for their leadership on this critical issue, which aligns with the industry’s ongoing initiatives to strengthen the pilot workforce through enhanced training, university partnerships, and investment in foundational programs,” said RAA president and CEO Faye Malarkey Black. “This small but powerful change would unlock additional federal resources for students, grow our pilot workforce, and support the economic health of smaller communities and our nation.”

In August, a range of aviation and aerospace-related companies and organizations made a similar appeal to the Education Department. These groups also cited the importance of maintaining the pilot “training pipeline,” since so many current pilots will have to retire over the next 10 to 15 years due to age restrictions.

“These students—and the communities that will ultimately rely on them for air service—deserve equitable access to the same federal tools already available to peers in other professions that require professional licensure and advanced training beyond a bachelor’s degree,” they wrote.

Signatories to that letter included all the U.S. legacy carriers, Airlines for America, the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), and universities such as California Aeronautical, Delaware State, Indiana State, and the University of Oklahoma’s School of Aviation.

This article was published by Flying Magazine