Aviation program administrators' perceptions of specialized aviation accreditation under Public Law 111-216

Sherman (2006) and Prather (2007) studied why so few of the schools offering aviation-related curriculum leading to an associate's or bachelor's degree do not seek specialized accreditation. The goal of this study was to update the field of specialized aviation accreditation in the new environment of the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 and outcomes-based accreditation ("Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010, H.R.5900," 2010; Aviation Accreditation Board International, 2012).;The two main factors that have changed since Prather's (2007) report include the requirement to maintain accreditation through regional, national, or specialized bodies, as set forth by the enacting of the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 and a move to outcomes-based assessment used by Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) to accredit aviation programs. The purpose of this study was to determine if aviation administrators' perceive AABI outcomes as important and how effective they are at meeting those outcomes in preparing aviation graduates. Additionally, this study determined aviation program directors' perceptions regarding the level of academic studies that can substitute for flight time as outlined in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Public Law 111-216.;A survey was administered to all program administrators' of four-year aviation programs in the United States and territories based on the 17 AABI general and core outcomes. The majority of program administrators' perceived AABI outcomes were important and they were effective at meeting most outcomes. A strong positive correlation r (31) = .721, p = .000 was found between AABI Core Outcome Two (aircraft design, performance, operating characteristics, and maintenance of aircraft) as well as with AABI Core Outcome Six, r (31) = .718, p = .000 (meteorology and environmental issues). Administrators (M = 3.65, SD = 1.32) agreed (35.3%) that five hundred hours was an appropriate amount of time to credit a graduate of a four-year aviation program seeking a reduced Airline Transport Pilot certificate, regardless of AABI accreditation status. Lastly, the passing of Public Law 111-216 did not seem to influence administrators' decisions to seek accreditation.