Students of an air traffic control program should enroll by age 27 to complete the school program and be hired by the Federal Aviation Administration before their 31st birthday. The FAA can take one to three years to hire an individual. Students must also receive a medical examination before admittance to any AT-CTI program.
Of the 35 universities participating in the AT-CTI program, five of the programs are located in Florida. Each of the schools varies in course offerings, depending on how the program aligns with bachelor's degree offerings. Embry-Riddle Aeronautics allows students to participate in the AT-CTI program as a minor toward a bachelor's degree in air traffic management. Broward College offers an associate degree in applied science for air traffic control. Courses include electives in aviation law and airport management.
The Community College of Beaver County, Pennsylvania offers an associate degree in applied science for students pursuing the AT-CTI program. Students can take private pilot or recreational pilot lessons with FAA instructors. Courses also include theory of instrument flight and flight theory. Daniel Webster College in New Hampshire incorporates the AT-CTI program into the school's bachelor's degree in aviation/air traffic management. Students may visit nearby Boston Center, the en-route radar facility used for nearly all of New England.
Purdue University offers the AT-CTI program as part of the bachelor's degree in aviation management. Students receive a CTI endorsement on their diplomas if they take CTI-approved courses, including fundamentals of flight and aviation and weather. The University of Oklahoma offers a bachelor's degree in air traffic management. Training is offered in air traffic tower operation, en-route radar and non-radar, terminal radar, traffic management and flight service.
Green River Community College in Washington offers an applied science degree in air traffic control. Courses include airline operation, international flight planning, aviation history, aircraft systems and flight deck technology. Sacramento City College offers an associate of science in air traffic control and air craft dispatching for future air traffic controllers. The program focuses on en-route procedures and basic terminal procedures.
The FAA hosts a 12-week training academy for newly-hired air traffic controllers. Every air traffic controller must complete this course, whether an individual is hired from a college program or has experience as an air traffic controller in the military. Courses focus on technical and managerial training. Training at the academy progresses from classroom instruction to simulation of real-life air traffic control. Students may take air traffic management and quality assurance courses as well. The FAA pays employees while training at the academy.