The Business of Flight Training Blog

5 Pillars of Flight Training Education

 A friend of mine became CEO of an education consulting firm last week.  At dinner, we discussed strategies for universities, more specifically aviation universities, to communicate their value proposition to parents of their prospective students . 

Based on a survey of over 1,000 parents with college-bound freshman, the research indicated that there are 5 key pillars of experiences that parents are looking for in educational institutions:

1. Internship Opportunities
2. Undergraduate Research
3. Diverse Interactions
4. Coursework
5. Employment Opportunities

According to the analysis, these 5 pillars have the highest impact on decision making for parents.

In addition,  parents place more influence on programs that develop the MEANs for their kids to be successful.  Specifically, parents are looking for educational institutions to:

1. Provide critical thinking skills
2. Communication skills
3. In depth expertise in trade and/or subject matter
4. Professional conduct
5. Exploring careers
6. Being adaptable to multiple careers

So...what should we all consider?

1. Build communication (think: recruiting) plans that connects student experiences with desired outcomes
2. Ensure that flight training programs are aligned with parent expectations in order to achieve desired recruitment results

Has anyone developed any additional strategies for flight training student recruitment?  Lets hear them!