On February 28, the Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) announced the founding of a new business entity, the International Aerospace Accrediting Commission (IACC).
IACC is an accrediting organization created for the flight training and aerospace industry. It has created a program which will enhance the overall quality in the flight training space by establishing a set of standards that schools must follow without deviations. Accredited schools will also be able to enroll students who have borrowed money under the U.S. Department of Education Title IV loan program.
“This accreditation program will enhance the overall quality and delivery in the career flight training system,” according to Bob Rockmaker, FSANA president & CEO. “Schools will seek accreditation in order to become best-in-class providers. Schools will also have the option to enroll students who have borrowed funds from the U.S. Department of Education assuming they meet all of the accrediting standards.”
Screening of Applicants
A part of this process includes that an Accredited school must conduct a skills assessment/pilot screening (appropriate to the program of study) to ensure students have the ability to benefit from the training. Such assessment should generally include, but need not be limited to, the following: basic mental abilities including information processing, spatial abilities and reasoning; composite mental abilities including psychomotor skills and multitasking; operational abilities including situation awareness and workload management; and relevant personality traits and social-interpersonal skills.
Accreditation Seminars
A part of this effort included the first day-long accreditation seminar for attendees who may be pursuing accreditation. Accrediting organizations typically operate two accreditation seminars during the calendar year. This first seminar fulfills the requirement which is included in the updated accreditation standards which were rolled out on February 28, 2023.
Continuing its development and expansion of accreditation efforts in the flight training sector, FSANA offered this as it also announced the new accrediting body. These are steps toward helping flight training providers become accredited which will eventually lead to them being able to access federal funding for their customers seeking flight training even in non-collegiate operations.
Pre-accreditation is planned to open in March 2023. Schools that are pre-accredited will be among the first to be eligible to make the connection with the U.S. Department of Education Title IV student loan program. The connection to Title IV funds is a bonus and added value to the core reasons for becoming an accredited flight training provider.
Source: FSANA Press Release
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