Can our part 147 program provide high school students credit for general courses they completed?

Q: A local high school is interested in starting an aviation maintenance program using the Choose Aerospace curriculum. Can our part 147 program provide those high school students credit for general courses they completed in high school? Will the FAA allow us to accept those courses if the high school is not certificated? 

A: Yes. Under § 147.23, if your part 147 program is part of a nationally accredited institution, you can use your institution’s policies and procedures for issuing credit for previous instruction, the way the institution would for any other program.

Under the new part 147, so long as the program is accredited, the FAA does not dictate how (or why) your program issues credit. For schools that are not nationally accredited, they can still issue credit for previous instruction, but must do so in accordance with an FAA-approve quality system.

Under what circumstances your program will issue credit depends on the applicable policies and procedures. Some programs require an entrance exam, transcript review, or other form of knowledge verification.

Students that complete the Choose Aerospace maintenance curriculum in high school will receive certificates of completion for each of the 12 general courses and—if they pass ATEC’s simulated FAA written knowledge test—an industry-recognized credential. That documentation (along with any additional assessment required by the part 147 program’s policies and procedures) is intended to support matriculation opportunities for high school students to finish their airframe and powerplant coursework at a certificated program.