Will a student in a non-part 147 high school be eligible for the FAA general written knowledge test?

Q: Will a student that has completed the Choose Aerospace aviation maintenance curriculum in a non-part 147 high school be eligible to take the FAA general written knowledge test?

A: Not unless the student is also enrolled at a part 147 program and/or has the requisite 18-30 months of experience.

14 CFR § 65.75 requires mechanic applicants to meet experience requirements set forth in § 65.77 (completion of part 147 program or 18-30 months experience), before they can take any portion of the FAA mechanic exam. ATEC is actively advocating for a change to that regulation to allow any mechanic applicant to take the general written test before meeting any experience requirements, but in the meantime...

Students that complete the Choose Aerospace general aviation maintenance curriculum at a high school that does not hold FAA part 147 certification will not have the option of taking the FAA general written test before enrolling at a part 147 school.

The A&P school does have the ability to enroll the high school student, give the student credit for the general subjects (in accordance with applicable policies and procedures, see previous Q&A), and then issue a certificate of completion so that the student can take the FAA knowledge test.

If the student fails the FAA knowledge test, the school could then decide whether to provide remedial training or require the student to take the general subject courses before proceeding to airframe and powerplant. The approach is dependent on many factors, including the part 147 program’s familiarity with the high school where the student completed the Choose Aerospace course work, and performance of previous program graduates.