Why Northwest Aviation College?

Northwest Aviation College is not your typical college. Most colleges and universities have a concrete schedule in which your classes and flight programs are placed. This scheduling process typically requires a number of years to complete leaving you with a college degree and very little flight experience.

On the other end of the spectrum are many academy programs designed to get you there quickly. Many of these academies require that the full cost of the program be paid up-front, typically around $100,000.00. Their programs are designed to provide you with the minimum flight-time necessary to pass an evaluation flight. Knowledge (referred to as ground) training, is usually left to the students to do on their own. There has to be a better way...

Northwest Aviation College is different in the following ways:

1. Flight programs are conducted at the pace of the student. Whether a student takes two lessons per week or five, we design a training program that fits the students' schedule, needs, and budget.
2. We ensure pilot safety and competency with regard to knowledge, skill, and ability. Students are placed into scenarios and situations where they must "apply" their learned knowledge and skills to ensure competency and proficiency under various flight situations.
3. We take advantage of varying weather and terrain. Due to the dynamic weather and terrain of the Pacific Northwest, students are comfortable assembling, interpreting, and creating a weather and navigation picture pertinent to their flight operation. Due to the dynamics of the terrain, weather can vary greatly within a 15-mile radius of the school. So students just learning to fly can typically find good weather and high cloud ceilings in one practice area, while students learning to fly in the clouds can find deteriorating weather and low cloud ceilings in another local practice area.
4. Our focus is on your competency and job placement. For those students pursuing their education and training for employment as a professional pilot, we design your program's "continuum" to give you the training and experience required to place you in the best position for an interview and get hired. No gimmicks or false-promises of "guaranteed interviews" or "guaranteed hiring" with the airlines. Our programs are designed to give you the credibility and confidence to interview for the job on your own professional merits; and we're with you all the way!
5. Want to transfer prior flight experience or college credit? No Problem. We do not require you to re-train or conduct stage/checkrides for certificates and ratings you already possess to get credit for them; many schools do. We simply enroll you into the next certificate or rating required of the program you select, then if there are any areas that need additional attention, they will be incorporated into your training program. College credit is easily transcripted once we receive an official transcript from your other college(s).