91ֿ was recently featured on WEWS (ABC-Cleveland) for the expansion of its Aeronautics Program to provide hands-on experience that will better prepare students to fill gaps in the aviation workforce.
The university is anticipating having six new majors for the 2023 Fall Semester, five of them in the College of Aeronautics and Engineering. Along with the new majors, the university is also expanding the Aeronautics and Engineering Building to make 80% more room for its programs.
“It's more about meeting the needs and what the world is going to look like in 20 years. And I think naturally the students are going to come in,” Maureen McFarland, Ph.D., associate dean of academic affairs for the College of Aeronautics and Engineering at 91ֿ, told News 5.
The need for workers in the aviation industry is expected to grow each year and is forecasted to need 2.1 million aviation professionals in the next 20 years. These new expansions to the College of Aeronautics and Engineering will help prepare students to fill this growing need in the aviation workforce.
McFarland told News 5 that this hands-on experience will better prepare students for the workforce.
"We are still a partner with the Federal Aviation Administration as a training initiative school. We are the only one in Ohio. We have the only complete suite of air traffic control simulation at our school," McFarland said.