Student Loans & Flight Scholarships

Demonstrating sufficient funding for the entire flight training program and the initial 6-12 months of living expenses abroad is a mandatory requirement when applying for a student visa at the United States or Canadian consulate. If an applicant is unable to demonstrate his/her financial standing and the ability to pay for the program using personal, sponsored or loaned funds, the visa application will be rejected. Therefore, the students must have one of the following documents to prove their financial standing:

Those students who do not have ready funding to pay the flight training tuition fees, have to solve the age-old problem: "How can I get money for flight training?" At Aerocadet, we've been connecting prospective pilots with flight schools since 2012, and this question is always at the top of the list for anyone wanting to learn to fly, whether for a career, commuting, traveling or just for fun. In the past few years, we've seen several major sources of money for flight training completely dry up. But have no fear, pilot-to-be, there are still many ways to find money for flight training. In this section we will discuss all the financing options available to our students.

There are Seven common flight training financing options available for the international students:

For options 2, 3, 5, 6 Aerocadet offers a special administrative support package (SLAS) that can help you obtain a student loan or a sponsorship sanction letter. Please review this process thoroughly by reading the information below in order to understand how to qualify for the aforementioned financing options. For option 7, Aerocadet awards annual flight training scholarships for international students.

Can I get a full aviation scholarship?

It's important to clarify that the concept of a "flight training scholarship" or "aviation scholarship" is frequently misconstrued. In reality, an "aviation scholarship" offered to applicants at airline cadet programs often resemble a traditional student loan arrangement. Typically, a bank provides the financial support to a student based on a petition from an employer, commonly an airline or an aviation charter company. This petition includes a guarantee from the employer to offer the student a pilot position upon training completion, thereby ensuring the student's capacity to repay the loan.

Other than the aforementioned system, there are no equivalent full flight training scholarships available for flight training candidates across North America, Europe, or other developed countries. Partial flight training scholarships ($500-$5000, in total) in North America are awarded annually to high-performing domestic students with excellent grades and significant community and volunteer work envolvement by several charitable organizations.

Read our blog artcile "How To Finance Your Aviation Training?" for more information >>

Academic scholarships vs. flight training scholarships.

Academic scholarships are typically granted by large colleges and universities to around ten percent of their top-performing students, incurring minimal costs for the institutions. For instance, if a school hosts a lecture with a hundred paying students, they can accommodate another ten students (10%) at negligible additional expense.

However, flight training is highly personalized, involving extensive one-on-one flight instruction and the use of costly training equipment like flight simulators, FTDs, airplanes, and fuel. Flight instruction cannot be conducted in a lecture hall, and flight lessons must adhere to legal requirements, often needing customization for each student's needs. Consequently, aviation schools, colleges, and even universities, with few exceptions, cannot afford to offer free flight training programs to local or international students.

Exceptions include countries like the UAE, where the government funds flight training for selected UAE citizens; Germany, where Lufthansa sponsors training for highly competitive German nationals; Russia, where the government covers training for select Russian citizens; and China, where the government funds training for several hundred competitive Chinese nationals. Typically termed "Cadet Programs," these scholarships mandate graduates to be nationals of the sponsoring country and commit to long-term employment contracts with national airlines. For example, Chinese graduates must commit to a 60-year service period. Additionally, the Russian government won't convert Russian licenses to other ICAO formats if pilots received scholarships for their initial training.

North America (U.S. and Canada) does not have comprehensive, full flight training scholarship programs. Only partial scholarships may be awarded by certain organizations, normally to outstanding domestic students, and rarely to international applicants.

Can I get a partial aviation scholarship?

Possibly. Here is the list of all the know to us organizations that offer partial flight training scholarships to domestic and international students. Partial scholarships are limited and range in size from $500 to $5,000 USD. It's important to emphasize that domestic students are given priority over international students in scholarship awards. Due to the limitations in scholarship size and the requirement for international students to demonstrate full funding for their program to apply for a U.S. or Canadian student visa, these partial scholarship options are not considered viable for international applicants.

You can also apply for a $5,000 USD annuall flight training scholarship grant by Aerocadet for any professional flight training program in the United States and Canada. Find out details here >>>

Can I get an academic scholarship?

Possibly. Partial performance-based scholarships are awarded to high-performing academic students, and only for the U.S. Degree Program with extensive academic and classroom segments; such programs do have conditional scholarships available to the foreign students. Specifically, our BSc in Aviation College Degree Program in Florida, USA, affords Aerocadet students a performance-based scholarship of up to $20,000 USD. To qualify, students must maintain 3.5 GPA (Grade Point Average) through their flight training and academic program.

More more information, please read our blog article: Do I need an aviation degree to become an airline pilot? >>

The BSc in Aviation College Degree Program scholarship is paid in the following format: $15,000 for the initial two-year AAS program (phases 1-6); $5,000 for the subsequent two-year Bsc program (phases 7-10). Please refer to the BSc in Aviation College Degree Program program outline for more information.

Prospective students may secure financing for their training if they have a sponsor residing legally in the United States or Canada. A US/Canadian sponsor must be a permanent resident with stable employment, income, or substantial savings. Such sponsors may apply for a secured (second mortgage) or unsecured loan (with a good credit rating) alongside the student at their local bank, covering up to 100% of tuition fees. In this scenario, the student typically acts as the primary loan beneficiary, while the sponsor serves as a secondary co-signer. This setup ensures that if the primary co-signer fails to repay the loan, the responsibility falls on the secondary co-signer, who is a local resident. Once the loan is approved, designated for "Education," "Training," or "Career Development," the student can present the loan sanction letter as evidence of financial standing when applying for a student visa in the US or Canada. The inclusion of the student's name on the loan documents serves as proof to the consulate that the funds are intended for the student's tuition.

Another financing option is a personal loan or gift directly given to the student by the sponsor. In this case, the sponsor must officially earmark the funds for education by opening an escrow account, naming the student as the account's official beneficiary, depositing the money, and designating it solely for educational purposes. This ensures that the escrow company disburses the funds only to educational institutions, such as colleges and flight schools. When applying for a visa, the student must present the escrow account statement and its disbursement agreement to the US consulate. An escrow account can be opened with any bank in the US or Canada.

It's essential to note that merely providing a letter from the sponsor pledging to pay for flight training is insufficient, as its validity is not verifiable. The consulate will not seriously consider such a letter. Only depositing the full amount for training into an escrow account, where the student is named as a beneficiary, guarantees that the sponsor has pledged the funds for student's training and the student will use them for training as promised, and not for any other purpose. In addition, the sponsor may issue a separate letter stating their intention to cover the student's living expenses. This letter must be accompanied by the sponsor's annual earnings statement (W-2 form in the U.S. or T-4 Slip in Canada) and/or a bank statement showing sufficient funds to cover the student's expenses.

Students can utilize our SLAS petition support package (details provided in the section below) to seek aviation scholarship sponsorship from the local airline cadet programs, local philanthropists, businesses, or government organizations.

However, if your sponsor is either a private individual (such as a relative) or a business (or government) organization, a mere letter of sponsorship submitted with the visa application will not suffice. Such individuals or organizations must transfer the necessary funds to a specially designated scholarship escrow account. This account, which can be opened by a domestic or North American escrow company, must explicitly state that the funds are earmarked for your tuition abroad and can only be reclaimed by the sponsor in the event that you are unable to obtain a student visa. This requirement extends beyond providing proof of funding to the consulate; it necessitates presenting the terms and conditions of the escrow account charter.

Private sponsors or organizations cannot solely rely on financial statements or lists of assets as proof of funding. The U.S. or Canadian government can only consider liquid assets, such as savings and checking accounts, to ensure that an immediate access to funds will be available to the student. Investments with fluctuating values or property deeds are never accepted as valid proof of financial standing. The U.S. or Canadian consulates seek confirmation that the students will have immediate access to funds to cover projected educational costs and ensure continued financial support throughout the duration of his flight program.

If you do not have a U.S.-based co-signer or a Canada-based sponsor, we can offer you a Petition Support Package, called S.L.A.S. to solicit, or petition for a student loan or an career development sponsorship in your own country, or at one of the partial scholarship organizations in the United States.

Please note: since over 85% of our students come from India, Aerocadet has established itself as a trusted flight training loan petitioner to several Indian banks utilizing our SLAS package. Find out how you can apply for a Student Loan in India >>>

If you are looking to solicit or petition for a student loan or scholarship from the local financial or government institution in your country, we can qualify you for a special SLAS petition package (Student Loan Application Support) contacting the following documents required by a bank in order to consider your application for a student loan. Your bank can be furnished SLAS petition package either in self-printed format with the QR-code link to electronically-based confirmation of your acceptance status via aerocadet.com server, or it can be furnished in a full professionally-printed SLAS electronic and paper format (recommended).

You will be issued the following documents in e-format ($575.00 USD):

Should you elect to add a printed format to the e-format for $125.00 extra, you will get all of the above documents in a printed format on the official letterheads, plus we will add the following items, which will be sent to you via FedEx courrier service using express international delivery:

View sample

The entire paper support package will be executed on our (and our third-party provider's) headed paper, with the offical seals and signatures of the issuing organizations.

Student loan providers

You, as a candidate, must understand that the choice of loan provider, as well as the actual loan application or sponsorship solicitation strategy will be entirely up to you. However, we do recommend approaching local banks with the full SLAS packet confirming your eligibility for enrollment and post-graduation conditional guarantees of well-paid employment. Normally, banks require a proof that they are lending to a legible and academically capable student who would not have any issues paying back the loan after graduation. This is why our S.L.A.S. pack is so important: it settles the bank's doubts and concerns, and it confirms your eligibility for the program.

Eligibility criteria

International students applying for a domestic loan in their country must be able to demonstrate to Aerocadet a high level of English command, hold a certificate of secondary education (or higher), good fair academic matriculation scores (or higher), and take the online assessment test.

Indian applicants

If you are from India, please review a comprehensive list of financial organisations that are known to provide student loans to the Indian applicants. We currently have dozens of active student who have successfully obtained student loans from the local banks in India using Aerocadet's SLAS package.

In order to assess your suitability and secure your employment placement upon completion of our flight training and internship program, we must ensure the validity and equivalence of your academic documents to the U.S. standard of full secondary education. This involves engaging an external agency to translate, evaluate, and verify your documents, as well as arranging for your pilot aptitude assessment test. Additionally, we will utilize a premier courier service, specifically FedEx, to deliver the required support package to you.

To offset the administrative costs associated with these essential services, we request an initial SLAS fee of $575 USD for the e-format package. If you require both electronic and paper format packages, an additional fee of $125.00 will apply. This deposit can be conveniently paid using a credit/debit card, PayPal account, or, upon request, via direct bank transfer. The fee will be collected during the second stage of your qualification process, as outlined below.

You can then use the SLAS packet to solicit for a student loan. Once you secured the required funds, you can send us the confirmation letter from your sponsor or financial institution and we will continue with the visa support paperwork, so you can obtain F-1 academic visa to the United States or Canadian Student Permit. We will then place you in the next available class for one of the FPAP programs and reserve post-graduation internship slots. 

Application terms and conditions

Aerocadet retains the right to decline the provision of SLAS package documents if the Applicant fails to meet the required standards of the professional pilot training program. This may occur due to unusually low pilot aptitude test scores and/or a failure to demonstrate proficiency in English during the video interview, and/or displaying an intent to exploit the Aerocadet program for illegal immigration purposes. In the event of a below-average test score, the Applicant is entitled to one free pilot aptitude re-test. Once the Applicant's information and fee have been received and the application approved, the fee is non-refundable. If the Company chooses to reject the Applicant's application for the SLAS package, the SLAS fee paid by the Applicant will be reimbursed. However, if the Applicant decides to cancel the SLAS application after paying the fees, no refunds will be issued.