Air Traffic Controller
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OverviewSalary and DebtCareersSchoolsRelated ProgramsGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Air traffic controller is a program that prepares individuals to apply technical knowledge and skills to air-traffic management and control, usually with additional training at the faa flight control center in a cooperative education program. includes instruction in flight control, the use of radar and electronic scanning devices, plotting of flights, radio communication, interpretation of weather conditions affecting flights, flight instrumentation used by pilots, and maintenance of flight-control center or control-tower log books.
Highlights
School with the highest reported median starting salary ($52K) with a Associate's Degree: Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach
Career with the highest median salary ($130K) associated with this program: Air traffic controllers and airfield operations specialists
Explore Pathways
Careers for program graduates
Air traffic controller majors work in these careers, which are sized by percentage of majors in the career (at least 1%) and colored by the predominant level of education.
Aircraft pilots and flight eng...Specialized ManagersAir traffic controllers and ai...Aircraft Mechanics and Service...Ship and boat captains and ope...General and Operations Manager...Postsecondary TeachersFirst-Line Supervisors of Offi...Chief executives and legislato...Customer Service Representativ...Aerospace EngineersPolice OfficersInspectors, Testers, Sorters, ...Driver/sales workers and truck...Software Developers
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Current completions
What level of degree do most graduates achieve, and do they match what your goals?
01002003004000-1 Year Certificate1-2 Year CertificateAssociate's DegreeBachelor's Degree
SOURCES:
Completions over time
Have completions for transportation sciences and technologies changed over time? Increasing completions may mean you'll likely have an easier time finding a school that offers this degree, with the opposite being true as well.
Show percentages
Number of graduates
02004006008001,0001,200200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Bachelor's Degree
Associate's Degree
1-2 Year Certificate
0-1 Year Certificate
Salary and Debt
How are students who recently completed a degree in air traffic controller doing?
Below is the distribution of starting salaries along with accumulated federal and private education loans across schools that offer a degree in the field air transportation, which includes air traffic controller.
Median starting salaries
$46K$0$20K$40K$60KBachelor's
Median cumulative loan amount
$18K$24K$0$10K$20K$30KBachelor'sAssociate's
Careers
Recommended careers for those with a degree in transportation sciences and technologies
Following are the jobs recommended for those who study Transportation Sciences and Technologies (which combines 6 programs). These are listed in order of highest nationwide employment.
  1. Air Traffic Controllers
  2. Airfield Operations Specialists
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Recommended Careers for transportation sciences and technologies majors
Is this degree preparing you for a career with a salary you want? Are there lots of openings in the near future? The Department of Education suggests these careers as a starting list, and Ididio hopes that if the career you're most interested in doesn't appear here, you will head over to our Career Explorer and learn more about paths to your best career.
Career
Follow the links to learn all about any career!
Salary Spread
Salary distribution for people in this occupation
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
How much school?
Education level of people in this occupation
No college
Some College
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Doctorate/Professional
Employed
The number of people employed in this occupation
Growth Rate
The projected percentage growth in employment for this occupation in 10 years
Annual Job Openings
The projected average number of job openings per year
Where can I complete this degree
Explore schools that offer air traffic controller degrees and certificates
You can use this table to find schools that offer this program based on location and program level offered. Each entry goes to a school page similar to this one with all our information about that school.
Understanding the columns

The school list includes a few facts about each school that give you an idea of the educational quality each school might offer:

  • Student-Faculty Ratio: A small number of students per full-time instructor suggests individual attention for each student and an up-to-date curriculum.

  • Satisfaction Rate: A high percentage of returning first-year students should correlate with satisfaction (schools call this their retention rate).

  • Repayment Rate: A high repayment rate means most alumni earn enough to make progress repaying loans within 7 years of leaving.

We also show the total enrollment for the school as measured by full-time-equivalent (FTE) students enrolled annually.

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Offering this program at this level
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Related Programs
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Careers for transportation sciences and technologies majors
transportation sciences and technologies is part of a larger collection of programs: Transportation and Materials Moving. Is there a different program that's close to transportation sciences and technologies that might be a better match for your interests? You can use this table to see a little about the programs that fall under this umbrella. If you click on any of the table headers, that will sort the table by that column, or click on a row and see Ididio's profile for that program.
Gender
Gender of recent graduates
Of all people with any degree in air traffic controller earned in the last academic year, 17% were women.
Gender
Men
Women
SOURCES:
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Completions over time
Have completions by gender changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
02004006008001K1KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Women
Men
Context: Gender representation
How does the gender distribution in this major compare to all other majors?
10%90%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
Context: Percentage women
This major has a lower percentage of women than 83% other programs.
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary with this degree? The closer the bar are, the less discrepancy there is.
$76K$65K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K$250KWomenMen
Context: Salary inequity
For transportation sciences and technologies graduates, men have a 16% higher median salary than women, This is better than many: 62% of programs have graduates with higher salary inequities.
16%16%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race/Origin of recent graduates
Here is an overview of race/origin for all air traffic controller graduates from this last academic year. We found a higher percentage of international graduates in this program than in 81% of other programs.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Asian
American Indian
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Completions over time
Have completions by race/origin changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
02004006008001K1KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
International
Not Reported
Multiracial
American Indian
Asian
Hispanic
Pacific Islander
Black
White
Context: Percentage of Minority Graduates
Minority students comprise a lower percentage of graduates than in 43% of other programs.