Sponsors (10)
The bill expands and clarifies federal aid eligibility for aviation students—supporting workforce training and reducing ambiguity—but increases federal aid costs, creates room for inconsistent institutional cost-setting, and risks locking in a narrow regulatory definition that could exclude programs or impose administrative burdens.
Students in qualifying aviation programs (including FAA Part 141 trainees) can have flight training, simulator hours, materials, and licensing fees counted in their Cost of Attendance, increasing their eligibility for federal grants and loans.
Borrowers and institutions get clearer, more predictable criteria for who counts as a 'professional student' by tying the statutory test to the regulatory definition in effect at enactment, reducing ambiguity in loan treatment.
More aviation-related training (specific CIP codes) can be recognized for financial aid calculations, supporting the aviation workforce pipeline and helping institutions offer career-focused training.
Taxpayers and the federal budget may face higher costs because including high-cost flight training in Cost of Attendance will tend to increase Pell and loan awards.
Allowing institutions discretion to set 'reasonable costs' for expensive flight training risks inconsistent or inflated cost estimates across schools, leading to uneven aid amounts and potential fairness concerns.
Tying the statutory eligibility test to the regulatory definition as of enactment could 'freeze' that definition, preventing future regulatory updates from expanding eligibility without new legislation and potentially excluding some programs and students.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows certain aviation training and licensure costs to be counted as federal cost-of-attendance for qualifying associate's and bachelor's aviation programs and clarifies the "professional student" definition to include FAA Part 141 training.
Official title: To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include certain licensure, certification, and aviation training costs in the determination of the cost of attendance of a student, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 23, 2026 by Joyce Beatty · Last progress July 23, 2026
Adds aviation training and licensure costs to the federal definition of allowable cost of attendance for eligible associate's and bachelor's aviation programs, letting institutions include fees for aircraft/simulator hours, training materials, exam and licensing fees, and other direct aviation training expenses. The change takes effect July 1, 2027, and applies to the 2027–2028 award year and later. Also narrows and clarifies the federal definition of a "professional student" for certain higher-education loan rules by tying the term to the regulatory definition of a professional degree and by explicitly including FAA Part 141 flight training programs.