Job Placement
Since UND ATC students are required to meet the same stringent standards set by
the FAA for its own controller-trainees, they are ready to move ahead in their ATC
careers when they graduate.
Geographic Preferences
As a local-recruitment, local-hire program, the FAA will attempt to place you in
a facility within our local area. However, you are also eligible for nationwide
hiring, if desired. In fact, if you limit your geographic preferences (declared
at time of successful completion of the AT-SAT exam), you will not receive nationwide
consideration. But do not declare a region as a geographic preference unless you
intend to accept job offers from that region. Once you are offered a specific facility
site, you must accept or decline that job. If you decline, you are removed from
the CTI program and cannot reapply. Thus, it is important to declare geographic
preferences that are realistic for you. You can change your geographic preferences
at any time after they are declared, but once your name has been given to a region
you can no longer change your decision.
AT-SAT (Pre-Employment Exam)
The new air traffic selection and training exam is a 6-1/2 hour computer based test
designed to determine the aptitude and cognitive skills needed by an air traffic
control specialist. Since passing this exam is essential to completion of the CTI
program, it is recommended that this test be accomplished in your first semester
at UND. This is an aptitude test and your academic program at UND will not significantly
improve your grade on this examination. Thus early completion of this exam will
allow you to determine if our CTI program is a reasonable career route for you.
Aspects of this exam include applied mathematics, word analogies, and geometric
visualization. There is no charge for the examination. It is only open to our CTI
students and will be arranged during the early portion of your degree program in
aviation science.
Hiring Process
Completion of our CTI program does not guarantee employment, although it is one
of the FAA's primary paths for the hiring of air traffic controllers.
Once you have received your degree you will be considered for recommendation to
the FAA for hiring. After completion of the AT-SAT pre-employment exam, you will
have an opportunity to indicate your preference for job assignments by picking three
regions of your choice. Primary job assignments are in control towers, but the FAA
has placed students in tower/TRACON and Enroute facilities as well. Referral lists
are made based on what the graduate denotes as their primary geographic preference.
Secondary and third preferences are used only if there is a shortage in that location.
Besides your CTI completion qualification, the FAA will consider other factors in
their hiring decision, including your college GPA.
Following FAA hiring, and dependent upon your option (which is assigned by the FAA),
you will enter a specialized skills training curriculum at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma
City. Your initial annual salary during training will be approximately $25,000 (including
your paid training at the FAA academy). As your experience increases at your first
assigned facility, you can expect salary advancement upwards of $75,000. Top FAA
air traffic controllers' salaries are around $135,000 a year.
Academy
Your skills training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City occurs after the FAA hiring
process is complete. This is specialized academic training and intensive laboratory
training utilizing ATC simulation equipment. Currently this training at the FAA
Academy requires 12 weeks for the Enroute option and 15 weeks for the Terminal option.
Upon successful completion of this training, you will be transferred to your specific
facility assignment in a control tower, radar approach control or Enroute radar
center.
The FAA Academy is located at Will Rogers's Airport, Oklahoma City's primary airport.
Upon completion of this training, you will be required to pass a performance evaluation,
which consists of ATC simulator exercises. Although this is a challenging and important
part of the hiring process, the FAA Academy has the goal of training you to succeed.
You will receive a lot of assistance in meeting the performance evaluation standards
of the FAA Academy.
Recommendations
The AT-SAT examination should be completed early. We recommend that you take this
exam in your first semester and no later than your second semester. Since this exam
must be passed to allow you to complete the CTI program, it is important that you
attend to this early in your course progression. Currently, there is a twelve month
waiting period after failure of the AT-SAT exam. Early completion of this exam could
also give you a second chance, with the opportunity to remain in the CTI academic
program with retesting on the AT-SAT prior to graduation.
Although the FAA administers its own physical exam as part of their hiring process,
we recommend that you take an FAA Class II pilot medical exam early in the CTI program.
This exam is reasonably equivalent to the FAA's ATC hiring exam standards. Although
we expect you to pass both the AT-SAT and the physical exam, it is best to know
of any difficulties early in your academic progression so that you can reconsider
you career option. There are lots of careers in aviation besides air traffic control,
but they all require different academic preparation.
Eligibility under this program is good for 2 years from the candidate's graduation
date, candidate reaches age 31, candidate declines a position, or the candidate
is selected, whichever comes first.