If you plan on getting your master's degree in air transportation, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #135 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual looked at 13 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Air Transportation Master's Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 725 master's degrees in air transportation to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Air Transportation School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of air transportation for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality air transport program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on air transportation students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of air transportation students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt air transportation students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized air transportation related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for air transportation students working on their master's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Air Transportation Master's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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It is difficult to beat Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide if you wish to pursue a master's degree in air transportation. Embry-Riddle Worldwide is a large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Daytona Beach.
Those air transportation students who get their master's degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide make $10,162 more than the standard air transport grad.
Purdue University - Main Campus is a wonderful choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in air transportation. Purdue is a fairly large public university located in the city of West Lafayette.
Students who graduate with their master's from the air transport program report average early career income of $69,976.
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in air transportation needs to look into Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach. Located in the small city of Daytona Beach, Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Those air transportation students who get their master's degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach receive $10,162 more than the typical air transport grad.
Located in the small city of Grand Forks, UND is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those air transportation students who get their master's degree from University of North Dakota make $22,405 more than the average air transport graduate.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Your choice of air transportation for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality air transport program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
