A Comparison of the Success of Native and Transfer Private Pilots at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

This study seeks differences in the degree completion and time-to-degree of native vs. transfer private pilots along with transfer private pilots required to take proficiency training vs. those who did not take proficiency training before enrolling in the aviation flight program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). An ex-post facto descriptive study of 338 flight students that began commercial pilot training between the fall 1998 through the summer 2003 semesters measured completion or exit from the SIUC flight program. The study population was determined from the Student Information System and the data on degree completion and time-to-degree was gathered from the students’ flight training records. Chi-squares were used to determine significance (p<.05) in degree completion percentages and t-tests were used to determine days-to-degree significance (p<.05). The study concludes there are no significant differences between native and transfer or proficiency and direct-entry private pilots at SIUC.