Earn a UAS Associate’s Degree at Aims Community College in Colorado!

Aims Community College to Offer Colorado’s First UAS Associate Degree for Drone Pilots

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

This fall, Aims Community College will begin offering an Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Associate of Applied Science Degree, the first of its kind to be offered in Colorado. Aims is only the fifteenth two-year college in the United States to offer a degree in this field. The college has offered a UAS certificate since 2021, preparing students to take the FAA small UAS certification exam and gain the basic credentials to fly drones professionally. The new associate degree program will offer more in depth training in response to industry growth and increased demand for UAS expertise.

“It provides students with the basics of flying with professional-level drones and the ability to build and program their own drones.” said UAS Chief Instructor Pilot Jake Marshall on the creation of the new program. “We just grew. Students, high schools and the community wanted more.”

The Aims Unmanned Aircraft Systems Sciences program will provide students with opportunities to gain experience, including working on mapping construction sites for Weld County and filming regional television commercials. “Students are involved with some extracurricular projects beyond just the class we offer,” said Marshall. “We’re building up this case for the need and now we’re adding the classes to support all this.”

The program will be held in the currently under construction Gateway Building at the expanded Windsor Campus, opening in January 2024. The building will feature a drone fabrication and design lab, and the campus will be incorporating a drone takeoff and landing pad area. “The classroom is set up to help with data production and understanding the post-production process of collecting all this data,” Marshall said. “This facility allows our students to design and build drones and test them.”

Marshall states that a UAS career is best suited to those who are passionate about technology, possess an entrepreneurial spirit and are adaptable to change. “You’re going to be a part of the pioneer stage of the industry,” he said. “I want our students to be leaders and part of the next evolution of drones to accomplish our societal needs.”

UAS systems and applications are growing quickly, with certified pilots in increasing demand. The FAA expects an average annual job growth rate of 24.7 percent, while market research indicates an estimated increase of 100,000 drone-related jobs by 2025. The average annual salary for a UAS operator is $80,000 per year.  “There are some established companies and new ones are starting up every single day,” added Marshall. “They all need pilots to take their companies to the next level.”

Read more:

• FAA, Warren County Community College Host 3-Day Drone Safety and Awareness Event
• Community Colleges in CO Collaborate: Students Shoot Drone Video for Toyota Commercials
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• Warren County Community College Drone Training Program: Putting the Focus on Safety Education

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer