DOT Supports Considering Expanded General Knowledge Test Eligibility
The Transportation Dept. (DOT) supports a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendation to establish an FAA-backed advisory group to examine whether high school students should be allowed to take the FAA's general written knowledge test for prospective mechanics.
The GAO's recommendation and the DOT's response are part of a new report examining pathways for aviation mechanics. Ordered by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, the study focuses on barriers that high school students in dedicated aviation programs face. Among them are limited benefits of taking coursework at a high school or other non-certificated school.
These extend beyond not being eligible to take the general written exam required for all airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanics, the GAO said.
"Many graduates of uncertificated schools do not receive credit for their prior coursework when they enter a certificated school and must repeat subjects at the certificated school, according to a representative of an uncertificated school," the report said.
GAO's report identifies 43 uncertificated schools that offer high school aviation maintenance programs. Of these, 37 are Choose Aerospace schools that started their programs in the last four years using Choose's curriculum designed to support delivery of the FAA standards’ general subject areas.
Data collected by Choose after the GAO's research deadline shows 66% of the students that complete Choose programs continue their pursuit of an aviation maintenance career at either a certificated Part 147 school (33%) or at a company offering on-the-job training (33%). The figures underscore how programs such as Choose attract and deliver skilled aviation workers to help fill the demand gap across the aviation industry. This despite the hurdle of not being able to sit for their general exams despite completing the FAA-required coursework in high school.
The report acknowledges Choose's 2021 petition to change this. The FAA denied the petition, citing among other things its lack of direct oversight of high schools.
The Aviation Technical Education Council recently submitted another exemption request seeking the same outcome, underscoring Choose's standardized curriculum that mirrors the instruction provided in Part 147 schools. While GAO stopped short of concluding the FAA should grant the exemption, it urged the agency to have stakeholders examine the issue, as ordered by the 2024 FAA reauthorization act.
"The FAA Administrator should establish a group of industry stakeholders and aviation experts to assess whether high school students, upon successful completion of aviation maintenance curricula at uncertificated schools, should be allowed to take the general written knowledge test," it said.
A DOT response to a draft of the report agreed with GAO.
"Upon review of the draft report, we concur with GAO's recommendation," Assistant Secretary for Administration Anne Byrd wrote. "We view this early introduction as a critical step toward increasing interest in aviation careers and reducing the projected shortfall of certificate aircraft mechanics entering the workforce."
The 2024 FAA legislation called for an aviation rulemaking advisory committee to task the Airman Knowledge Testing Working Group with the issue by May 16, 2025. But an executive order terminated the working group's membership and it remains dormant.
"Nonetheless, convening a group of aviation industry stakeholders and others with relevant expertise (either through the advisory committee or some other mechanism) to conduct such an assessment would enable FAA to consider the benefits and drawbacks of expanding eligibility to take the test, and to potentially identify opportunities to expand the pool of qualified aircraft mechanics and help address future workforce needs," GAO said.