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Air Transportation

Transportation & Materials Moving

Air Transportation graduates with a bachelor's typically earned about $79,114, measured a few years after finishing (median across US programs, College Scorecard).
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Median earnings by degree level

Earnings range across schools, by degree levelEach row is a degree level: the bar is the middle half of schools' program medians (25th to 75th percentile) and the dot is the overall median. Associate's median $69,808, $54,585 to $83,343; Bachelor's median $79,114, $71,254 to $86,730; Master's median $108,264, $74,927 to $116,791.$55k$86k$117kAssociate's$69,808Bachelor's$79,114Master's$108,264
Earnings range across schools, by degree levelEach row is a degree level: the bar is the middle half of schools' program medians (25th to 75th percentile) and the dot is the overall median. Associate's median $69,808, $54,585 to $83,343; Bachelor's median $79,114, $71,254 to $86,730; Master's median $108,264, $74,927 to $116,791.$55k$86k$117kAssociate's$69,808Bachelor's$79,114Master's$108,264
DegreeMedian earningsTypical rangeSchoolsClear the bar
Associate's Degree$69,808$54,585 to $83,34317100%
Bachelor's Degree$79,114$71,254 to $86,73053100%
Master's Degree$108,264$74,927 to $116,7917100%

"Clear the bar" is the share of programs whose graduates out-earn a typical high-school graduate (the federal earnings-premium test). Typical range is the 25th to 75th percentile of program medians.

Job outlook

Projected employment growth +7% (2025 to 2035), about 56,800 openings a year across the occupations this field commonly leads to.

OccupationMedian payGrowthOpenings/yr
Flight Attendants$63,580+8.8%18,500
Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers$107,230+6.1%18,300
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers$232,140+8.3%11,200
Commercial Pilots$123,220+5.2%5,200
Air Traffic Controllers$148,080+1.7%2,100
Airfield Operations Specialists$56,850+7.8%1,500

Occupation pay and outlook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wages, Employment Projections). A field maps to several occupations, and the same occupations serve many majors, so these are the jobs this major commonly leads to, not positions reserved for its graduates; the openings should not be added up across majors.

Where this is studied

The 8 colleges where the most students complete a air transportation program, of 197 that report one. Ordered by number of completions only: this is where people study it, not a judgement about where to.

Earnings source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (release 2026-06-10), median earnings of graduates measured up to four years after completing. Figures describe past graduates and are never a promise. Method: methodology. Report an error.