The Best Online Aviation Degrees for 2026, Ranked by Accreditation and Cost

The best online aviation degree for a future airline pilot is Liberty University’s online B.S. in Aviation. It costs $410 a credit full-time for 2026-27, and its online students fly at FAA Part 141 partner schools. With the right courses and flight hours, that can lead to the 1,000-hour restricted ATP.

If you do not plan to fly for a living, the University of North Dakota’s 100% online B.S. in Aviation Studies comes closest to industry accreditation. It is a candidate for AABI accreditation, according to the Aviation Accreditation Board International’s own directory, checked October 12, 2026.

This list ranks nine online aviation bachelor’s degrees. They are ordered by accreditation first, then 2026-27 cost per credit, then the range of degrees on offer. One thing no school can change: the flying itself cannot be done online.

1. Liberty University Online

Liberty is the one large online program built for people who want to fly for an airline. Its online B.S. in Aviation is 120 credits of 8-week online courses, with the flying done in person at one of Liberty’s Flight Training Affiliates, which are FAA Part 141 schools.

Liberty said in July 2026 that the network had grown to 80 affiliates in 26 states, serving just over 1,000 flight students a semester. The program started in December 2013 with three locations.

That partner structure is what puts Liberty first. The FAA lists Liberty’s B.S. in Aviation among the programs authorized to certify graduates for the restricted ATP. Liberty says online students “with the right combination of approved aviation courses and total hours of flight time may qualify.”

Tuition for 2026-27 is $410 a credit full-time (12 credits or more), $475 part-time and $250 for military students. Pilots who already hold certificates can turn them into up to 45 credits and take the rest online.

Liberty also offers a 100% online B.S. in Aviation Management, a B.S. in Aviation Maintenance Management, an M.S. in Aeronautics and a Ph.D. in Aviation. It is institutionally accredited by SACSCOC.

2. University of North Dakota

UND’s online B.S. in Aviation Studies is 120 credits, 100% online, with no campus visits. Students specialize in aviation safety or aviation business, and UND also runs a 100% online B.S. in Aviation Safety and Operations.

Both bachelor’s programs are listed as AABI candidates in the board’s directory. No other school on this list has candidate status confirmed for an online aviation bachelor’s, which is why UND ranks second despite costing more than most.

Online students pay the same rate wherever they live. For 2026-27 that is $513.37 a credit in tuition plus a $79.59 per-credit student fee, or $592.96 a credit. UND’s $250 active-duty rate does not apply to aerospace programs.

The trade-off is flight training. UND says plainly that the online degree “does not provide FAA Pilot Certification” and tells students who want to fly to find a local flight school. A private pilot certificate waives only one 3-credit course.

UND is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and says more than a third of its students are exclusively online. Its 30-credit M.S. in Aviation is also fully online.

3. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide

Embry-Riddle Worldwide has the widest online aviation menu of any school here. It covers an A.S. and B.S. in Aeronautics, a B.S. in Pilot Operations for licensed pilots, an M.S. in Aeronautics and further degrees in maintenance, safety and uncrewed systems.

Undergraduate tuition for 2026-27 is $542 a credit for civilians and $250 for military students, unchanged from 2025-26. The military rate also covers spouses and dependents up to age 26, which makes Embry-Riddle the strongest pick here for military families.

Prior learning carries a lot of weight. Embry-Riddle says students can earn more than a quarter of the B.S. in Aeronautics from military training and FAA certificates. The Pilot Operations degree accepts up to 45 transfer credits from commercial pilots with added ratings.

The accreditation picture is muddled. Embry-Riddle’s B.S. in Aeronautics page says the online program is AABI-accredited, yet AABI’s directory lists only Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach and Prescott programs. Embry-Riddle also states that Worldwide graduates of the B.S. in Aeronautics are not eligible for the restricted ATP.

Embry-Riddle is accredited by SACSCOC, and Worldwide students can study online or at more than 110 locations. For the residential side of the university, see our ranking of the best aviation colleges for future airline pilots.

4. Utah Valley University

Utah Valley is the cheapest route to an online professional pilot bachelor’s. Online aviation courses cost $330 a credit and online general education courses $188, and non-residents who study online qualify for those rates.

UVU offers a B.S. in Professional Pilot and a B.S. in Aviation Management online, each 120 credits, fed by its associate degrees in aviation. It has taught online since 2001 and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

Online students fly at any FAA-approved flight school near them, and Professional Pilot graduates leave with at least a commercial pilot certificate. The catch is money: UVU says its financial aid and VA benefits do not cover flight training at outside schools.

The FAA does list UVU’s B.S. in Professional Pilot for the restricted ATP. UVU’s online page does not say whether students who train at an outside school qualify, so ask before you count on it.

5. Lynn University

Lynn’s online B.S. in Professional Pilot is 100% asynchronous, starts three times a year and costs $375 a credit. Lynn also offers online bachelor’s degrees in Aviation Management and Aviation Operations in 8-week terms.

Read the fine print on flying. Lynn’s program page says online students “are not eligible for any Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certificates through Lynn University” and must earn them on their own at a local school, at their own cost. The degree is not conferred until every flight requirement through CFI-I is complete.

AABI admitted Lynn’s B.S. in Professional Pilot to candidate status on September 10, 2025. Lynn does not say whether that covers the online version, so it earns no accreditation credit here. Lynn is accredited by SACSCOC.

6. Southern Illinois University Carbondale

SIU’s online B.S. in Aviation Management is built for people already working in aviation. It expects an aviation background, such as an aviation associate degree, military service or civil aviation experience.

The major runs as an asynchronous 16-month block over four semesters. Online students take their general education courses at a local college and transfer them in.

Every online student pays the same rate regardless of state. SIU’s own calculator puts it at $436.75 a credit for Fall 2026, including $109 in per-credit fees.

SIU also offers an online degree-completion B.S. in Aviation Technologies for maintenance professionals and a 30-credit online M.S. in Aviation Management. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and no flight training is offered online.

7. Purdue University Global

Purdue Global offers two online aviation degrees: a B.S. in Aviation Management and a B.S. in Professional Flight. The flight degree pairs online ground courses with in-person training at more than 90 partner flight schools across the US and Puerto Rico.

Tuition is $371 per quarter credit, and the bachelor’s is 180 quarter credits. Purdue Global defines 1 semester credit as 1.5 quarter credits, so that works out to about $556.50 per semester-credit equivalent, which is our arithmetic. Service members pay $165 per quarter credit.

Students earn 45 transfer credits once they hold their private, instrument, commercial, multi-engine and flight instructor certificates. Flying is paid to the partner school, and Purdue Global puts that at “upward of $80,000 to $100,000,” not covered by federal financial aid.

Purdue Global is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission but has no AABI accreditation. It does not appear on the FAA’s restricted-ATP list, although Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus does.

8. Florida Tech Online

Florida Tech Online offers an online A.A. and B.A. in Aviation Management. The 121-credit B.A. includes 72 credits of aviation management courses and accepts up to 90 transfer credits.

It costs $572.92 a credit, technology fees included. Florida Tech’s AABI accreditation covers its B.S. degrees in Aeronautical Science and Aviation Management, not the online B.A.

Florida Tech’s bigger online strength is graduate study. It runs online master’s degrees in Aviation Management, Aviation Safety and Human Factors in Aeronautics, plus an online Doctor of Aviation. It is accredited by SACSCOC.

9. Thomas Edison State University

Thomas Edison State is the specialist pick for working pilots who never finished a degree. Its online A.S. and B.S. in Aviation Flight Technology are only for licensed commercial pilots with at least an instrument rating.

Most of the aviation part of the degree comes from your certificates. The current catalog credits a private pilot certificate at 6 credits, commercial at 12 and instrument at 6, with 18 more credits of aviation flight technology electives also transferred in.

Tuition from the August 2026 term is $449 a credit for New Jersey residents and $584 for everyone else. A flat rate of $4,652 a term covers 9 or more credits for out-of-state students. The university is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Online Degrees and the 1,000-Hour Restricted ATP

For a future airline pilot, the degree matters most for one reason: hours. A standard airline transport pilot certificate requires 1,500 hours of total flight time under 14 CFR 61.159.

Under 14 CFR 61.160, a bachelor’s graduate with an aviation major can apply at 1,000 hours, but only if three conditions hold. The school must hold an FAA letter of authorization, the graduate must complete 60 credits of approved aviation coursework, and the commercial and instrument training must be part of a Part 141 curriculum.

That last condition is where most online degrees fall short. The flight training must happen at the university or at a Part 141 school that holds a training agreement with it, so flying at an unaffiliated local school does not count.

Embry-Riddle says its Worldwide aeronautics graduates are not eligible. The University of Nebraska Omaha says the same of its online aviation studies degree. Liberty’s partner network is the clearest online route that can qualify. Our guide to the airline transport pilot certificate covers what the ATP lets you do.

The Best Online Master’s Degrees in Aviation

At the graduate level the picture flips, because one online master’s actually holds AABI accreditation. Middle Tennessee State University’s M.S. in Aeronautical Science, offered fully online in three concentrations, is accredited by the board, and MTSU says so on the online program pages.

Delta State University’s 30-credit Master of Commercial Aviation is the value pick. It is fully online, it charges no out-of-state tuition, and it does not require an undergraduate aviation degree.

Southeastern Oklahoma State also offers its 33-credit M.S. in Aerospace Administration and Logistics online and at Tinker Air Force Base. For a doctorate, Saint Louis University and Florida Tech both teach a Doctor of Aviation online, and Liberty offers an online Ph.D.

Schools You Might Expect, and Why They Are Not Here

Several of the best-known aviation universities do not teach their aviation degrees online. Arizona State’s aviation degrees are taught at its Polytechnic campus, and ASU Online’s catalog lists no aviation program.

The University of Oklahoma’s AABI-accredited aviation degree is a campus program. Its closest online option is a degree-completion B.S. in Aerospace and Defense Management at $515 a credit.

Kent State’s 2026-27 catalog lists two fully online aviation degrees, but neither is accepting applications. Jacksonville University and Eastern Michigan University teach aviation on campus only.

Two schools nearly made the list. Lewis University runs an accelerated online B.S. in Aviation Management, but its posted rates are for 2025-26 and it says online rates vary. Nebraska Omaha’s online route is a multidisciplinary degree with an aviation concentration, not its B.S. in Aviation.

If you would rather train in person, our ranking of the best flight schools in the US covers the airline academies. Our list of aviation scholarships for 2026 can take some of the cost out of the flying either way.