Drones to Degrees: Expanding Credential-First Pathways in Unmanned Aircraft Systems

The unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry continues to grow across public safety, infrastructure inspection, agriculture, construction, utilities, transportation, and mapping. This growth increases the importance of preparing skilled technicians who can safely operate aircraft, collect data, process information, and support field-based operations. This Advanced Technological Education (ATE) project at Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech) will serve the national interest by expanding early access to hands-on technical education, industry-recognized credentials, and college credit for high school students. The project will implement a credential first pathway at partner high schools that connects dual-credit coursework with WSU Tech’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technical Certificate, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate preparation and continued postsecondary study or employment. This work will help students, families, and school partners understand unmanned aircraft systems as a technical career pathway rather than only a hobby or standalone elective. It will also support workforce needs in industries that increasingly depend on drone-enabled operations and data collection. The project will implement, evaluate, and disseminate a credential-first dual-credit pathway that strengthens transitions from high school into postsecondary technician education and the UAS workforce. The project will redesign high school coursework to align with WSU Tech's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technical Certificate, deploy a rotating college instructor model across partner high schools, provide an optional Summer Bridge Program to strengthen postsecondary transition, expand employer engagement, and develop career pathway resources that connect UAS competencies to technician careers across multiple industries. Using a comparative evaluation design, the project will examine outcomes related to technical certificate completion, FAA Part 107 participation and pass rates, postsecondary enrollment, persistence, employer engagement, and workforce readiness. Implementation tools, career pathway maps, Summer Bridge resources, and evaluation findings will be disseminated through Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Central, national ATE conferences, and partner networks to inform scalable models for integrating technician-level credentials into high school career pathways. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced technology fields that drive the nation's economy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.