
The AOPA High School Flight Training Scholarship is offered to pilot trainees ages 15 to 18. The AOPA Foundation Scholarship seeks pilot trainees ages 16 and over. And the AOPA AV8RS Scholarship is intended for teens from 13 through 18 for a number of aviation-related goals beyond flight training. Awards range from $2,500 to $12,000 and some require a membership in AOPA (the first six months of membership is free to students). All flight training applicants must hold an FAA student pilot certificate. Profiles of previous winners are online.

The Ninety-Nines
Since 1929, the Ninety-Nines has promoted the advancement of women pilots, technicians and mechanics, and since 1940 has awarded scholarships to at least 400 women. Their Karen Johnson Solo Scholarship, in conjunction with the WomenVenture portion of the annual fly-in at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, awards $3,000 to women ages 16 to 20 to reach their first solo flight. The Amelia Earhart Scholarship Memorial Fund offers awards up to $6,000 in categories ranging from adding a multi-engine pilot rating to a full type-rating, to learning emergency maneuvers and spins, to women in a non-G20 “emerging economy country” to pursue an aviation career in their own nation. The Ninety-Nines also offer grants to research scholars for “the expansion of human knowledge in areas of specific differences faced by women in aviation: as pilots, as engineers, as administrators, and in military aviation.”

National Gay Pilots Association
The National Gay Pilots Association acts as a umbrella for six $5,000 scholarships funded by American, Delta, and United Airlines to meet their goals for diversity and inclusion. Applicants must hold at least a private pilot certificate. The scholarships can be used for advanced flight training and/or flight education at an accredited institution or program. The Association says that the funds are not awarded on the basis of sexual orientation, but “the applicant should provide evidence of his or her contribution to the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] community.”

Women in Corporate Aviation
The Women in Corporate Aviation networking group offers financial aid to women who work in aviation, as well as qualified undergraduates, so they can pursue career advancement in many aviation fields, from flying to management to flight attendant service.

Alaska Airmen Association
Assistance with costs for training pilots, aviation managers, and maintenance technicians in Alaska. The Alaska Airmen will offer a total of $10,500 in aid in 2017 to five recipients to advance skills in flying, aviation management, and maintenance. As the website notes, there are more licensed pilots per capita in Alaska than any other state, and these scholarships hope to keep it that way. Eligibility requirements include the intention to use the maintenance or flight training to work in Alaska.

Lightspeed Aviation Foundation
The Lightspeed Aviation Foundation grants up to $10,000 each to organizations that arrange for pilots to fly charitable missions. Winners have included Pilots N Paws, which brings rescue animals to adoption sites; New Tribes Mission Aviation, which transports missionaries and disaster relief to remote areas; and JAARS, which flies people to otherwise-inaccessible locations for missionary work, reading education, health education, community development, and more.

Teens in Flight
Teenagers whose parent or sibling died or became disabled during the Gulf War can apply for scholarships for flight training and aviation maintenance at various military bases around the country; contact the group to find one near you. The organization requires a minimum GPA of 2.5, an essay, an oral interview, drug screening, and a recommendation from a school principal or superintendent.

Idaho Aviation Association
The Idaho Aviation Association helps residents of Idaho, and occasionally from nearby states, to pursue their initial flight training or add a rating with companies based in Idaho under one of four scholarship programs.

Southern California Aviation Association
Companies based in Southern California offer scholarships to individuals pursuing an aircraft type rating or airline transport pilot rating, as well as maintenance training assistance for the Cessna Citation 500, 550, or 650 series aircraft.

Experimental Aircraft Association
The Experimental Aircraft Association lists seven types of scholarship to help with training toward a first certificate, 11 types of scholarship funds for college-level study, along with 31 opportunities for tuition or attendance costs to “camp” at its summertime Air Academy program in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.