What UCA Aviation Academy's program costs
Accelerated academy · Conway, AR · Checked September 24, 2026
A full-time, integrated career program sold at a fixed price, not an hourly rate. Every figure below is UCA Aviation Academy's own published price, with the source and the date we read it. This is the published sticker, not a personalized quote.
Website uca.edu/aviation
UCA Academy campuses in Arkansas
Conway (CXW)
Program price
Published program price
$80K
UCA Aviation Academy (zero time to Commercial Multi-Engine)
Published as an average. Your real cost rises if you fly more than the average hours.
This is not a package price. You place a $10,000 deposit that is held as an account against your training, and you are billed as you fly: $230 an hour for the aircraft, $70 an hour for the instructor whether ground or in flight, $300 an hour for a dual flight. When the account runs low a further deposit is required, and unused hours are refunded in full. The $80,000 is the university's estimate of what two years of that comes to, so flying more than the estimate simply means paying more. A $150 fee applies to a cancellation inside 24 hours.
The academy's own published price. It does not reduce the 1,500-hour airline minimum (only a qualifying degree does). Prices change. Confirm current figures with UCA Aviation Academy.
The programs, with sources
- UCA Aviation Academy (zero time to Commercial Multi-Engine)
- $80,000
- PPL · IR · Multi · CPL
- September 24, 2026Source
- The university states the cost "includes fuel, plane, flight instruction, ground instruction, supplies, equipment and testing". It does not state whether the medical certificate or the examiner fees are inside that. The instructor certificates are not: they are sold separately by the partner school.
- The university says total costs are "mitigated by efficiencies and grants and scholarships" through its backing. All payments are made to the University of Central Arkansas and unused flight and instructor time is refunded on withdrawal.
- Published as "estimated at around $80,000 over the two-year period". Four certificates and ratings: Private, Instrument, Multi-Engine and Commercial. Cohorts have started every three months. It does not include the CFI, CFII or MEI, so it is not a route to a paid instructing job on its own.
Paying for it
Two ways to cover $80,000.
Win what you can first, then borrow only what is left. Neither figure assumes anything about you: one is what our scholarship directory holds, the other is what the lenders publish.
- Money you keepScholarships you could apply for50 open to anyone. Top awards reach $22,200.No Arkansas-only awards in the directory yet.
- 50
- Money you pay backLenders that cover $80,000Four of the six lenders in our comparison lend this much. That is whether a loan this size is on offer, not whether you would be approved.
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How much does UCA Aviation Academy cost?
UCA Aviation Academy publishes $80,000 for its UCA Aviation Academy (zero time to Commercial Multi-Engine), as listed on the academy's own pricing page (September 24, 2026). That is the published sticker for the program, not a personalized quote, and it is what the academy asks before the fees the sticker excludes.
What is included in UCA Aviation Academy's program price?
UCA Aviation Academy's published programs cover Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Multi-Engine (AMEL) and Commercial Pilot. The academy states about 24 months to finish. On what it excludes, the academy states: The university states the cost "includes fuel, plane, flight instruction, ground instruction, supplies, equipment and testing". It does not state whether the medical certificate or the examiner fees are inside that. The instructor certificates are not: they are sold separately by the partner school.
What happens if you need more hours than UCA Aviation Academy's program includes?
Published as an average. Your real cost rises if you fly more than the average hours. This is not a package price. You place a $10,000 deposit that is held as an account against your training, and you are billed as you fly: $230 an hour for the aircraft, $70 an hour for the instructor whether ground or in flight, $300 an hour for a dual flight. When the account runs low a further deposit is required, and unused hours are refunded in full. The $80,000 is the university's estimate of what two years of that comes to, so flying more than the estimate simply means paying more. A $150 fee applies to a cancellation inside 24 hours. This is the question worth asking hardest at any accelerated academy, because the published price and the price a student who flies over the plan actually pays are two different numbers.
Does going to UCA Aviation Academy lower the 1,500-hour airline requirement?
No. An accelerated academy does not reduce the 1,500-hour ATP minimum. Only a qualifying aviation degree does, under 14 CFR 61.160, which lowers it to 1,000 hours for a bachelor's or 1,250 for an associate's. What an academy sells is speed and a fixed price to the commercial certificate and instructor ratings, not a shortcut to the airlines. Most graduates then instruct to build the remaining hours.
Sources
Figures are UCA Aviation Academy's own published program prices, shown with the date we read them. They are not a personalized quote, and a student's actual cost will differ with location premiums, the fees the sticker excludes, and pace. Published prices generally assume the program's planned hours; flight training often runs over the FAA minimums, and how extra hours are billed varies by academy (some hold a truly fixed cost, others charge an hourly rate for additional time). Confirm the overage policy with the academy. An accelerated academy does not lower the 1,500-hour airline minimum; only a qualifying degree does, under 14 CFR 61.160. PilotBound is not affiliated with UCA Aviation Academy. Disclaimer & removal policy.
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