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Aviation degree · Walnut, CA

What an aviation degree at Mt. San Antonio College costs

A 2-year associate's (AAS) program. Tuition, room & board, and flight fees, each from the school's own published pages, summed into an all-in estimate. Flight fees are billed separately and on top of tuition. This is a planning estimate, not the school's quote.

PilotBound all-in estimate

$73.5K

In-state, all-in

$99.5K

Out-of-state, all-in

Unlocks the 1,250-hour airline minimum

Tuition + room & board (2years) + whole-program flight fees. Sourced figures summed, not the school's quoted package. Tuition changes yearly.

Step 2 · Plan

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The numbers, with sources

Tuition (in-state)
$2,760
$1,380/yr × 22026-27Source

$46/unit enrollment fee, ~30 units/yr, plus a $23/semester health fee.

Tuition (out-of-state)
$28,800
$14,400/yr × 22026-27Source

$434/unit nonresident tuition + $46/unit enrollment (~$480/unit) for Fall 2026, ~30 units/yr. Mt. SAC's aeronautics-dept page still shows an older $334/unit; the official fees page is current.

Room & board(estimated)
$21,240
$10,620/yr × 22026-27Source

Commuter campus; no on-campus housing.

Flight training (whole program)
$49,500
2026-27Source

Partial: school does not price every rating, so the full sequence costs more.

Sum of Mt. SAC's own published per-certificate minimum estimates: Private ~$12,000, Instrument ~$15,000, Commercial +$15,000, CFI ~$7,500 ($49,500). In-house Part 141 at Brackett Field (KPOC); published aircraft wet rates run C172 $140/hr and CFI $55/hr. These are FAA-minimum-hour estimates, so plan higher.

All-in (in-state)
$73,500

See how this stacks up against Part 61, Part 141, an academy, and a 2-year degree.

Compare the paths

Figures are Mt. San Antonio College's own published tuition, room & board, and flight fees, summed by PilotBound into a planning estimate. They are not the school's quoted program price, and they will differ from a student's actual cost. Flight fees are pay-as-you-go and vary with a student's pace. Confirm current numbers with the school. The 1,250-hour airline minimum comes from a qualifying degree under 14 CFR 61.160. PilotBound is not affiliated with Mt. San Antonio College. Disclaimer & removal policy.

Primary sources: mtsac.edu·mtsac.edu·catalog.mtsac.edu