10 U.S. Schools Now Let ATC Candidates Skip FAA Academy

Sacramento City College becomes the 10th American institution to join the agency’s Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (E-CTI).

Jack Daleo

Friday, January 23, 2026 at 10:00 AM ET

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Jack Daleo

Air traffic management student Hailee Williamson trains in the tower lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, one of 10 Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (E-CTI) schools. [Credit: Embry‑Riddle/Bill Fredette-Huffman]

Key Takeaways:

The FAA is actively addressing a chronic shortage of approximately 3,000 air traffic controllers by expanding its training capacity through the Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (E-CTI), with Sacramento City College joining as the 10th participating school.
E-CTI provides comprehensive training equivalent to the FAA Academy, allowing graduates to proceed directly to facility training after meeting requirements, thus streamlining the pipeline for new controllers.
Beyond E-CTI, the FAA is employing a range of recruitment and retention strategies, including raising starting salaries, streamlining hiring, offering incentive bonuses, and modernizing equipment.
Despite these efforts and ambitious hiring goals, the agency faces a persistent challenge, with significant anticipated attrition and a long-standing history of understaffing impacting air traffic operations.

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The FAA is expanding its capacity to train air traffic controllers (ATCs) as it contends with a chronic shortage of about 3,000 certified professional controllers (CPCs).

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday announced Sacramento City College in California as the 10th member of the FAA’s Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (E-CTI). The E-CTI provides the exact same curriculum and technology as the FAA’s ATC Academy in Oklahoma City.