TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College has welcomed a record number of international students for its 2018 summer aviation program.
The group includes 32 students from 17 different countries including Malaysia, Nigeria, China, India, Lithuania, Thailand, Bangladesh, Portugal, Italy, Kenya, United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Ecuador and Uganda.
The students are studying Aerospace Engineering at three main NMC partner universities in the United Kingdom: University of Hertfordshire, University of the West of England and University of Manchester.
This partnership began in 2009 with an Innovation Grant from the NMC Foundation as a way to boost enrollment to the aviation program during the often slower summer season. Since its beginning, the international partnership has brought in an additional $2.5 million and increased the financial viability of the aviation program.
According to NMC’s International Aviation Program Coordinator, Steve Ursell, the greatest benefits are to the students: “This fantastic diverse group really contributes to the atmosphere and training of all of our students and instructors whether they’re from Traverse City or Thailand. They bring a new perspective, experience and cultural understanding to our flight school that helps prepare our students for careers that may take them around the world.”
This partnership is another example of NMC leveraging its unique assets to provide mutual benefit, says NMC Director of Aviation Alex Bloye: “NMC has been a trusted partner with these universities. We’ve worked with them to design specific flight training and flight test courses that add valuable practical flying experience to the aerospace theory courses offered in the United Kingdom.”
International aviation students must go through a TSA and Visa approval process, overseen by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to be able to train at NMC. This process starts almost nine months before students arrive at NMC..
Release date: August 2, 2018
For more information:
Alex Bloye
NMC Director of Aviation
abloye@nmc.edu
(231) 995-2929