Every day, the equality gap is reducing, and women participate in almost everything their male counterparts do. And this also applies to the aviation industry, where there has been a constant growth in the number of female pilots.
Regardless, the number is still considerably low, according to Pilotonstitute.com, there are just 9.02% of female pilots and just 5% of professional female pilots worldwide. We believe one of the reasons for this low growth is finances, which made us compile this list of aviation scholarships for females.
This can help you to take advantage of scholarships that some generous organizations and people have provided to ease the financial burden. Moreover, if you’re an international student, taking advantage of some of the pilot training scholarships will even lessen the burden more.
Table of Contents
Aviation Scholarships for Females
1. Women in Aviation Scholarships
This is one of the aviation scholarships for ladies provided by Women in Aviation International (WAI). The organization offers close to $1 million annually to more than 100 WAI members.
They always provide different kinds of scholarships, of which you can choose a maximum of 3, but you need to be a member of WAI to be eligible for any of their awards.
2. 99s (female pilots) Pilot Scholarships
99s provides lots of female aviation scholarships to different chapters, whether you’re in Alaska, Chicago, Connecticut, Florida, Manitoba, New Jersey, San Antonio, San Diego, the list goes on and on. Even though their worth is below $5,000 they can still go a long way to pay some of your fees.
3. The Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarships & Awards
Annually Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarships are usually awarded to qualified members for five different scholarship types, which include;
- Flight Training Scholarship which is worth up to $20,000
- Academic Scholarship, worth up to $10,000
- Technical Training Scholarship, worth up to $20,000
- Vicki Cruse Memorial Scholarship, for Emergency Maneuver Training, fully-funded Scholarship
- Kitty Houghton Memorial Scholarship
4. Whirly-Girls Scholarships
Whirly-Girls provides lots of aviation scholarships for females, which include;
- Lora Trout Memorial Flight Training Scholarship
- Advanced Mountain Flight Training Scholarship
- Airbus Inadvertent Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IIMC) Training Scholarship
- Bristow Group Initial Helicopter Flight Training Scholarship
And a lot more.
5. I Hart Flying Scholarships
This is another Organization that provides a lot of flight training scholarships for females, but you need to be a United States Citizen/Resident or Canadian Citizen/Resident. They currently don’t support international students, but we believe in the future, they will start accepting them.
Moreover, even if you’ve not started flight training, or you already hold a license, you’re still eligible to apply.
6. “Ag Wings of Tomorrow” Scholarship
NAAA (National Agricultural Aviation Association) is providing 4 (four) $5,000 scholarships to women that are pursuing their dreams of becoming professional ag pilots. Applicants must be sponsored by an NAAA Operator member.
7. Annual Epic Aviation Scholarship Awards
These scholarships are exclusively for both male and female high school students who are interested in aviation. They are awarding five high school scholarships that sum up to $70,000 which include;
- $20,000 Scholarship – Flight Training/Private Pilot License
- 2 (two) $5,000 Scholarships – Flight Training
- 2 (two) $20,000 Scholarships – Aircraft Mechanics Program
8. Airways Aviation Academy – ESMA Scholarship
This is among the aviation scholarships for females dedicated to all women who intend to become professional pilots. Airways Aviation Academy will be awarding the first three best scores an admission and selection process will be granted with a partial scholarship of €10,000.
These scholarships are offered in their two courses offered only in Montpellier, France, which are;
- Bachelors in Aeronautical Management & ATPL Licence- Montpellier Business School
- EASA fATPL Integrated Course
9. ISA+21 Scholarships for Women
International Society of Women Airline Pilots has been providing numerous awards and scholarships to passionate women in Aviation from different countries in the world for nearly half a century. Since its inception, they have been able to award more than $1.4 million to these women, and in 2022 only, it awarded 12 scholarships valued at over $70,000.
10. CAE Women in Flight
The Women in Flight scholarship is launched by CAE to encourage young women to pursue a career as commercial pilots.
11. AWPA Scholarships
AWPA (Australian Women Pilots’ Association) provides a range of flight scholarships for females, annually which is available for different levels of experiences. Most importantly, applicants can apply to as many scholarships as made available by AWPA but you can only win one scholarship.
Some of the scholarships include;
- The Lady Casey Scholarship
- AWPA Flight Training Scholarships
- AWPA Navigation Component Scholarship
- AWPA Formation/Aerobatic Endorsement (Aeroplane) Scholarship
- Merlene Smith (nee Jackson) and Riga Medical Scholarship
And many others.
12. Women in Corporate Aviation Scholarship
WCA are providing different kinds of aviation scholarships which include;
- Pilot & Maintenance Options
- Pilot & Maintenance Training
- Flight Attendants
- Legal & Safety
But, you need to be a member to be eligible for their scholarships, and being a member also opens the door to various other opportunities.
13. COPA & ALPA Scholarships
The Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) and Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA)’s Aviation Career are providing more than 100 scholarships for women that intend to train in the field of aviation. There are scholarships for helicopter training; ground operations & maintenance; and awards for women.
14. FAST (Female Aviation Sticking Together) Scholarship
FAST is known as women that are connected together by their love for flying, and they have also realized that some women can’t pursue their careers because of some setbacks, one of which is money. So they recently started their scholarship to help some prolific women pursue their dream.
You can choose to enroll in their current FTI ATP/CTP Scholarship which will award a full ATP/CTP course to two FAST members.
15. NZAWA – Supporting Women Aviators Scholarship
This is one of the aviation scholarships for females that are awarded annually through the generous donation of both past and present members of NZAWA. And, these scholarships have been running since 1975.
NZAWA awards three kinds of scholarships to young females;
- The Air Training Corps Association
- The Walsh Memorial Flying School
- Youth Soaring Development Camp.
Conclusion
You see that there are lots of aviation scholarships that are exclusively for women, and these awards have helped to promote ladies that dreamt of joining the aviation industry. We believe at least one of them should help you too.
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