Airline Flight Attendant Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Airline Flight Attendant maps to BLS occupations averaging about $191,359, with roughly 229,410 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $5,656; common paths include Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers and Flight Attendants.
Key Statistics
Airline Flight Attendant: what the data shows
Common questions about airline flight attendant degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a airline flight attendant degree?
A Airline Flight Attendant program is classified under NCES CIP 49.0106 in the Air Transportation field family (49.01).
A program that prepares individuals to apply technical knowledge and skills to the performance of a variety of personal services conducive to the safety and comfort of airline passengers during flight, including verifying tickets, explaining the use of safety equipment, providing passenger services, and responding to in-flight emergencies
Types of airline flight attendant degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 49.01 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Aeronautics/Aviation/Aerospace Science and Technology, General (CIP 49.0101)
- Air Traffic Controller (CIP 49.0105)
- Airline/Commercial/Professional Pilot and Flight Crew (CIP 49.0102)
- Aviation/Airway Management and Operations (CIP 49.0104)
- Flight Instructor (CIP 49.0108)
- Remote Aircraft Pilot (CIP 49.0109)
How long does it take to get a airline flight attendant degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 49.0106 in our file:
- 21 Associate (100.0% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a airline flight attendant degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Airline Flight Attendant to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | 99,300 | $226,600 |
| Flight Attendants | 130,110 | $67,130 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a airline flight attendant degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Air Transportation bachelor's program family: median debt $54,664, median earnings $85,825 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.27.
About 3.6% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $5,656 and median net price is $12,547.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Airline Flight Attendant and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$5,656 Median In-State Public
$34,227 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Airline Flight Attendant majors are, on average, $5,656 for in-state public colleges, and $34,227 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Airline Flight Attendant programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Airline Flight Attendant from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Airline Flight Attendant.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 3 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 4 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 5 | Liberty University | VA | 50,012 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Airline Flight Attendant programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Miramar College | CA | $1,146 |
| 2 | San Diego Miramar College | CA | $1,146 |
| 3 | Cypress College | CA | $1,150 |
| 4 | Cypress College | CA | $1,150 |
| 5 | Fullerton College | CA | $1,150 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Airline Flight Attendant programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Christian College | CA | $992 |
| 2 | Texas A&M University-Central Texas | TX | $1,300 |
| 3 | Trident Technical College | SC | $1,406 |
| 4 | St Petersburg College | FL | $1,471 |
| 5 | Carroll Community College | MD | $2,725 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Airline Flight Attendant programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Airline Flight Attendant programs across institutions.
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 49.01 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Aeronautics/Aviation/Aerospace Science and Technology, General CIP 49.0101
- Air Traffic Controller CIP 49.0105
- Airline/Commercial/Professional Pilot and Flight Crew CIP 49.0102
- Aviation/Airway Management and Operations CIP 49.0104
- Flight Instructor CIP 49.0108
- Remote Aircraft Pilot CIP 49.0109
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 49.0106 in the survey year used in our extract (21 total across levels below).
- 21 Associate (100.0% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $191,359. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Airline Flight Attendant graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $329,274 | 99,300 |
| Flight Attendants | $86,103 | 130,110 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Air Transportation CIP family (18 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Airline Flight Attendant graduate.
- $54,664 median federal loan debt among completers
- $85,825 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.27 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 3.6% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$191,359 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Airline Flight Attendant majors is $191,359.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Airline Flight Attendant majors.
Occupations by Share
229,410 2023 Workforce
The number of Airline Flight Attendant graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Airline Flight Attendant by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Airline Flight Attendant in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Airline Flight Attendant.
Age distribution for Airline Flight Attendant degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
47 Total Degrees Awarded
4 Male (8.51%)
43 Female (91.49%)
Gender distribution of Airline Flight Attendant degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
26 Hispanic or Latino (55.32%)
10 White (21.28%)
3 Asian (6.38%)
1 Black or African American (2.13%)
1 Two or More Races (2.13%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Airline Flight Attendant degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Airline Flight Attendant are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Airline Flight Attendant.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Airline Flight Attendant field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Airline Flight Attendant majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Airline Flight Attendant majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Airline Flight Attendant majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to apply technical knowledge and skills to the performance of a variety of personal services conducive to the safety and comfort of airline passengers during flight, including verifying tickets, explaining the use of safety equipment, providing passenger services, and responding to in-flight emergencies
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Airline Flight Attendant.
CIP Code
49.0106 - Airline Flight Attendant
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $54,664 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $85,825, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.27. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Airline Flight Attendant graduate.
Women earned 91.5% of 47 Airline Flight Attendant completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $191,359. The largest mapped role by headcount is Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers (99,300 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $5,656 in-state at public colleges and $34,227 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.