Aviation Degree Program
On Course to be a Commercial Airline Pilot at 21!
Hello, my name is Christopher Touzeau, a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) with the Navy
Annapolis Flight Center (NAFC). I am 21 years old and hold a Commercial Pilot Certificate
along with an Instructor Certificate, with privileges to teach in both single and multi engine
airplanes including instrument training. I reached 1,000 hours of flight time before my 21st
birthday and was already eligible to apply to and be hired by the airlines. Going through the
program that NAFC designed allowed me to accomplish this, earning both a four year degree and
enough flight experience to be eligible for a job with an airline by the minimum age of 21! In
addition, being hired by NAFC once I earned my initial CFI certificate and while still in school
allowed me to work as an instructor part time making $35/hour (an annual income of up to
$25,000/year) while I finished my remaining education online. I have outlined below the path
that I took along with the courses I took in order to earn both an Associate and Bachelor’s degree
before my 21st birthday. I hope that this guide helps you as you plan your path toward an
excellent career in aviation. It is a great time to be entering the industry and I wish you the best
throughout your journey. Blue skies!
Throughout high school, I took several AP courses, listed below. All of these courses gave me credit at both the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) and Liberty University. I can’t express how much time and money AP classes can save you if you put in a good effort and do well on the exams.
Sophomore year
U.S. Government and Politics: (5)
Psychology: (4)
Junior year
Calculus BC: (5), AB Subscore: (5)
Physics 1: (4)
Physics 2: (3)
Senior year
Statistics: (4)
During my senior year of high school, I also took 4 courses at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) through the jumpstart program, which offers a 50% discount on tuition.
Fall 2017
COM 111: Fund of Oral Communications (A)
ENG 121: Composition and Literature (A)
Spring 2018
ECO 211: Principles of Economics 1 (A)
ENG 207: Writing for Professionals (A)
In addition to these courses, I was able to earn credit for my Private Pilot Certificate. This was a huge head start to my education and career. CCBC will grant 7 credits for coming into your first semester with a Private License. This gives you an entire year of headstart in flight training!
I began courses at CCBC Fall of 2018 and finished my last course Fall of 2019.
Fall 2018
AVMT 101: Aviation History and Development (A)
ERSC 131: Meteorology (A)
AVMT 241: Instrument Pilot Ground School (A)
AVMT 242: Instrument Pilot Rating - Airplane (A)
Winter 2019
CSIT 120: Diversity in Tech Society (A)
Spring 2019
AVMT 246: Commercial Pilot Ground School (A)
AVMT 247: Commercial Pilot Certification - Airplane (A)
AVMT 221: The Air Traffic Control System (A)
AVMT 226: Air Traffic Control Operations I (A)
Summer 2019
AVMT 211: Air Transportation (A)
Fall 2019
AVMT 216: Aviation Safety (A)
ENGL 101: College Composition I (A)*
*I took ENGL 101 as a repeat course in order to remain half time for enrollment and financial aid since the only other courses I needed were the flight instructor courses, which I could complete directly through NAFC at a lower cost. I guess I didn’t need to take that winter or summer course! Anyway, after I completed the CFI courses on my own at NAFC, I sent CCBC my certificates and requested credit for the associated courses and completed my degree.
In addition, do note that the degree completion plan for my program has gone through many
changes in the past few years, so review your specific degree completion plan to get a more
accurate idea of the course lineup you’ll need in your specific case. You’ll notice many changes
in the required courses, especially with how the flight training courses are broken down.
One last note about CCBC. Going through their program at NAFC allows you to earn a
Restricted ATP, allowing you to work for an airline before meeting the full requirements (23
years old and 1,500 hours of flight time).
In order to qualify for the R-ATP, there are three conditions you must meet:
1. You must complete your Instrument and Commercial ground school with CCBC (Earning
a grade of 80% or higher for both classes and exams)
2. You must complete your Instrument and Commercial flight training under Part 141
(accomplished at NAFC)
3. You must complete CCBC’s program and receive your A.A.S, Professional Pilot
–Airplane
If you satisfy ALL THREE of the above criteria, you will qualify for the 1,250 hour R-ATP
through CCBC.
Then I took courses at Liberty University Online from Spring 2020 through Spring 2021, where I
finished my Bachelor’s degree by March. Liberty offers unique 8 week courses so you are able to
take 2 courses for the first 8 weeks and then another 2 for the second 8 weeks. Although they are
slightly accelerated, the online courses are very well designed and I really enjoyed being able to
put more focus on a lower number of subject areas.
I was also very pleased with how the Liberty University transfer team worked with me, taking all of my AP and CCBC credits. Initially, there were some courses that didn’t transfer in where I expected but with a simple request showing that the course I had already taken did indeed match the course at Liberty, I was granted those credits.
These are also listed below.
Spring 2020
ETHC 101: Introduction to Ethics (A)
BIBL 104: Survey of Old & New Testament (A)
AVIA 242: Advanced GPS Navigation (A)
AVIA 245: Aviation Leadership (A)
Fall 2020
AVIA 305: Airplane Aerodynamics (A)
AVIA 360: Corporate & Business Aviation (A)
AVIA 400: Aviation Human Factors (A)
AVIA 230: Unmanned Aerial Systems (A)
Spring 2021
AVIA 455: Turbine Engines & Jet Transports (A)
AVIA 350: Airline Operations (A)
Special transfer requests that were granted using Liberty’s transfer suite:
AP Physics 1 -> both PHSC 101 and 103 at Liberty
CCBC's AVMT 101 -> Liberty's AVIA 105
CCBC’s ERSC 131 -> Liberty’s AVIA 340
CCBC’s AVMT 216 -> Liberty’s AVIA 300
Finally, here are all of the Pilot Certificates I have earned along with the date of each issuance.
Private Pilot Airplane Single Engine Land (ASEL): 10/30/2018
Instrument Airplane: 4/11/2019
Commercial Pilot ASEL: 8/26/2019
Commercial Pilot Airplane Multi Engine Land (AMEL): 10/19/2019
Certified Flight Instructor ASEL: 6/12/2020
CFI; Instrument Airplane: 12/15/2020
CFI; AMEL: 5/1/2021