A nationwide air traffic controller shortage has put new attention on a growing training option the FAA now approves for certain colleges.
The recent federal government shutdown highlighted how thin staffing has become, especially as delays and reroutes stacked up across the country.
The FAA says it wants to hire at least 8,900 new controllers by 2028. According to FAA workforce data analyzed by USAFacts, about 3,000 controller positions were vacant nationwide as of late 2024 — though not every facility is equally understaffed.
That shortage is driving interest in a newer FAA-approved college pathway designed to streamline controller training at a small group of universities — including Middle Georgia State.
The Enhanced AT-CTI program allows students to train to the same standard as the FAA Academy, and if hired and meeting FAA requirements such as passing the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA), medical and security clearances, they can go directly to a facility instead of completing the full academy in Oklahoma City, which can involve long waitlists and multi-month courses.
Graduates still undergo facility-specific training and must be certified on-the-job before becoming full controllers.
Only about nine schools nationwide have been approved to offer the new Enhanced AT-CTI program as of 2025, according to Kemarie Jeffers, the department chair of aviation science and management at Middle Georgia State.
Inside Middle Georgia State’s tower simulator, air traffic control student Brooke Graffagnino says the job’s intensity is what drew her in. “It kind of gets your chest beating, because with how much traffic there is, sometimes it is intense,” she said.
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She says students quickly find out whether they’re suited for the job. “You can kind of tell who does not [love it]. There have been quite a few, and they are no longer here. It takes a lot to get through it,” she said.
Graffagnino says the importance of the work became clearer as she learned how controllers keep busy airspace organized. “Once you get in the airspace that is super crowded or approaching the larger airports like Atlanta, you need someone to help coordinate and keep everything separate and safe,” she said.
Middle Georgia State was approved as an Enhanced AT-CTI school in mid-2024. Jeffers says the impact was immediate.
“Before our program had maybe about 17 to 20 students. Right now we have 54. So we have already, in that short amount of time, almost tripled in size the amount of students that we have,” he said.
To earn the enhanced designation, Jeffers said the school had to update its curriculum, overhaul parts of its simulator setup, and install new audio and video systems.
“We’ve upgraded a lot of our equipment… we had to install audio and video equipment upstairs in our tower sim,” he said.
Those upgrades allow the FAA to remotely review or spot-check training sessions and ensure they meet federal standards.
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The program’s biggest distinction is what happens after graduation. “Enhanced CTI eliminates your requirement of going to the academy. You will graduate here and you can go straight to work,” Jeffers said. “So it saves you time and effort — again, it gets you to work sooner and making money quicker.”
The FAA requires enhanced programs to employ instructors with controller experience and maintain simulator equipment comparable to FAA standards.
As students advance, the simulations become more complex, requiring trainees to manage more aircraft at once.
“As we get more comfortable and confident, we are able to allow more aircraft into the airspace at a time,” Graffagnino said.
Before finishing the program, every student must pass a final simulation that mirrors the FAA Academy’s evaluation process.
“Our instructors will then run a scenario and they will be graded… the exact same way in which they will be graded at the academy,” Jeffers said.
According to the FAA’s FY 2025 Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, the agency anticipates about 2,000 hires in FY 2025, 2,200 in FY 2026, and incremental increases through 2028, though retirements are expected to offset much of that growth.
