December 31, 2014 

 Exemption No. 11135 

 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2014-0300 

Mr. Timothy James Compton 

Assistant Director 

Baylor University 

Waco, TX 76798-7413 

Dear Mr. Compton: 

This letter is to inform you that we have denied your petition for exemption. It transmits our 

decision and explains its basis. 

The Basis for Our Decision 

By letter dated April 28, 2014, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 

behalf of Baylor University (Baylor) for an exemption from § 61.160(b) of Title 14, Code of 

Federal Regulations (14 CFR) to the extent necessary to allow Baylor to issue a letter of 

authorization certifying its graduates for an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with reduced 

aeronautical experience. 

The petitioner supports its request with the following information: 

Baylor does not currently hold a part 141 pilot school certificate or conduct its own 

pilot ground and flight training. Rather, Baylor contracts with Texas State Technical 

College (TSTC), a pilot school, to provide both ground and flight training for the 

instrument rating and commercial pilot certificates. 

Baylor students who take the ground and flight courses for the instrument rating and 

commercial pilot certificate must apply to and be accepted by TSTC. Baylor students 

take their ground and flight training at the TSTC campus. TSTC faculty members 

provide the instruction in TSTC classrooms and in TSTC aircraft. 

Baylor students taking their ground and flight instruction for the instrument rating and 

commercial pilot certificates have their grades awarded at TSTC and officially 

recorded on TSTC transcripts. 
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Baylor believes that the public interest is served by contracting out its ground and 

flight training to TSTC rather than holding its own part 141 certificate. Baylor 

explains this arrangement is more efficient for Baylor students in that Baylor does not 

have to duplicate the ground and flight training provided by TSTC. Further, since 

tuition is higher at Baylor, it would cost more for students to complete their degree 

program if the training was conducted at Baylor instead of TSTC. 

Baylor believes that an equivalent level of safety is provided by TSTC offering 

Baylor’s students instrument rating and commercial pilot certificate training. Because 

TSTC has its own part 141 certificate, it has inherent safeguards and accompanying 

FAA oversight. Baylor further believes an equivalent level of safety is maintained due 

to the safety-related academic courses that are required for its aviation students. 

The FAA notes that Public Law 111-216 requires all pilots in part 121 to have an ATP 

certificate. It also states that minimum flight time to obtain an ATP certificate is 1,500 hours. 

The statute did allow for a credit towards the 1,500 hours, only if the FAA determined that 

allowing a pilot to take “specific academic training courses will enhance safety more than 

requiring the pilot to fully comply with the flight time requirement.” 

As described in the preamble to the final rule, the FAA promulgated section 61.160 [78 FR 

42324, July 15, 2013] to account for the specific program criteria necessary to meet the intent 

of Public Law 111-216. The FAA considered not only how to determine if an institution of 

higher education and its program would qualify, but how to evaluate specific academic 

courses, and then how to oversee such a program. 

One of the key components of the degree program is having the ground and flight training for 

the instrument rating and commercial pilot certificate integrated with a student’s broader 

aviation academic curriculum. The FAA concluded the established training standards and 

quality provided by an institution of higher education that holds a part 141 pilot school 

certificate are necessary to ensure this integration of the pilot ground training and broader 

academic curriculum is performed to a suitable standard. Accordingly, 

“[u]nder § 61.160, a graduate must have completed all ground training for the 

commercial pilot certificate and instrument rating at the institution of higher 

education... [and] the academic institution must, at a minimum, hold a part 141 pilot 

school certificate for ground training. This requirement will ensure that the ground 

training for certification is integrated into the institution’s broader academic 

curriculum. (78 FR 42348). [In addition], the FAA has oversight of the training 

conducted through part 141 program approval. Those pilot schools must renew their 

certificates every 24 months and demonstrate the quality of the training through an 

established training standard.” (78 FR 41352) 

The FAA reviewed the description that Baylor provided of its arrangement with TSTC for the 

ground and flight training of students enrolled in its Aviation Science Bachelor degree 

program. The arrangement does not meet the intent of having the ground training integrated 
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with the broader academic curriculum by virtue of Baylor not holding an air agency certificate 

issued in accordance with part 141. Baylor does not have control over the curriculum 

provided by TSTC. As noted in the petition, Baylor students pursuing their instrument rating 

and commercial pilot training become TSTC students during those phases. Therefore, the 

FAA has determined that Baylor’s aviation degree program does not meet the minimum level 

of integrating its pilot ground training with its broader academic curriculum of an aviation 

degree program. 

Additionally, the FAA has determined that meeting the part 141 standards and holding a 

certificate issued under part 141 enables the FAA to oversee the program and ensure 

continued compliance with the letter of authorization issued on an established 24-month 

schedule that coincides with the part 141 pilot school renewal. The FAA has concluded this 

oversight is critical for assuring that the standards set forth by Congress for a reduction in 

flight time continue to be met. 

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition 

in the Federal Register because this is not a precedent-setting petition, and any delay in acting 

on this petition would be detrimental to Baylor. 

The FAA recently issued a denial of exemption in circumstances similar in all material 

respects to those presented in your petition. In Denial of Exemption No. 11025 (copy 

enclosed), the FAA found that the requirement for the institution of higher education to hold a 

141 certificate was a necessary component of the institution’s degree program. This ensures 

proper integration of the instrument rating and commercial pilot certificate ground training 

with the institution’s broader academic curriculum. Further, requiring the institution of higher 

education to hold a 141 certificate enables the FAA to oversee the program and ensure 

continued compliance with the letter of authorization. The FAA concluded this integration 

and oversight is critical for assuring that the standards set forth by Congress for a reduction in 

flight time continues to be met. 

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemption, I find that— 

 they do not differ materially from those presented by the petitioner in the enclosed Denial 

of Exemption No. 11025; 

 the reasons stated by the FAA for denying the exemption sought in the enclosed Denial of 

Exemption No. 11025 also apply to the situation you present; and 

 a grant of exemption would not be in the public interest. 
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Our Decision 

Under the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 40113 and 44701, which the FAA 

Administrator has delegated to me, I hereby deny Baylor University’s petition for an 

exemption from 14 CFR § 61.160(b). 

Sincerely, 

/s/ 

John S. Duncan 

Director, Flight Standards Service 

Enclosure