What do Drone Pilots and Landscape Designers have in common?

They both are pilot programs in our new Classroom-to-Jobsite Pipeline

A student, let’s call her Joan Piloto, is graduating high school student and loves video games. She lives in a household that can’t afford a fancy high-speed internet line, so she goes to the library or stays after school to play the video games she loves. Joan also has a disability. She knows it would be hard to be a pilot, a childhood dream, but she can pilot planes on her games. Her counselor gets Joan into a High School program flying drones.

She learns that Fullerton College Drone Lab is at the forefront of Drone training and technology. She will qualify for financial aid. With that aid, she can do the 11-credit program in one year and get her OSHA 30 card certifying her for workplace safety. After her $175 FAA test, she can fly drones commercially.

The next steps would be more challenging for Joan. She will have to pay between $1500- $17,000 for a commercial drone to work. Most drone pilots are contractors and required to own their drones. She will also have to pay for books and fees of about $500 each semester. She will also have to get more flying time and meet an employer.

Experienced drone pilots are a booming new career in many fields. Non-military drone pilots now work in: Infrastructure inspection; surveying, mapping/GIS; construction; architecture; public safety/police/fire operations; search and rescue; journalism; film industry cinematography; photography & videography; real estate & business photography; marine biology; archeology; physical education/athletics; agricultural crop dusting; package delivery; and drone design, construction, maintenance, and repair. According to the Economic Research Institute, California’s average pay for a Drone Pilot is $68,560 a year ($33/hour). There are not enough seasoned drone pilots to take all the jobs coming into the field. Therefore, creating a vital apprenticeship program that pairs willing, trained students with employers needing trained pilots is an immense opportunity for all.

With our new Classroom-to-Jobsite Pipeline (C2J) program, Fullerton College (FC) and the Friends of Fullerton College Foundation (Friends) have received a $500,000 grant to create the state’s first Drone Pilot Apprenticeship program. The program partners with Hope Builders, a social-enterprise/nonprofit temporary-employment agency in Santa Ana. Students like Joan will be eligible for scholarships to cover their books and fees. Once they graduate, they will pair with employers for the 600 hours needed to finish their apprentice program. Joan can hop the digital divide with a micro loan of up to $2500 to pay for her drone and FAA testing. She will be paid $20/hour during their apprenticeship, and money will be deducted from her pay to repay her loan. By completing the apprenticeship, Joan will have finished payments and own her drone outright.

In less than two years, Joan will have her Commercial Drone Pilot’s License, her OSHA 30 Card, her completed apprenticeship, and her paid-off drone. She now has three options:

•She can get her business license and continue as a contractor. Friends will help guide her in this.

•She can stay with the company after her apprenticeship or another employer in the program and be a full-time employee making more than $33/hour.

•Or she can continue as a contractor at a much higher salary through Friends and Hope Builders.

Regardless of her choice, she is employed in a growing field with many opportunities.

For each apprenticeship, employers pay a finder’s fee. Such a fee is typical for temp agencies. Much of this fee goes to Hope Builders to pay for their work as the temp agency and the apprentice’s benefits and insurance. A portion goes back to Friends for providing FC students and drone employers. This funding supports future scholarships and the microloan program. This system makes the entire operation a self-sustaining social enterprise without any need for future funders.

NEW FUNDING

This program comes to us with funds from the State Chancellor’s Office $499,000 grant for new apprenticeship programs with help from the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards. We are writing the first apprenticeship standards in the state for drone pilots now. We also have funding from the Orange County Community Foundation, which started the process with a $50,000 planning grant, the Samueli Foundation ($25,000), and Southern California Edison ($25,000). Edison is also providing employers for the program. We are partnering with area workforce investment providers and creating dual enrollment programs at area high schools to expand the program and shorten the timeframe from classroom to jobsite.

Through a $151,800 grant with Orange County Farm Bureau, their largest contribution this year, Landscape Designers now enter the picture. Once we have set up the program for drone pilots, we can move Horticulture students into internships and apprenticeships with the same partnership with Hope Builders in the same way. The Farm Bureau grant also provides an endowment for horticulture scholarships. Now, students who qualify for financial aid in either drone piloting or horticulture can go from student to apprentice to a high-paying job without cost.

Would you like to know more? Contact us from the Contact page and we can send you the entire 5-Year Plan for the Program.

Would you like to invest in the program for other trades at Fullerton College?