Drone Pilot Ground School’s 2019 drone scholarship offers cash to students

Want to earn some money for your passion in drones? My friends at Drone Pilot Ground School are hosting their 2019 drone scholarship contest open to high school and college students.

Their scholarship program is actually comprised of two separate scholarship programs. One will net you with a free online test prep course (worth $300) for the Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate test, and a reimbursement for the Federal Aviation Administration exam fee (worth $150), while the other will net you straight cash — and $1,000 at that!

• For high school students: The High School STEM Scholarship for Aspiring Commercial Drone Pilots targets students who are interested in passing the FAA’s Part 107 exam in order to become a certified commercial drone pilot. Scholarship recipients receive free access to our industry-leading online test prep study program, and we also reimburse the $150 FAA exam fee. The total scholarship value is $450.
• For current or incoming college students: Drone Technology College Scholarship. This 2019 drone scholarship awards students who are pursuing undergraduate degrees and who demonstrate an interest in pushing the drone industry forward. Two scholarship recipients each receive a one-time $1,000 cash award.

Both applications involve answering essay questions and submitting a recommendation letter. More information about the scholarship program as well as the link to apply can be found here.

Drone Pilot Ground School is an online education site that launched primary to offer Part 107 exam prep courses, but has since expanded to include other drone-related prep courses, community forums and more. Passing the Part 107 test, issued by the FAA, is mandatory every pilot who operates a drone commercially needs to have passed it in order to obtain a license. (I personally used the Drone Pilot Ground School course to study for my Part 107 test, which I passed on my first try! Read more about what my Part 107 test experience was like here.)

Related read: Part 107 test: everything you need to know (except the answers)

The scholarships could pave the way for you to pursue a future career in drones. A study by drone analytics firm DRONEII found that during the summer of 2018 alone, out of 102 drone-related companies there were 903 job advertisements. The CEO of French drone company Delair told TheDroneGirl in an interview last month that the company plans to hire about 60 employees this year. And job growth is still exploding. In most fields of the drone industry (including software engineer, sales, marketing, HR and piloting) there are actually more open positions in 2018 than there were in 2017. And drone industry jobs can get pretty creative, including drone costume designer and UberEATS drone pilot (that job is currently unfilled!). And many drone operators report making six figure salaries — and they work for themselves.

The submission deadline for the Part 107 course and exam reimbursement is rolling, and the deadline to apply for the 2019 drone cash scholarship is May 16, 2019 at 5 p.m. ET. Winners will be announced by the end of June.

Not a high school student but you still want to use Drone Pilot Ground School to study? It’s not free, but use this link to get $50 off any Drone Pilot Ground School course. Students and teachers are also eligible to get massive discounts on drone gear from DJI through the DJI Education Discount program.

Apply to Drone Pilot Ground School’s 2019 drone scholarship program here.