Aircraft Mechanic School 2026: FAA Part 147 Schools Explained

How do you find an FAA-approved aircraft mechanic school?

Use the FAA’s AVInfo Find a Facility dashboard and pick Mechanics School: it shows certificated schools with their locations. The FAA’s mechanic pages link it as “Locate a School”. If a school’s listing looks wrong, the FAA asks you to contact your local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO).

The FAA doesn’t rank schools. It does hold each one to a pass rate: under 14 CFR 147.25, at least 70% of students who take an FAA mechanic test within 60 days of graduating must pass, counted over the past 3 years. A failure on any test in that window counts against the school unless the student passes it within the same 60 days.

FAA: Find a Facility dashboard ↗

What a 147 school gives you

The FAA’s experience page sets out what to expect at most 147 schools, in its own words:

You need a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) pass to enroll
A school may offer Airframe and Powerplant courses, and avionics courses in electronics and instrumentation
When you graduate, you should be ready to take the knowledge tests

Ask each school about its own entry and completion rules: the FAA says to contact the school directly. Under 14 CFR 147.21 your graduation document shows your graduation date and the curriculum you finished, and it authorizes the matching tests. The age and English rules apply as well.

Age, English and the other requirements →Avionics courses and certificates →

Do you need a degree to be an aircraft mechanic?

No. The FAA sets no education requirement for the certificate, and its Advisory Circular (AC) 65‑30B says mechanic jobs don’t require a college degree. A college program counts toward the A&P only if the college holds an FAA part 147 certificate and gives you the graduation document described in 14 CFR 147.21. Ask the college whether its program is a 147 curriculum and which ratings it covers.

Testing before you graduate

Two rules let school students start early. Once you finish the general part of the curriculum, the school may give you a document that lets you take the General (AMG) knowledge test before you graduate (14 CFR 147.31 and 65.75(c)). A school doesn’t have to issue that document, and the FAA’s companion guide says that without it you can’t test early.

Under 14 CFR 65.80, if the school shows the FAA that you’re making good progress, you may take the oral and practical tests during the final subjects of your training, before your knowledge tests.

The three knowledge tests →

Can you go to aircraft mechanic school online?

Only as part of a certificated school’s own program. When the FAA rewrote part 147, it said a school describes its curriculum delivery in its application, for example distance learning, in-person learning or virtual labs. The FAA said a distance learning system is a way of delivering lessons, not a training location. Any fixed place where a school trains, other than its primary location, must be listed in its operations specifications (14 CFR 147.15), and shop classes can’t have more than 25 students per instructor (14 CFR 147.19).

An online course from a company that isn’t a 147 school is a different thing. It doesn’t give you a graduation document, and the FAA won’t count training time as practical experience. Those courses are test prep, compared on the study options page.

Prep courses and study options →

How the school rules changed

Congress told the FAA to replace part 147 in Section 135 of the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The FAA’s interim final rule took effect on September 21, 2022, and a final rule of June 13, 2023 kept it without changes. Schools must keep a curriculum that aligns with the mechanic Airman Certification Standards (ACS), and either be accredited or run a quality control system the FAA approves (14 CFR 147.17 and 147.23).

GovInfo: 14 CFR part 147, January 1, 2026 edition ↗What school costs →

Sources: FAA · GovInfo · Federal Register and 5 more. Checked November 2026.