Aerospace Courses and Colleges
A common area of study within the aerospace field is aerospace engineering, which focuses on the vehicles and machines that travel outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Read about undergraduate and graduate degree programs in aerospace engineering, and explore the typical coursework. Get info on choosing a school for your aerospace engineering education.
What You Need to Know
Bachelor's degree programs in aerospace engineering can prepare you for positions in research, design, development, manufacturing, testing and management for aerospace projects. Bachelor's degree programs commonly include courses in both aerospace and aircraft engineering, and they can help you transfer directly into a graduate study to further your education.
Master's degree and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs might appeal to you if you're interested in doing advanced research in aerospace technology. Ph.D. programs can also lead to professor positions at colleges and universities.
| Courses | Physics, mathematics, structural design, aerodynamics, kinetics, fluid mechanics, aircraft mechanics and spacecraft design |
| Degrees | Bachelor's and master's degrees; Doctor of Philosophy |
What Courses Will I Take?
Through a bachelor's degree program in aerospace engineering, your coursework may consist of such subjects as fluid mechanics, aircraft mechanics and spacecraft design. Independent and group projects may also be required for hands-on experience with academic concepts in the principles of engineering. These topics might also be covered:
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Structural design
- Aerodynamics
- Kinetics
What About Graduate Courses?
Master's degree programs may allow you to concentrate in your chosen area of specialization and can culminate in the completion of a thesis or research paper. Ph.D. programs are largely research-based and will typically offer you the opportunity to study advanced topics of the field. You must commonly complete a dissertation based on original research to complete your Ph.D. degree. These courses may be included in a graduate degree:
- Aerodynamics
- Design
- Thermal systems
- Combustion
- System optimization
- Structural dynamics
How Can I Choose a College?
It's important to consider your professional goals before choosing an aerospace engineering college. If you're interested in entry-level engineering positions, a bachelor's degree program may suffice, while more advanced development and design may require a master's degree. A Ph.D. program is only necessary if you're interested in scholarly research or professorship positions. If you're interested in continuing your education, you might prefer a bachelor's degree program that allows you to transfer directly into master's degree programs.
While many schools may offer aerospace engineering programs, you might prefer colleges where the aerospace department is a large concentration of the campus and where professors have extensive backgrounds in the field. Onsite facilities that allow you to properly design, develop and test aerospace engineering equipment would be most beneficial for your hands-on training. Internship experiences may also be useful for professional experience in modeling, designing and creating aerospace components.
Because engineering is largely a hands-on process, distance education programs in aerospace engineering are typically unavailable. However, through select master's degree programs, you may build on your undergraduate knowledge of hands-on engineering with online courses in computer manufacturing, project management and statistics. The following list includes just a few of the colleges and universities offering aerospace courses:
- University of Colorado Boulder
- Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago)
- University of Maryland (College Park)
- Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)