Fast Facts

• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the world’s oldest, largest, and most prestigious university specializing in aviation and aerospace. It is the only accredited, aviation-oriented university in the world.
• Embry-Riddle is an independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian, and coeducational university serving culturally diverse students seeking careers in aviation, aerospace, business, engineering, and related fields.
• Embry-Riddle was founded Dec. 17, 1925, by barnstormer John Paul Riddle and entrepreneur T. Higbee Embry, exactly 22 years after the historic flight of the Wright brothers.
• Composed of residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and the Worldwide Campus, Embry-Riddle is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, Telephone: 404-679-4500) to award degrees at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels.
• The Worldwide Campus provides educational opportunities to off-campus students at more than 150 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Degree programs can also be pursued anywhere in the world through Web-based online learning.
• Combined annual enrollment for all campuses is nearly 32,000.
• Undergraduate degree programs are offered in aeronautical science; aeronautics; aerospace and occupational safety; aerospace engineering; air traffic management; applied meteorology; astronomy; aviation business administration; aviation environmental science; aviation maintenance science; business administration; civil engineering; commercial space operations; communication; computational mathematics; computer engineering; computer science; cyber intelligence and security; electrical engineering; engineering physics; global security and intelligence studies; homeland security; human factors psychology; interdisciplinary studies; mechanical engineering; safety science; software engineering; space physics; and unmanned aircraft systems science.
• Master’s degree programs are offered in aeronautics; aerospace engineering; aviation science; business administration; business administration in aviation management; electrical and computer engineering; engineering physics; human factors and systems; mechanical engineering; safety science; software engineering; and unmanned and autonomous systems engineering.
• Doctoral programs are offered in aerospace engineering, aviation, and engineering physics.
• At the residential campuses, certificate programs in flight (private, commercial, instrument, multi-engine, flight instructor, and instrument flight instructor ratings) and flight dispatch are approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Embry-Riddle offers training for aviation maintenance professionals through the Aviation Maintenance Science (AMS) department. These programs include associate and bachelor’s degrees, FAA-approved training for airframe and powerplant mechanic certification, and a specialization in avionics line maintenance. FCC certification training is also available through AMS.
• The University’s fleet of 94 instructional aircraft includes the following models: American Champion Decathlon, Cessna 150, Cessna 172S Nav III, Cessna 182RG, Diamond DA42, Diamond DA42NG, and Piper PA28R.
• The University’s 41 flight simulators include the following models: BATD, C172 CPT, C172S CPT, CRJ CPT, DA42 CPT, DA42L CPT, Frasca 141 FTD, Frasca 141 Level 3 FTD, Frasca 142 Level 3 FTD, Frasca 172 Level 6 FTD, Frasca AATD, Frasca C172 G1000 Level 6 FTD, Frasca CRJ Level 6 FTD, Frasca DA42 AATD, Frasca DA42 Level 6 FTD, FSI CRJ-200 Level 6 FFS, Redbird BATD, and Redbird Crosswind Trainer.
• The University has 14 medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle simulators.
• U.S. News & World Report ranks Embry-Riddle’s undergraduate aerospace engineering program No. 1 in the nation. Embry-Riddle’s aerospace engineering program is also the largest in the nation.
• U.S. News & World Report ranks Embry-Riddle’s undergraduate mechanical engineering program No. 12 in the nation.
• Embry-Riddle’s engineering physics program is one of the largest of all such ABET-accredited programs in the nation.
• Embry-Riddle’s undergraduate aeronautical science (professional pilot) program is the largest in the nation; it is as large as the other top 10 U.S. collegiate flight programs combined.
• Embry-Riddle’s precision flight teams consistently rank among the top in the nation in the SAFECON competition sponsored by the National Intercollegiate Flying Association.
• Embry-Riddle’s two Air Force ROTC detachments form the largest university-based Air Force commissioning source in the nation. The detachments also produce more commissioned officers and more pilots and other rated officers for the Air Force than any other institution in the nation except the Air Force Academy.
• The major airlines hire more alumni from Embry-Riddle than from any other collegiate aviation program.
• Embry-Riddle is the nation’s largest supplier of air traffic controllers with bachelor degrees to the FAA.
• Statistical data from the most recent Alumni Survey show that 91% of Embry-Riddle graduates overall are either employed or have continued their education within one year of graduation.
• Six Embry-Riddle alumni are current or former astronauts: Daniel Burbank, B. Alvin Drew, Ronald Garan Jr., Susan Kilrain, Nicole Stott, and Terry Virts Jr. Another alumnus, U.S. Air Force Col. David Moore, served as a White House Fellow. During World War II, former U.S. Rep. Bill Lehman of Florida learned aviation maintenance skills at Embry-Riddle and then became an Embry-Riddle instructor; the Lehman Engineering and Technology Center at the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus is named for him. Former U.S. Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker of Tennessee received flight training at Embry-Riddle during World War II.
• Embry-Riddle students come from all 50 states and 100 nations. International students make up 17% of the student body at the Daytona Beach Campus and 6% percent at the Prescott Campus. Female students make up 18% of the student body at the Daytona Beach Campus and 19% at the Prescott Campus.
• The student/faculty ratio at the residential campuses is 13-to-1 and the average class size is 23.
• During the 2011-2012 academic year, 482 students were awarded co-op or intern positions.
• Many types of financial aid, including scholarships, grants, and loans, are available to students, with 95% of residential campus students receiving some form of financial aid.
• Embry-Riddle is a tax-exempt educational institution organized under IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) and Sec. 509(a).
• The annual operating budget of Embry-Riddle is approximately $315 million.
• The total economic impact of the University is $1.1 billion attributable to the state of Florida (Daytona Beach Campus and Worldwide Campus) and $278 million attributable to the state of Arizona (Prescott Campus and Worldwide Campus).
• For the 2011-2012 fiscal year, 188 faculty members and students were involved in research and other activities on 161 sponsored projects. Externally funded grants and contracts for all three campuses for the year totaled $17 million.