LeTourneau really knows their aviation, but the ATC CTI program is relatively new and it can get expensive. The school has a brand new building that could easily be considered massive and impressive along with a great fleet of planes and simulators.

I'm a current student in the ATC program, and so far it's good, but on the expensive side. Tuition for part-time at LU will run you around 3,000-6,000 a semester and upwards of 11k for full time (Add more if you choose to fly). LU knows their aviation and ATC, but the bargain shopper might find better deals for ATC-CTI elsewhere, especially if they are a state resident in certain states (OK, FL, ND, etc). That being said, I feel like I get a lot of one on one time with the faculty and the simulators are extremely easy to access for extra practice, which is both fun and helpful for building good phraseology.

I'm in the first class through, adding a CTI onto my Bachelor's degree and graduating in Spring 2011. So far, it's been very good. As for the good, we hired a great faculty member who was an ATC supervisor and has 20 years of experience. The Simulators were installed summer of 2010, and they are very impressive (on par with/better than any other top CTI schools). LETU uses KESF as a training airport in the Tower and KJAN in the Radar LAb. I found the Tower Class to be excellent for phraseology and aircraft recognition. UFA provides all of the SIM hardware and training programs and they also contract for the FAA and NAV Canada. The Tower lab uses five 52 inch TVs to simulate the tower and comes with every equipment type you could find. I think the time spent in the Tower Sim gives students a huge advantage over some CTO schools and CTI schools without sims, as we can replicate any type of traffic/situation and learn it through repetition.

The Radar lab runs STARS and is very similar to the current Raytheon training systems in facilities (same company for each). The SIM is highly versatile and uses voice recognition, and LETU lets you practice in your free time as much as you want. I currently have a regular lab with faculty members and assistant instructors and come in for two extra sessions in the afternoons, which gives me some amazing practice.

For the bad: normal complaints about the cost college, which come standard with any private school. Full time students get a pretty decent dollar value compared to other schools of the size, but flying is crazy expensive, even compared to other schools (except ERAU) although flying is not required for ATC students.

Longview is pretty cheap to live in, which is very nice. However, Longview also gets its fair share of hot and humid weather in the summer, so be ready if you are not used to it.

Also note, the school requires students to go to chapel 3 times a week, which may or may not be an issue. You can be exempt if you're married and sometimes if you commute.

Overall, I think LETU is very strong in ATC and there is a focus on instilling a framework to maintain success in the academy and beyond. LeTourneau looks to build graduates that can lead and teach others and be successful for 30 year careers in the FAA. The faculty members are all amazing and have worked some high levels of air traffic (one adjunct is a high level staff member at MSP/M98). The class sizes are also small, which is great for asking questions and clarification. I recommend coming to LETU for ATC and getting your private license locally after you take the required pilot ground school in the ATC curriculum.

I enrolled LETU starting with the fall semester of 2009. The major that I'm after is Air Traffic Management with a Professional Flight concentration. As DTBLASER states, the program is very new. Just this summer, LETU contracted UFA, Inc. to provide the ATC equipment. From talking to some of the flight professors, it seems that the program will be starting up this fall semester, with all the classes offered by 2013, according to the Dean of Aeronautical Science.

Just like DTBLASER, I'm a student in the first group for CTI. Currently, there are around 20-25 students actively pursuing the degree. To my knowledge, a few more students applied/switched majors during the summer, so that number might be more. As far as the classes go, being that I'm also a flight major, I have not started any ATC-CTI classes. Instead I got my Private Pilot Certificate out of the way first. I plan on starting in a semester or so, after being halfway done with my Commercial Pilot Certificate. The faculty and staff of the Aeronautical Sciences Dept. is top notch, with small and personal classes.

The tuition price can be expensive, if you are a flight major, and a little cheaper if you are not. Compared to larger universities, we are around the same price range. If you are on a budget, I would suggest going to a smaller community college that offers the degree.

As far as the actual university goes, it's a very small Christian-faith university. It is very welcoming, and it has a great departments, other than AS Dept., such as the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology.

The city of Longview is decently sized. It is located roughly 2 hours east of Dallas, Texas, and 1 hour west of Shreveport, Louisiana. It's not a college town by any means, but there are several higher learning facilities in the area. Cost of living there, from what I'm told, is cheap.

If you're still on the fence, let me sweeten this for you. The school REALLY knows its aviation. It is one of its crown jewels. In fact, LETU?s flight team won the Loening Trophy at the 2009 SAFECON competition, which is considered the most prestigious award in collegiate aviation competition. The Loening Trophy is awarded to the outstanding all-around collegiate aviation program in the nation. The school has The Paul and Betty Abbott Aviation Center, a 55,500 sq. ft building with a 10,000 sq ft. hangar, based at KGGG (East Texas Regional Airport).