At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide, you can turn your Multi-Crew Pilot License (MPL) and your Air Transport Pilot License (ATPL) into university transfer credits towards either a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics or a Bachelor of Science in Pilot Operations.
As the table below indicates, a regular U.S. bachelor’s degree is a four-year program and requires 120 credits (240 ECTS) to complete. At Embry-Riddle, pilots receive up to 45 university transfer credits (90 ECTS) for their MPL/ATPL, depending on their program of choice. Additional transfer credits may be granted based on the type of high school diploma obtained, such as the German G-9 Abitur, which takes 13 years to complete.
Bachelor of Science in Pilot Operations
| Degree/Diploma | Approximate duration (full-time) Number of Courses (Number of U.S. credits/ECTS) |
Number of Transfer Credits |
| U.S. High School/Abitur (G-8; 12 years) | 4 years (40 courses/120 credits/240 ECTS) | 0 |
| Abitur (G-9; 13 years) | 3 years (30 courses/90 credits/180 ECTS) | up to 30 credits/60 ECTS |
| MPL/ATPL (frozen and unfrozen) | 2.7 years (27 courses/81 credits/162 ECTS) | up to 39 credits/78 ECTS |
| MPL/ATPL (frozen and unfrozen) plus specialized ratings | 2.5 years (25 courses/75 credits/150 ECTS | up to 45 credits/90 ECTS |
| Abitur (G-9; 13 years) plus MPL/ATPL plus specialized ratings | 1.5 years (15 courses/45 credits/90 ECTS) | up to 75 credits/150 ECTS |
Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics
| Degree/Diploma | Approximate duration (full-time) Number of courses (Number of U.S. credits/ECTS) |
Transfer Credits |
| U.S. High School/Abitur (G-8; 12 years) | 4 years (40 courses/120 credits/240 ECTS) | 0 |
| Abitur (G-9; 13 years) | 3 years (30 courses/90 credits/180 ECTS) | up to 30 credits/60 ECTS |
| MPL/ATPL (frozen and unfrozen) | 2.9 years (29 courses/87 credits/174 ECTS) | up to 33 credits/66 ECTS |
| MPL/ATPL (frozen and unfrozen) plus specialized ratings | 2.8 years (28 courses/84 credits/168 ECTS | up to 36 credits/72 ECTS |
| Abitur (G-9; 13 years) plus MPL/ATPL plus specialized ratings | 1.8 years (18 courses/54 credits/108 ECTS) | up to 66 credits/132 ECTS |
The duration of your studies will depend entirely on how many courses you can complete per year. Most undergraduate students take 3-5 courses per year, however, in one year it is possible to complete as many as 20 courses. Students have seven years to finish their bachelor’s program.
Our online degree programs feature multiple start dates throughout the year during which students learn on their own schedule. Instead of semesters, we offer nine-week-long terms during which undergraduate students can take up to four courses.
Please note that the final number of transfer credits will be determined by our academic evaluators who will assess your professional licenses and specialized ratings during the application process. All applicants with non-U.S. high school diplomas need to submit their official documents to a third-party Foreign Credential Evaluation Service. In this process it will be determined a) if your high school diploma is equivalent to a U.S. high school diploma, and b) if you will receive any U.S. transfer credits for any of your high school courses.
Senior pilots with an Abitur, MPL/ATPL and 12-plus years of work experience may be eligible for an “Experiential Learning Evaluation,” which may entitle them to apply directly to most of our 10-course master’s programs (not all of them are aviation-related!) or to one of our 4-course graduate certificate programs. Completing a certificate program would develop your specialty knowledge base in 12 months. We have an extensive list of subject matters to choose from.
- Aeronautics
- Aviation & Aerospace Sustainability
- Aviation Cybersecurity
- Aviation Safety
- Human Factors
- Project Management
- and many others
The Embry-Riddle Europe Campus office provides support and academic advising throughout the application process.
Please contact the Europe Campus for further details (+49 69-27229676 or europe@erau.edu).Contact Us
Frankfurt, Germany 60549