Sterling Flight Training Makes Pilot Training More Accessible

• Meritize will cover 100% of program cost for students and loans are deferable while in training
• Sterling has also been expanding its offering by launching degree programs and investing in new equipment

Sterling Flight Training has launched new flat-rate tuition pricing for their career pilot training program and has partnered with the Meritize platform to provide student pilots a new financing option to pay for the course. 

Meritize provides low-interest loan options that cover up to 100 percent of the program cost and are fully deferable while completing flight training. As the aviation industry faces a projected global pilot shortage, Sterling hopes this new program will remove financial barriers for students and increase the number of applicants entering this in-demand career field. With financing secured, students can focus on completing flight training quickly and expect a high return on their investment upon obtaining successful employment as a professional pilot.

“Our focus the last couple of years, despite the pandemic, has been to expand our flight training capabilities and grow Sterling into one of the top flight training schools in the US,” said Wayne Heller, CEO of Sterling Flight Training. “We’ve applied decades of airline experience to our curriculum, invested in new equipment, and launched degree programs to bring the next, much-needed, generation of professional pilots quality training. This new partnership with Meritize allows us to expand these offerings to more students by easing the financial burden of flight training and making it more accessible to promising young pilots”.

Unlike traditional lenders that rely solely on FICO scores, and other financial records to determine whether to lend to an individual, the Meritize platform considers the full depth of an individual’s academic or military achievements to enhance credit evaluation and potentially improve loan options.

Because the new financing option considers previous academic or military experiences, merit-based financing may provide a significant source of financial and credit assistance for students who are self-financing their pilot certificates and ratings.