LANCASTER — Antelope Valley College announced three aerospace workforce developments late last month.
In news releases, the college said it has been selected to lead a Southern California NASA workforce hub, awarded a $1.19 million grant to expand aerospace training, and earned ABET accreditation for its bachelor’s degree program in Airframe Manufacturing Technology.
NASA hub
The college said it will lead the Southern California NASA Aerospace Skilled Technical Workforce Hub, a regional partnership connecting technical education and practical work experience with pathways into aerospace employment. NASA’s Aerospace Skilled Technical Workforce Hubs initiative provides awards of up to $1.5 million over three years to support state and regional aerospace workforce partnerships.
Working with Pasadena City College and MiraCosta College, AVC will bring together aerospace employers, K–12 education and workforce development partners to align training with industry and NASA mission needs. The partnership will help prepare students for aerospace careers, including technical roles that do not require a bachelor’s degree.
“Antelope Valley College’s Aerospace program has been on the cutting edge of workforce training and industry partnerships for many years,” said AVC President/Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Zellet in a news release. “Being awarded the NASA Workforce Hub Grant brings this leadership to the fore and solidifies our place as trailblazers in creative programming and partnerships.”
At AVC, the Aerospace Non-Destructive Inspection pathway offers an example of this approach, connecting classroom and laboratory training with internship experience in aerospace inspection, the college said. The hub will build on that connection through employer collaboration and support the development of additional work-based learning opportunities across the region.
“Each college brings different technical programs, expertise, and employer relationships,” said Dr. Maria Clinton-Houck, interim dean of AVC’s Aerospace, Industrial Arts and Applied Technologies Division. “Working together allows us to share curriculum resources, coordinate credential pathways, and develop a broader network of work-based learning opportunities across Southern California.”
Industry partners will help validate the skills taught through participating programs, and the colleges will share successful practices to help strengthen aerospace workforce training throughout the region.
ASCEND grant
AVC was awarded a $1.19 million ASCEND grant to expand aerospace training capacity and prepare students for careers in the region’s aerospace industry, the college said in a separate news release. ASCEND stands for Aerospace Skills, Credentials, & Expansion for National Defense.
The grant will support four aerospace certificate programs through additional personnel, updated equipment and instructional space at Fox Field. The five-year project aims to increase annual enrollment across those programs from approximately 250 students to more than 430 by its fourth year.
The project also proposes curriculum updates intended to help two participating certificate programs meet Workforce Pell eligibility requirements, which could expand access to federal financial aid for eligible students pursuing aerospace training.
ASCEND’s proposed goals extend beyond enrollment growth, the college said. The project targets a credential completion rate of at least 85% and employment in the field for at least 80% of program completers within six months. It also aims for at least 85% of graduates employed in their field to earn at or above the identified Los Angeles County living wage.
ABET accreditation
The college also announced that its bachelor of science program in airframe manufacturing technology has earned accreditation from the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET. According to ABET’s accredited program directory, AVC offers the only ABET-accredited program in Airframe Manufacturing Technology.
ABET — Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology — is a nonprofit quality assurance organization whose voluntary peer-review process evaluates academic programs against standards developed by technical professionals. Its reviews examine curriculum, faculty, facilities and institutional support, with a focus on what students experience and learn.
“For our students, ABET accreditation validates the quality of their education and strengthens the recognition of their degree,” said Alfred Brubaker, chair of AVC’s Aerospace Science and Technology Department and lead faculty for Airframe Manufacturing Technology in a news release. “For our aerospace employers, it provides additional confidence that our graduates possess the technical knowledge, critical thinking, problem-solving, and leadership abilities needed in today’s advanced aerospace manufacturing environment.”
The program combines instruction in aircraft structures, composites and electronics with manufacturing process improvement, quality assurance and leadership. It prepares students to help manufacture aircraft structural components to civilian and military specifications.
Brubaker, who led the program through the accreditation process, described a senior capstone project in which a group of students already employed in aerospace researched a manufacturing issue at their workplace, evaluated possible solutions and presented an improvement proposal to company management. According to Brubaker, the company implemented the proposed improvements, adopted the manufacturing practice across the site and recognized the students for their contributions to quality improvements.
The program offers a local pathway to a bachelor’s degree for students completing qualifying associate-level preparation in aircraft fabrication and assembly or aeronautical and aviation technology. Students can complete the upper-division program in two years of full-time study, with evening classes available.
Program information is online.
Source: Antelope Valley College news releases, Oct. 30, 2026