US colleges with their own airports train student pilots on campus

A small number of collegiate aviation programmes in the United States put their students through flight training at airports the universities themselves own, rather than at nearby municipal fields. For student pilots, that arrangement shapes campus life. The airport, not the stadium or the lecture hall, can be the defining place of their college years.

Purdue University was founded in 1869 in West Lafayette, Indiana, and opened its own airport in 1930, 61 years after the school was established. The field has served as a training site since its early years. Amelia Earhart taught at the university for several semesters, and the Purdue Research Foundation bought the Lockheed Model 10 Electra she flew on her round-the-world attempt.

Other aviators linked to Purdue include Neil Armstrong, Gus Grissom, Iven Kincheloe Jr., Jerry Ross, Chesley Sullenberger and Heather Penney. The source describes four collegiate programmes in total that conduct student pilot training at their own airports.