Originally Posted by rickair7777

Fed support can be considered as two categories:

Higher Education: This includes aviation colleges, and is politically easier to support.

Vocational: Pilots have one foot in this camp, but gov funding for vocational training is not as expansive as for "higher education". Politics IMO. I've observed that mostly in the context of re-training for laid-off workers. I'd grant there's a legit concern with funding vocational training, in that it could be a slippery slope where .gov (taxpayers) could end up paying for training which really should be provided by employers. There's a grey area there, but could be categorized by jobs which require professional certificates/licenses. But there are many trades which have industry-established certification, should they be excluded, even though the industries in question are doing good by setting and enforcing standards?

I think Mike Rowe has it nailed, I'd be in favor of more government support for vocational training and careers in general. That might even extend to pilot training.