In spring quarter 1952, UT inaugurated an Aviation Flight Training Program, the first university-level program of its kind in the South. Offered in the Transportation Department of the College of Business, the training was available as an elective for any student, and academic credit was given. Civil Aeronautics Authority instructors conducted ground school on the UT campus and flight training from McGhee Tyson Airport.
The program was in response to the need to rebuild a reserve pool of trained aviation personnel, drained since the start of the Korean hostilities. Ground courses covered civil air regulations and radio procedure, navigation, weather and flight, and aircraft and engines. Flight training was divided into four stages of 20 hours each—10 preflight and 10 flight. Ground instruction did not require payment of an additional fee, but the flight instruction required a per-in-flight-hour fee.