Traditional Ground School vs. Online Ground School vs. Self Study

In order to start flying, you do not have to have finished ground school, you can start flying right this instant if you have an instructor and an aircraft. However, there are some cons on going through ground school while performing your flight training. One of which is that performing both ground school and flight training simultaneously is both very time-consuming and mentally taxing. If you have the time, I recommend you perform all your training as fast as possible. However, since a lot of us are on a tight budget of time and money, this option is likely not practical. Let's talk about traditional ground school vs. online ground school vs. self study:

What we recommend is to take ground school before your flight training, take your FAA written exam, and jump right into your flight training with no delay. This way, your FAA written test is taken care of before you begin your flight training and you are able to completely focus your attention to flying. Also, by starting your flight training right after passing your FAA written you ensure that the knowledge is still fresh in your mind. This can cause your instructor to believe you need less ground lessons and will save you money by not having to pay for those ground lessons. Focus first on the knowledge tests and get that out of the way so that you can simply focus on just flying after that. 

Avoid requiring ground lessons with your Flight Instructor

One thing you want to remember is that you MUST have passed the FAA written exam before you can even schedule an FAA checkride. Also, once you have passed your FAA written the passing score is good for 24 months as your ticket to a checkride exam. That means if you don't take your FAA checkride within 24 months of passing the FAA written you will have to take it again. So this is another reason to start your flight training as soon as you pass the written exam. 

Complete ground school and your FAA written before you start flying

Conventional in person ground schools are generally about $500-$1000 and can be taken through most flight schools and even at a flying club or through a university, community college, or even corporation. Most are open to the public. Here is a good reference to find a ground school near you, if in-person is for you. However, in-person is not for everyone and the overwhelming trend of student pilots is to use an Online Ground School. Keep reading to learn why!

In-person lectures are not your only option!

The only things required to take the FAA written exam are photo identification with address identification and a written statement or endorsement from a certified flight/ground instructor that says you have performed the necessary ground studies and are prepared to take the written exam. 

To take the FAA written you just need an endorsement from a certified instructor that knows you have studied and are ready for the test

This means that you can study completely on your own, find a certified instructor, convince them to endorse you, and you are good to go! Most instructors will charge you for this endorsement but you can find all the information you need online for free. The FAA has many free resources, YouTube is full of great, free content and you can also buy cheap, used study books on Amazon. We call this form of ground school the self-study route. While this is the cheapest option it is also the most difficult. All that unorganized content online can be difficult to organize yourself and stay focused on the topics. The lack of structure usually keeps people from completing a self-study course.

I encourage anyone that can study themselves and find an instructor to endorse them to do just that. It is the cheapest option. However, you may not know any instructors and you may still want the benefit of a structured course. This is where Online Ground Schools come in and why they are all the rage with student pilots these days. As online technology increases these courses continue to get better and better with some of them even offering online study groups, AI chatbots, pdf downloads, lifetime access, live lessons, audio lessons and more all from the comfort of your home.

Online ground school can be much cheaper than a traditional in-person ground school, about $200-$380. Although the material provided with the ground school and available for free on the internet covers everything you need to know to get your Pilot’s License, it will not always make sense to you. There were several concepts that required extra and alternative explanations during my training. This is why it is so important that you choose a good Online Ground School.

What to Look for in a Ground School

After doing the Private Pilot training myself and watching 1000s of students go through the training as well, here are the most important things to look for in an online ground school:

• Lifetime Access
• Plans change. Life happens. Having lifetime access is a huge asset for the unexpected things that may delay your training. On top of that, every 2 years as a pilot you are required to review your ground knowledge, having lifetime access will allow you to do this without ever having to purchase another course.
• Ability to get Questions answered
• Every online ground school you look at is going to tell you that they provide 24/7 instructor access to get your questions answered. But do they provide you personalized answers or do they copy and paste it from the FAA? Do you get back to you right away or does it take a few days? In order to find out truly how good an online ground school's customer service is... look at their reviews on review websites such as TrustPilot, Google or others.
• Multiple forms of Study material
• Everybody learns differently. Some people learn best by video. Some best by reading. And some best by hearing. I for one learn best by reading and hearing but I know a lot of people love watching videos. But you know what the best way to learn is? Using all 3. Make sure your ground school has a variety of ways to learn the material
• Bonus downloads that are NOT free FAA pdfs
• Look out for online ground schools that say they have Bonus downloads but the downloads are actually just FAA documents like the FAR/AIM or PHAK that are free to download on the internet anyways. You want to look for bonuses that are custom and tailored for your success such as eBooks, Examples, Flash Cards, etc.
• Personalized performance reviews
• You can't improve what you can't measure. Look out for ground schools that give you some lessons and some practice tests and tell ya good luck! Look for one that provides personalized feedback and reports that focus on your weak areas of knowledge. This way, you can make your studying more efficient and effective.

When I went through my ground training I chose an in-person course. The instructor was only available for the 1-hour lecture and there was never time to get in questions. After each class there was a line of students with questions but he always had to get to another ground school class. So then, I purchased an Online Ground School. I wont mention who, because I don't want to speak ill of them but they also were hard to get ahold of, did not provide lifetime access, had no personalized reporting and only had one form of study material.

I simply could NOT find an online ground school with every one of the things listed above...This is why I created the Part Time Pilot online ground school.

In Person Ground School

• Pros:
• In person instructor in traditional class room environment. Could be a "con" depending on a person's learning habits
• Often occurs at a flight school where ground instructor can use grounded aircraft as visual aids and props to aid in learning
• Opportunity to find "study-buddies" in the class to study with before and after the classes
• Structured syllabus with lessons that build upon one another for optimal learning
• Scheduled lessons provides an anti-procrastination effect
• Cons:
• In a set location that requires a commute
• At a set time each week that is not flexible
• Ground Instructor goes at one pace for all students in the class which can often lead to several students being "left behind"
• Can be difficult to get questions answered outside of class because instructor is usually busy with flight lessons or other ground classes
• Expensive. Usually $500-$1000
• Generally requires you to purchase additional study aids and test prep books

Online Ground School

• Pros:
• At your own pace and your own schedule
• From the comfort of your home
• Many Online Ground Schools offer lifetime access and money back guarantee if you do not pass the FAA Written
• Some Online Ground Schools don't require you to buy any additional study aid. Everything you need is in your online portal
• More practice tests and practice test questions than an in person ground course
• Some Online Ground Schools offer community forums for students to ask questions and get a variety of perspectives
• Some Online Ground Schools are easy to contact and get questions answers 24/7
• Some Online Ground Schools offer both written, audio and video lessons to cater to any learning style
• Much more affordable than in person ground school. Usually $200-$400
• Structured syllabus with lessons that build upon one another for optimal learning
• Course progress tracking provides anti-procrastination effect
• Cons:
• Not a traditional classroom/lecture style environment, for those that like that
• No hands-on learning opportunities that could come with an in-person ground school

Self Study

• Pros:
• The most affordable option. Generally the only cost is a test prep book or two ($20-$40) and the cost of getting an endorsement from an instructor ($20-$100). Usually $100 or less.
• At your own pace and your own schedule
• From the comfort of your home
• Cons:
• No structured syllabus
• No help in overcoming procrastination
• No practice tests, study guides, flash cards or test prep material included
• No place to get questions answered
• Requires you to find an instructor for an FAA Written endorsement

As you might expect from the long list of pros, I highly recommend Online Ground School as the best option for ground training. So which online ground school? Well, if I was going to answer that it would be pretty biased. So instead, I will tell you what I have found to be the most helpful and important features of an Online Ground School so that you can look for the best one yourself!

With all that said, check out the table below that compares the Top 8 Online Ground Schools requested by students in the United States:

The Part Time Pilot Online Ground School is easily the best deal in the United States at $249.99 $199.99 for the next 3 days only you get lifetime access & a 100% money back guarantee if you don't pass the written (but everyone of our students passes)

GET STARTED FOR $50 OFF!

Want to take a look inside the Online Ground School? Watch an exclusive sneak peek look here: