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Bergen’s main campus in Paramus, as photographed from a drone.

PARAMUS, N.J. – Outfitted with approval by the federal government and in response to the explosive interest in unmanned aerial vehicles, Bergen Community College will offer an information session on its drone courses in February.

The public event will take place Saturday, Feb. 4 from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Technology Education Center at the main campus in Paramus, 400 Paramus Road. To register, visit here, select “Continuing Education,” “Register and Pay for Continuing Education Classes” and choose CD-149-001 – Remote Pilot Training Program. For more information, please contact [email protected].

The two-part drone class, which launched in December under the College’s Division of Continuing Education, Corporate and Public Sector Training, offers students a path to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) remote pilot certification – a requirement to operate an unmanned aerial system (drone). Taught by instructor Scott Strimple, a United Airlines pilot for 25 years and an experienced drone operator, the course includes FAA exam preparation as well as hands-on flying experience after students complete and pass the exam.

Bergen also offers kids and teens drone programs as part of its annual summer camps.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International estimates that the drone industry could create nearly 2,000 jobs in New Jersey by the end of 2025 – with projections of more than 100,000 new jobs nationally. In addition, the FAA estimates that nearly five million drones will be sold in 2017, almost twice the amount that flew off shelves last year.

In 2016, the FAA granted Bergen clearance to operate drones on campus, making it one of only three community colleges to receive such an exemption from the federal government.

Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls 15,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.

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