Delaware State University

Delaware State University's Army ROTC program made history in April 2023 when it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Army Cadet Command establishing the first and only Helicopter Flight Training Program at an HBCU — allowing up to 10 Army ROTC cadets annually to earn helicopter flight certification during college, with the Army covering approximately $121,000 in flight lab fees per student through Ascent Aero's Cabri G2 program at Delaware Airpark near Cheswold. This distinction is not incremental: it positions DSU as the only HBCU commissioning source for Army aviation career-track candidates, a pipeline that essentially did not exist for HBCU students before 2023. Delaware State's proximity to Dover AFB — the Air Force's primary strategic airlift hub and sole military mortuary facility — creates a distinctive joint-military environment, and DSU students take on-installation courses at Dover, maintaining unusual active-duty contact. The ROTC program routes through a cross-enrollment agreement with the University of Delaware, meaning cadets access Army ROTC infrastructure at UD while maintaining DSU enrollment. DSU's aviation department dates to 1987 and the school was one of six HBCUs designated in 1939 as Black pilot training sites — a lineage the aviation ROTC partnership consciously extends into a new generation. For any cadet with aviation ambitions who also wants an HBCU experience, Delaware State is currently the only program that offers both simultaneously.