A quadcopter lifted off at the University of Missouri last year—before the school got a letter from the FAA saying it violated agency policy.
Capitalizing on an anticipated boom in the unmanned-aircraft industry, several U.S. universities and colleges are launching training programs for future drone pilots. The problem: the Federal Aviation Administration says its rules barring commercial use of drones apply to teaching programs as well, effectively prohibiting students from hands-on instruction. So the schools are teaching tomorrow’s drone pilots with simulators, textbooks and more novel workarounds