The Center for Aviation Studies, established by the United States War Department, opened in 1917. Originally, the Center for Aviation Studies was named the School of Military Aeronautics. The first class had “three weeks of intensive military training and five weeks of theoretical and technical instruction in military aeronautics” and graduated in July 1917. The Civilian Pilot Training Program, established on campus in 1939 and sponsored by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, “fostered private flying.” However, by 1941, the program changed to the Civil Aeronautics Administration-War Training Service and involved itself with the World War II effort. By 1942, the University established the School of Aviation and had five undergraduate degree tracks: aeronautical engineering; meteorology; air transport; photogrammetry; and aviation psychology/physiology. In the same year, the School opened the Ohio State University Airport. The School of Aviation transferred to the College of Engineering in 1956. Later, in 1963, the school reached departmental status, making it the Department of Aviation. The Department of Aviation changed its name to the Center for Aviation Studies, or CAS, in 2011. The Center for Aviation Studies offers flight instruction and pilot certification.