Lake Area Technical College received Federal Aviation Administration permission to expand its drone program by offering specialized training.
The Beyond Visual Line of Sight waiver is highly coveted in the drone industry due to its difficulty to obtain.
Julie Leidholt, the drone program supervisor, said the waiver will help students prepare for future jobs.
“Having this waiver allows us to fly in a predetermined 18-mile geographic, pinpointed location that is beyond a visual line of sight. So the FAA gave the approval and said yep, we were cleared to do that," said Leidholt.
Lake Area Technical College is the first higher education institution in South Dakota to receive this waiver.