Purdue Global connects classmates in Milan, Rome pursuing same degree

WEST LAFAYETTE, − Massimo Ruzza and Gabriele Giusti are Boilermaker classmates six hours apart and across the globe from Purdue University's West Lafayette campus.

The pair of Italian Purdue Global students recently earned their bachelor's through the professional flight program while connecting with each other in a small-world story.

How two European pilots met through Purdue

Ruzza, from Milan, and Giusti, from Rome, had never met before their time in Purdue Global. However, despite living six hours by car away from each other in Italy, the two connected after deciding around the same time to pursue the same degree from the same Purdue program.

"When I signed up for (Purdue Global), my (advisor) told me, 'Hey, there is another Italian guy doing the same program,'" Giusti said. "And I said, 'Tell me (his name),' and he said 'I can't' obviously because of privacy...We end up on the same class. Every semester we had at least one class where we were together.

"...and I see this guy (named) Massimo Ruzza and I think 'Hmmm, looks Italian. I guess he's the one, the Italian guy.'"

Giusti explained that the two got in contact after he initially sent Ruzza an email explaining that he was also from Italy and working as a pilot.

"First conversation we had was about two hours," Giusti said. "We were talking nonstop."

Purdue Global's professional flight program

While a bachelor's in professional flight through Purdue takes an average of four years to complete, Ruzza and Giusti were able to complete it in about year due to their previous flying experiences as full-time pilots.

Both Ruzza and Giusti are full-time airline pilots with PSA Airlines and Republic Airways, respectively.

"(Balancing work and school was) not easy," Giusti said. "Luckily we're airline pilots, so we get, most of the time, 14-15 days off."

The benefits of earning a degree, despite the field of study, are numerous when it comes to applying for pilot positions, according to the students. However, some jobs that required a degree just recently lifted those requirements, just in time for Ruzza and Giusti to earn their bachelors.

"I wanted to work for a company that required a degree, and I didn't have it," Ruzza said. "So I had to go get it...So the company that I wanted to go work for, I'm sure you've heard of it, it's called FedEx, they required a degree until two-and-a-half months ago. So I was a semester away from finishing.

"Right now, even though the demand (for pilots) is high, the competition is so high. There are people with several thousand (flight) hours and working in international (airlines) that already worked in the field. One of the ways to be competitive is to own the degree."

Ruzza explained that it does not necessarily matter what degree a pilot holds to stand out from others who do not have a degree. He said that someone could have a degree in sewing and still get an advantage over another candidate.

Of all the programs, why choose Purdue Global?

Due to Purdue Global being an online course, it seems impossible or counterintuitive to earn a professional flight degree online. Both Ruzza and Giusti explained that, due to their full time status an certifications as pilots already, it was more so the general education credits they were learning.

"(We took) gen-ed classes like sociology, psychology, algebra...What we took at Purdue the strictly aviation, non-flying classes. Like statistics, finance, business aviation management and so forth."

Ruzza stated that there were a few options for him to Pursue his professional aviation degree, and that Purdue Global was not initially the first choice.

"I was highly recommended to go to Liberty University," Ruzza said. "I do have an engineering degree from overseas that FedEx told me is not coming from an accredited institution. So I had to go back (to school).

"...Liberty not only make me spend a lot of money to get transcripts, but also we got to the point where they were unable to transfer any of my credits for high school too. So they told me to go back to school and get a GED."

Ruzza went on to tell how different of an experience he had once he got in contact with Purdue Global.

"I gave the same exact documents to (my advisor) at Purdue, and I was a fully enrolled Purdue student seven days after I talked to them the first time. For me it was a no-brainer. I don't know what he did, but he knew exactly what was required (of international students) and it did not cost me a penny."

Giusti said he had a similar easy experience learning about Purdue Global's programs through his advisor.

"(My advisor) was great," Giusti said. "I didn't even know how was the program structured...until I talked with that guy. He made the path so clear with me."

Graduation day

Purdue Global's Fall 2022 commencement took place Saturday with around 1,200 students graduating ‒ 535 bachelor’s degrees, 417 master’s degrees, 149 associate degrees, 63 certificates and 13 doctoral degrees were presented at the commencement.

Ruzza stated that while he was not able to have family present at the in-person graduation ceremony, Giusti's family would serve as his family for that day.

"Tomorrow when (Giusti's) parents are gonna be here, it's gonna be like my family is here," Ruzza said.

What's next for the new grads?

Both Giusti and Ruzza said that they'd like to be able to get paid to fly to their homes. Giusti has planted roots in Florida but often already flies to Charlotte, North Caroline. He said that he just doesn't want to commute to work but instead be stationed somewhere.

Ruzza said he looks forward to hopefully one day being paid to fly to Milan.

Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mchristopherson@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue Global connects classmates in Milan, Rome pursuing same degree