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Jan. 29--MANKATO -- As North Star Aviation showed off flight simulators during an open house Thursday, the specter of the Minnesota State University aviation program being on the chopping block was in the air.

North Star, based at the Mankato Regional Airport, provides the flight training for MSU students. MSU administration listed the program as one of those they may need to cut in light of huge state budget shortfalls.

"Mankato is the shining star of aviation training," said Mark Smith, president and general manager of North Star.

MSU officials ranked programs targeted for possible cuts, in part, by using a matrix showing the number of full-time students in each program, costs per student and whether the program has grown or shrunk in recent years.

Smith said they hope to convince MSU officials that unusual circumstances led to a temporary decline in aviation students and that more current data show steady growth.

MSU compared data from 200304 to 2007-08 to show growth or decline.

Smith said the years following 9/11 saw a decline in aviation students across the country. And the

MSU program had earlier gone through years of turmoil after a popular aviation professor was removed at MSU. At the same time, MSU changed contracts, going with Thunderbird Aviation instead of longtime trainer North Star, to teach students.