Originally Posted by
Sliceback
The sooner you get your licenses and ratings the sooner you can start getting paid to fly. Instead of getting 100-250 hrs a year learning you'll suddenly be logging 500-1000 hrs a year. Spend the money to ACCELERATE your career. If you spend $50,000 in one year it might gain you an additional year at the end of your career. That's worth $200,000 to $400,000 as well as more money every year when you're at a major airline since you might be hired several months, or years, sooner.
Sometimes debt makes sense.
This works, IF you finish and IF you get hired by a major. The problem is a lot of people take out college loans and never graduate. They are left with a pile of debt and a small shovel to dig themselves out with. Add the aviation component and debt and it leaves a chance for epic disaster IF you don't finish either the college or the training.
Read through the "leaving the career" forum for examples of people quitting with debt before ever reaching a major.
I still say, enlist in the military or Guard and get a GI bill at the very least, if you (or your parents) can't afford this.