I'm currently looking into leaving my job in favor of a flight career. Due to being a full time employee at 27yo my ability to attend a traditional flight college(ERAU, and comparable) are out of the question. I've found an online accredited college called Charter College that offers an aviation degree. All ground/flight classes and hours done through the local flight school. Online is just for the math, English, physiology, blah blah blah.

Do company's prefer or require a bachelors? Or will an associates degree do me just fine? This is an important question because the price and extra year for the bachelors is a notable amount of cash more than associates.

What sort of jobs are available that don't necessarily mean flying a 737 for a big company? Using the aircraft as more of a tool than a people mover would seem more interesting to me.

Both rotor wing and fixed wing programs are available. I've got some hours in a Cessna. Never touched a helicopter. I assume heli jobs are tough to get and harder to find? Obviously the military heli pilots probably get the advantage due to large number of logged hours.