Normally I'd say avoid loans if possible. But again, like the degree issue, there's so much potential seniority on the table right now that if your risk tolerance is high enough it could make very good long-term financial sense to get a loan. As opposed to doing a slower pay-as-you-go approach.

I had saved up before I quit my office job, and was mostly self-funded. I did a small loan for CFI after 9/11 when my original time-building scheme didn't pan out.

I'm too far removed from the loan situation right now to know the best route. Back in the day young people could get signature loans, based on the assumed lucrative pilot career but after 9/11, recession, age 65, etc I think they stopped doing those loans. Last I heard you need either a sufficient income source, collateral, or a co-signer. Hopefully someone else has more current info on that.