Colin,

I'm not a UND graduate, but perhaps I can provide some helpful advice.

First, if you are in a financial pinch I would look at other options. i.e., other choices for education. You might want to think about attending a local community college for two years and take as many core classes as you can with the intention of transferring them over to a university. Also, if you can work while in school, you may be able to save a lot of money to be used when you transfer. Scholarships may not be out of the realm of possibilities either if you can earn a high enough GPA. Community college tuition is much more affordable than university tuition, and many people have started here and then transferred at a later date with much success.

Second, I would seriously look at other universities. More often than not, one pays for the name in addition to the education. Look at in-state universities that offer both aviation and non-aviation degree programs.

Finally, the airlines do not care where you got your flight training from. By the time you are qualified to interview, what will matter most is going to be a clean record and an accumulation of quality flight time that will most likely be above and beyond the published minimums. At this stage in the game nobody will care if you got your certificates and ratings at an ivy-league school or a mom-and-pop FBO.

Also, I would avoid financial aid. Even if it takes you longer to graduate, I would much rather graduate with later with no debt than on time but with tens of thousands (if not even $100K+) of school debt.