The best option if you want to be a professional pilot is a four-year degree followed by military flight training. There are many, many reasons for this:
- Training (and possibly college) are paid for.
- You will be getting military pay and benefits during your first ten years in aviation. Civilians live on poverty wages during that period, all while trying to pay off their flight training loans.
- You will be much more competitive than a civilian pilot for a major airline job when you leave the military (you will owe them about ten years, but you could also stay for 20 to get the retirement).
With that said, there are MANY things to consider before going the military route, it is certainly not for everyone, and you have to be motivated to actually do the military job. If you are motivated, athletic, and adventuresome it might be for you. See the military forum here on APC for more info.
If you go civilian, I would suggest something like this:
- Get a four degree in a NON-AVIATION subject (aerospace engineering would be OK). There many reasons for this.
- Do flight training at a club, FBO, or small school at a nearby airport while you attend college.
- Pay-as-you-go, avoid loans. If necessary wait till after college, get a real job, and fly on the side. You could get it all done in two years or less if you focus, and stay debt free if your post-college job pays enough.
I would avoid most aviation colleges, they are usually over-priced.
Also be aware that due to some pending regulatory changes it is very likely that all prospective airline pilots will essentially be required to work as flight instructors before being eligible for airline employment. Few people ever go straight from training to an airline, and it looks like those days are over for good.