Whatever you decide, don't depend on the income you generate from flying. (learned the hard way, even though I had lots of savings). An education from a reputable university never hurts, particularly the cache of graduate networking. Find something that you can do to make money, but something you can do on your own without working for someone else. When ATA started going south the first time in '04-'05 I gave serious consideration to welding. The schooling would have conflicted with the flying at the time, so I didn't do it. But, it's something you can do out of your house/truck, and they make pretty good money.