Hey there,

Same issue for me. I'm at a 4 year school going for a degree in meteorology, which is either going to be a fallback or my intended career (haven't decided on airline flying yet). I just finished IFR in october and have about 150 hours. My parents are paying for school, and I'm having to pay for flying all on my own. So it will still probably be another 2 years before I have a commercial ticket.

If I could do it all over again, I would have gone to a 2 year community college and gotten an associates degree, probably in math, and then on to finish at a 4 years school. My parents were willing and able to pay for me to go to a 4 year state school with room and board. I would have asked them to take some of the tons of $$$ they would have saved by my going to community college and use it to pay for flying through the local FBO. (Also, I would have gotten all my math and science courses done at the community college, which are much easier there than at Rutgers).

I didn't really pick back up into actively flying until a couple years ago. I came to the 4 year school and did ROTC, but it didn't work out. I was originally expecting the Air Force to pay for most of my tuition, but obviously that was shot to hell.

So that's what I would say to you. Figure out what degree you'd like to have as the "fallback", then do you first 2 years at a community college before transfering to a nearby state school to finish your 4 year degree. And ask your parents to take the money saved and put it toward flying. Also, the courses at community colleges are typically much easier and less intensive than at universities (especially for math and science). You should work toward having all of your major training done by the time you finish at the 2 hear school. You could then instruct on the side while doing the bachelors degree. This would not only get you building time, but would also give you spending money for school.

Good luck!!