DirectTo

Airlines are apparently not looking for proper spelling and grammar...

It's ok...your Riddle degree will make up for it I'm sure.

hypoxia

Only if you are applying as a Mechanic. By FARs, a mechanic is smarter than a pilot because in addition to "read, understand and speak the English language", mechanics need to write it!

JamesNoBrakes

Some aspects to think about. Many people do ERAU because they are in the military and the military pays 75% tuition. ERAU has hundreds of worldwide campuses and they do it online as well. This is where lots of the people come away with a "degree from ERAU". Think about it though, they already usually have flight training, flight time, often an undergrad degree, years of military experience, etc. These people are already fairly highly qualified, so it's not really the same thing as people that come right out of college with no prior work experience. This is one reason though why there are many grads.

The other thing to think about is: The other degree programs can go right into the job market and start investing in retirement, bonds, stocks, etc. With the engineering specialties, they go right into ~60K jobs, with plenty of career growth potential. Compare that with aviation, where you go right into a job with no career growth potential, not going to be saving for a pension/retirement, rock-bottom wages, and poor work rules. This is the same school, just different degree paths. These paths are radically different. So think hard about what you are doing. The guy above that is in school hasn't experienced the work force. He may not realize that going to an "aviation" school is just one small factor in a resume, in the big scheme of thing, type ratings, military experience, ATP, seaplane rating, tailwheel experience, mountain flying, instruction experience, flight testing, and a plethora of other things (by themselves) can easily outweigh that one factor.

On the flipside, there are other good degree paths and career paths that these schools offer. Expensive, but they do a good job with them, like Engineering, Meteorology, Safety, etc. Still doesn't mean they are necessarily worth it, but too many people center in on the "aeronautical studies" degree, which that and $500 will get you an hour in a twin!

JamesNoBrakes

This couldn't be further from the truth. The airlines are looking for an ATP, prior 121/135 experience, at least 1500hrs of PIC, type ratings in the aircraft that they fly, and they'd rather you have more experience than a certain college degree. That's just the way it works. They are looking for someone to fly for the minimum wage they can pay.

satpak77

wrong. this applies if you want to make it thru Navy Seal school or a cancer stricken spouse, but working hard and staying strong have nothing to do with getting a high paying job

Getting a high paying job in almost all cases means your background and experience fills a need, the greater the need, typically the higher the pay, especially if the number of openings (which reflects the level of need) is far greater than the number of warm bodies to satisfy the need.

Acme Express has plenty of applicants to fill the right seat of a 1900 for 16K a year. Many more applicants than actual seat slots.

rickair7777

If you attend riddle now how do you know it will pay off? Because thats what they told you?

Crazy Canuck

On this topic, I'm curious to hear why so many feel a business degree is so much better then aeronautics. To me they seem fairly equivalent, not only for getting a job, but for usefulness outside of pursuing a career outside of flight crew.

Business degrees, unless in accounting, seem to be about as broad and general as any other degree. Feel free to comment

PotatoChip

Please list careers in which a degree in Aeronautics (or Commercial Aviation/Aeronautical Science/Professional Pilot etc) would get you. I am very curious as to how you possibly see them as equivalent. A degree in Aeronautics is about one of the most specific degree programs available.

Crazy Canuck

Ok fair enough, and I am just playing devils advocate, but can you list careers a business degree (other then a highly specialized one) would get you right off that bat?

I'm not trying to argue for the sake of arguing, I'm legitimately trying to understand the job market. From my experience, and those around me, most of the knowledge and skills used in a job are acquired through experience and hands on training then through classroom learning. Obviously, there are exceptions (medical, engineering, etc.)

todd1200

An online degree from Riddle is actually pretty inexpensive. I think the residency requirement is only ten classes, so between transfer credits and Dantes/Cleps it's possible to get it done in less than two years while working full-time. Also, they don't charge for transfer credits, while other schools do. How useful the degree is would be a different question. If you just want to check the box, than I think it's a good option. If you want to pursue employment in another field or pursue certain kinds of graduate study, than you'll likely find your options limited.

On a general business degree vs. an aeronautics degree, I think the business degree would be a lot more useful. I've seen a ton of job listings that state "An undergraduate degree in the field of business, economics or a related discipline is required." Or something to that effect. Even within the airline industry, if you're interested in doing anything other than flying the line, academic experience outside of the field of aviation can prove useful.