PFactor

Wow...somebody is going to need to call the Whhhaaambulance.

patton33

Well this thread certainly got hostile. Basically there's two options you have, go to college or don't go to college. Fill in the blanks afterwards. Going to ERAU recognize you're going to give them ALOT of money. Do you get alot out of it? Some say yes some say no, i'll leave that to you.

Now the problem comes down to how do you give them that money? Do you take out a bunch of loans or just have your parents pay for it...i know many people who have monthly loan payments of 1500-2000 dollars. Yeah wow you could get a sweet house for that much.

What's my monthly loan payment? $0. How did i do it? Well first off i worked my butt off to get scholarships that paid for nearly 2.5 years of school. Took summer classes to allow me to be a CFI for the university for my final year which meant my credit hours were comped for that last year. Oh and I worked part time all those others years/summers and made a nice chunk of change there. It can be done, just need to be creative.

And what do I get out of all of it? Well as of a month ago I'm out of the aviation industry working in another field. I certainly miss flying and my true love of instructing but i feel it might be for the better as i'm not working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week just to cover rent and other associated payments.

Ewfflyer

That's funny right there, I don't care who you are!!!!

04' grad of another school, but I usually don't announce it to prove any point. Most likely we all overpaid anyways.

Clue32

Wow. I graduated in 2001 having gotten in on the 1997 fixed price rate. I payed $21,000 total from private thru milti-comm (just paid off my last student loan a month ago, whoo hoo) and it didn't matter how much I flew. It took me a while to learn the landings and I did a couple of the landing heavy lessons five or six times that first semester. Due to a two month ROTC interruption and instructor unavailability resulting in flying once every ten days or so my 20 hour ME course took 40 hours and I didn't pay a single cent extra.

Good luck to all y'all

afterburn81

See, now that's sweet. The school had to of lost money on that. That's probably why they jacked the price up so much. To cover all the losses. Lucky you!

Crism

Well I'm currently going to Riddle right now so I'll give you a realistic and actual idea of what's going on and how much stuff costs. I'm in the latest Standards class and am about to be hired as a brand new CFI/CFII from the Fast Track 2008 group:

First things first, credit hours are about $1100/hr right now during Fall and Spring semesters and those are discounted for summer semesters.

Now my ratings:
Multi-Engine Instrument in the Seminole: Aug-Dec 07 - $10,443
Commercial-Multi in Twin Star: Jan-Apr - $8000
Commercial-Single in C172 - $3671
CFI-A: May-Jun - $6878
CFII - Jun - $2348
Total at Riddle: $31,340

Others will probably have higher numbers than me though...I ran through everything quick to make it cheap. I was Instrument-CFII from September 2007-July 2008. Some people take a whole year on their Instrument or Commercial alone.

Overall, I enjoy Riddle. Sure the flight line has it's quirks and it's expensive, but I wouldn't trade the time I'm having here for anything...and I don't think there's anything better than this. One thing I would have to say to someone coming here is to definitely not sit back and take ****. If your instructor isn't scheduling you or there's something delaying your progress, get it taken care of IMMEDIATELY. Students sit here and complain and do nothing about their problems. Take action and get it fixed and you'll be good.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to shoot me a message.
-Steve

Double S

Same new hire group:

Private- $11,739 (April 07)
Instrument-$7,200 (Dec 08)
Commercial-$8,900 (May 08)
CFI-$7,000 (June 08)
CFII-$2250 (July 08)

Total: $37,089

In two years, I busted my ass to make sure that I finished my ratings ASAP and it definitely paid off. Other people that began at the same time slacked off and still have not finished their private and instrument, spending upwards of $15,000 dollars for an instrument rating!! (Ridiculous) If you are motivated to work hard, and you assiduously try to succeed, the costs will be reasonable. If you get lazy, then you will turn into the stereotypical Riddle kid who leeches off his or her parents for more money.

Don't believe everything that is written in these forums. Additionally, don't believe everything that Riddle says. People dislike Riddle so much because students attend Riddle thinking that "the name" will give them a job in the future. In turn, they become(or stay) lazy and put no effort into their work, struggle to earn their ratings, get more money from mom and dad, and then leave Riddle into the real world to finally realize that the "name" got them nowhere. Then they will blame the school for their financial troubles and lack of success. To top it all off, the criticism gets furthered by all of the Riddle outsiders because the derelicts that don't do anything while they are here portray a negative image of the University. If you are willing to put the time in, then you will be rewarded. And that goes for everything in life.

As for me, I only have $20,000 dollars in loans and I will not be borrowing more. My tuition is paid for by scholarships and a part-time job, and I will begin to pay off my loans in the fall. My experience has been great, especially as a member of a fraternity.

I have been informed that I will receive 4 students as a part-timer for the next two years as I finish my degree (Aeronautical Science w/ minors in Air Traffic Control and Business) and then I plan on taking advantage of the free tuition (for full-time instructors) to earn my Masters Degree in Business.

You decide how your time here goes.

Crism

Disregard I think I figured it out...

SeatMeat

This is a great post. As a former student and CFI I can say that everything in here is accurate.

de727ups

"People dislike Riddle so much because students attend Riddle thinking that "the name" will give them a job in the future."

Well, perhaps Riddle shouldn't push that in their marketing...

I went to Riddle. No loans to worry about. Got through Riddle doing only one flight course and two years on campus. It checked the square on the app.

In the end, I wish I had done things differently. There is a better way.