gacri

I have only posted one other time on the site and try to use it more as a research tool than anything. First off, I am NOT a pilot and my only ambition as far as actual flying is to obtain my PPL in the not to distant future for recreational purposes only. Back in the day I would have loved to make it a career but things happend and I ended up in the law enforcement field. I have been in the LE field in one way or another for about fourteen years and have ALWAYS regreted not earning a college education. Well now it has come full circle and many different postions and/or promotions in my current field require "a degree" usually an Associate Degree will surfice in most postions. What I have found is they don't really care what it is in as long as you can mmet the requirment of a degree to put in for the position. After researching this site, I fully understand everyones opinions as they realte to "aviation degrees" and I agree that ERAU is expensive if going the traditional "I want to be a pilot" route". WHat I have found is after submitting my application to ERAU Worldwide, they have been very helpful with things, transferred (12) of my (15) credits from Criminal Justice courses and offer an ONLINE tuition whcih is approx. $100 cheaper per credit hour than the local state university. What my plan would be is attend fully online (wife and kids) earn an Associates Degree in an area I am really interested in and be able to get a good education online. I don't know if it makes sense to complete a CJ degree when I have so much experience in that area? I would be interested in applying later down the road to aviation realted positions, such as areas of aviation security ect. either upon retirement of after a few more years. I apoligize for the long post, I'd really be interested in what folks out there think of ERAU Worlwide, if not going the traditional route of being a pilot? Alos from what I can tell ERAU is fully accredited, Is that the case? Thanks for everyones time...

GrUpGrDn

Have you looked at other institutions online degree programs that are accredited? Since you found ERAU to be less per credit hour than local university, maybe there are others out there more affordable.
And by all means go visit your local airport and stop by the FBO, sit and shoot the breeze with the folks there, and see about taking an introductory flight, then pursue from there. Good luck

erictgill

I believe ERAU is really gone down hill... its not the university it once was. The standards for admissions is horrable, i mean anyone who can afford the tuition is pretty much accepted. The level of education is nothing special. I mean your pretty much paying for the name and even that is losing credibility. There are plenty of other universities that are way better for an aviation degree. UND is excellent, oklahoma has a good one... I would stay away from ERAU because your paying a arm and a leg for something you can get cheaper. Thats just my two cents

Great Cornholio

So let me make sure that I've got your story straight.. You are what we call a "LEO" and that has been you're career for some time now. You plan on staying in the LEO line of work for a while and you have come to a point in your LEO career that you need a college degree in order to advance any further. They don't really care what your degree is in as long as it comes from an accredited school. You want to get an aviation degree for 2 reasons...1. you are interested in aviation so you feel like you would be able to study better since you are learning about something that interests you. 2. You feel that an aviation degree may open doors so that somehow you can combine your LEO job and aviation and somehow move into something that combines the two. If this is the case then I have 2 pieces of advice for you. If I'm wrong then explain it better and maybe I can still help.

As for the flying part do not do any flying thru ERAU itself. It is a rip off. If you only want to get your private then just go to your local mom and pop FBO and get the training there. It will be cheaper and the education will be pretty much exactly the same.

As far as the school part. I did both campus ERAU and online ERAU. I must say that when you go in person they treat you like crap and you get what everyone called the "riddle runaround" you can never get a straight answer. I ended up getting a job offer early so I actually had to transfer to the "online campus" so to speak. The online side of ERAU is totally diffrent. They treated me awesome on the online side. The admissions people and the professors always seemed to go out of thier way to make sure that I was happy and to accomadate my busy schedule. I would recommend the online part to anyone as I had a really good experience. However I would try to steer people clear of the "in person campus" as they treat students horrible there.

Online classes are hard. They are hard because you must always make time to study. It will be easier for you to study if you are studying something that interests you. So in your case I can see where an avaition degree would be good because it would help you keep the motivation up to get the stuff done.

Hope that helps

mswmsw

What state are you in? It sounds like your in-state resident tuition at your State University is really high. What about a Junior College or Community College? Their fees and credit hour costs are typically way less than the costs at four year State Colleges or Universities. Do you have a local JC or Community College that has a 2 year aviation degree program? That might be another option. If they have something like an Associate Degree in Aviation Management that might be a good one..... the aviation classes would be the fun ones for you and the Management classes would look good for promotions to Sgt/Lt/Capt, etc. Just an idea.

Gajre539

What ^^ said.

Which ERAU Worldwide Program did you apply for - Professional Aeronautics?

Sandy106

ERAU Worldwide is the only accredited college I know of that you can take classes online. They're significantly cheaper than going to the actual university, but its probably going to cost more than a community/junior college would.

Coto Pilot

I was actually in the first class of the Prescott campus at Embry-Riddle over thirty years ago. They have always maintained a relatively open admissions policy. This is not an accident, it allows almost anyone a semester to see if they can cut it. Many don't. Riddle has an unprecedented reputation among private universities in the aviation community. Following are the US News and World Report ranking for aviation degree programs:

1Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach, FL2United States Air Force Academy USAF Academy, CO3Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University--Prescott Prescott, AZ4United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD
That being said, where you start college doesn't matter, it's where you get the degree from. Take as many classes as you can from a JC and then go to the Riddle program or a similar one elsewhere to get the diploma.

gacri

I realy appreciate everyones replies, it seems, as I kinda thought, that ERAU Worldwide is not a bad option considering my circumstances. I think I may go for it in the next few months, I hope I can cut it...never went online before, but am pretty disiplined with time managment ect...If anyone has any further advise...I'm willing to listen..Thanks

742Dash

You might want to take at look at Thomas Edison State College

They offer both aviation and criminal justice degrees, which would let you be credited for both your aviation and LE experience.