UNDGUY

I am a UND grad. I had a great experience at UND. I felt like the training was very well structured and prepared me well for my career. I decided to go to an aviation school because I needed to get student loans to pay for my flying. If you can afford to do your training at an FBO it would be drastically cheaper. I have spent a fair amount of time in that training enviroment and in my opinion the training is not as thorough and complete, and it doesn't focus as much on airline and commercial flying aspects. That being said I took the same path with my fancy degree as the guy from the FBO. Flight Instructed till I got hired by a regional and stayed at the regional long enough to leave. I think the value of an aviation degree is going to increase greatly when the legislation that will allow lower hour requirements for those with aviation degrees goes into effect though. Just some things to think about. I would really consider if you have the desire to spend 125,000 (my debt) and then work your butt off making 15,000 for a couple years flight instructing only to go to a regional and make 20,000 for a couple years (or ten) and then you get to start over again when you go to a major and make 35,000 all while spending 50% of your life away from your family and friends sleeping in a hotel room nightly. Think it through with an open mind. Good Luck in whatever you choose.

FlyerJosh

For the record, UND is NOT an "all aviation" college. I could have double majored in music and aviation or one of many other degrees. One college girlfriend has her undergrad degree in Pre-med, the other returned to UND years later and is now finishing a Law degree/JD.

At the end of the day, only the individual can decide what's right or wrong for them. Is it expensive? Definitely.

But at the same time, in my own opinion, going to UND definitely opened doors up for me that otherwise wouldn't have been opened over the years. I was hired 6 months out of college to fly the CRJ with only 660TT/73ME. 5 years later my degree landed me a corporate gig, which directly lead to my current job.

At 33, I work for a fortune 50 company, am typed on one of the most (if not the most) advanced corporate jets out there, and live a comfortable life. Of course your mileage may vary.

Flyhayes

I'd say go to Embry-Riddle. After a semester or so, once you realize how ridiculously expensive the flight training is, you'll be perfectly primed for me to snatch you up as a flight student!
I really can't say anything bad about Embry-Riddle, since they keep my little flight school in business.

chrisreedrules

Research, research, research... read, read, and read some more. Figure out what is going to be best for you (training-wise and finances-wise) and pursue it. It is always going to be cheaper going to your local FBO or flight school to get training, but those places have their pitfalls too. If you want to work in the airlines, figure out what their requirements are (multi PIC time, night Xcountry time, etc...) and pick the training that best suits your goals.

trafly

As stated above, Arizona State has a program that is partnered with Mesa Airlines.
Chandler-Gilbert Community College has a program partnered with UND.

ASU only allows you to fly if you are part of their degree program, while Chandler will let you do either a non-degree flight program or a degree program.

A "real" degree in a non aviation field gives you a fall back should things get too rough. Might be the way to go.

If you are absolutely heart-set on an airline career, and the proposal to require 1500 hrs for all airline operations, passes, then you may get a break on flight time with an aviation degree. Maybe.

http://www.cgc.maricopa.edu/academic...s/default.aspx

https://technology.asu.edu/index.php?q=aviation

Good luck

Alex14

I currently go to UND and the program is pretty good, very structured, but still good. If tuition rates concern you, UND's is dirt cheap, plus after a year you can apply for in state residency where you'll have to pay like $7,000 on tuition. Unlike Riddle, this is a full on University that happens to have an aviation program. You can major in anything from Business to theatre and minor in flight where you can still get all your ratings up to MEI if you wanted to. My friend is a criminal justice major and has gone all the way through CFI, so its always an option if you didn't want an aviation degree. This is something to think about if you're really set on either UND or Riddle, now be aware it gets *******ng cold here in the winter, but its still a nice place to be. My final advice to you would be to tour as many schools as you can and pick the one thats best suited for you.

Alex

skyqueen

Neither... Check out siuc .. They beat both und and embry at nationals last year

wrxsteve

Do Embry Riddle worldwide and get your training at a good FBO. You'll pay around 20k for a transfer with an associates. Youll save tens of thousands ( GEICO VOICE ). The worldwide gets all the same access and education as the main campus guys do, you just dont have that "university" feeling to it.

ImperialxRat

San Diego State or ASU are my recommendations. I would do college again if money was no object... such a fun time in a persons life

chrisreedrules

good advice... I know a couple of great instructors who took this route