Uncle Bose

No, what you said is there's a potential to become more knowledgeable than most captains at any airline. That is patent nonsense.
Regardless, anyone with drive can become more knowledgeable than the majority through self-study. The top 1-2% in any field or institution would succeed no matter what they were doing, and that has nothing to do with what's available at ERAU.

palgia841

I believe that to be true. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion. In my experience I've seen first hand graduates of aviation programs with an amount of knowledge that far exceeds that of most airline pilots who only have a high school diploma, or have a degree in something unrelated to aviation. After all, if you went to a regular FBO to get your ratings and got a degree in history, where are you going to learn the vast majority of your aviation knowledge? From a CFI? From the FAA written? From a 2-week aircraft-specific training at a regional? I don't think so.
Sure, one could engage in self-study. But let's be realistic... few people can learn through self-study the amount of information taught in a college course.... otherwise colleges would go out of business!

I personally don't think I would have the knowledge I have now, if it wasn't for what learned at ERAU. And YES, I did have more knowledge than the average airline pilot when I graduated, although my case is not representative since I completed a number of degrees, not just aeronautical science.

I agree with you in part. But if you don't have the resources (ie. professors) it's not easy to learn the knowledge. The old saying "a school can never be better than its instructors" is very true. You can have all the motivation in the world, but if you go to a community college I doubt you would excell in the same way as if you went to a good university.


Having said the above, I am in no way advertising ERAU. I personally would not send my future son/daughter to ERAU (unless they had a major scholarship) simply because its way over-priced. But it does offer opportunities NOT available at many other schools.

TankerDriver

That's stupid. Ask anyone if they knew Purdue had a flying program and most of them probably wouldn't know that either. When you say, "ask anyone", I'm assuming you mean people that are not familiar with the aviation industry. It's obvious that someone who doesn't know what an aileron is isn't going to know what ERAU is or anything else about flight training for that matter.

NE_Pilot

I do not go to ERAU, but I do know people who have very little knowledge of Aviation, and have heard of ERAU. Ever look in a college catolog?? It is always ranked up their in near the top for Aviation University, and I have seen it ranked higher than the Air Force Academy.

It is probably one of the most well known Aviation Universities out there, if it wasn't none of us would be talking about it. I see tons of discussion about ERAU, and very little about UND, Purdue, Daniel Webster College, and the many others that are out there, maybe that is because they are not as bad, I really dont know, but it doesn't change the fact that ERAU is more well known than they are.

Once again I do not/did not go there, however ERAU has had "break throughs" in aviation. A professor at ERAU proved that Zero Side Slip was a superior technique for OEI than what was being taught at the time, which was Zero Yaw, thus changing Multi-Engine training around the country.

I have not met anyone from ERAU, so I cannot comment on the actual students, and what they are like. But I think that the majority are not the way people here describe them, because it is always the negatives that will stick out in your mind the most. The ******* who went to ERAU will stick out more than the quiet guy who went.

Once again, these are just my observations on this discussion, and like I said, I dont really know to much about ERAU, or the people who go there.

NE_Pilot

I am playing a little devil's advocate here, but how do you know what they learn in class at ERAU??? Have you attended any of their classes?? If not then you really cannot comment on what they learn in class.

Puppyz

I went to ERAU

ToiletDuck

Baylor had a good rep and program as well. I learned a lot about women there.

NE_Pilot

Well then in that case I guess you would know. Talk about feeling like a prick now.

palgia841

LOL LOL Silly person! Do you know who trains pilots at the Colorado Springs AF academy???? Take a guess? Thats right, ERAU!

Anyway, ERAU has A LOT OF FAULTS, too many to list on this forum. I DO NOT encourage anyone to take $150k+ loan to go to ERAU today to get the aeronautical science degree! I WANT TO MAKE THIS CLEAR! ERAU is NOT WORTH THE MONEY THEY ARE CHARGING TODAY! I am not saying they are a bad school, I am saying they COULD be MUCH better and that they are NOT worth $1000+ per credit hour! They are a very good school but WAY overpriced.

However, if you are independently wealthy, don't care about living in a sh!t hole like Daytona or Prescott, don't care about getting laid and want to "eat-breathe-sh!t" aviation with likely-minded males.... ERAU IS THE PLACE TO GO. There you WILL be exposed to a fairly good, albeit not rigorous, aviation program with some excellent professors. What you get out of it is up to you! You MAY learn a LOT, or very little.

But what you CAN'T tell me is that ERAU is not well known in aviation
...and the reason they are well known is because their product is, generally, better that non-aviation universities (product as in future airline pilot).

I agree with PDXflyer that a different college will offer a much better "college experience".

palgia841

As a recommendation to ANYONE considering ERAU:

Complete your general education at a local community college. This will save you 40% of ERAU's tuition. You will therefore pay only for those courses which are aviation-related.