CBreezy

Unless your friend has lots of money laying around, spending it on a Master's in Aviation would be a complete waste of money. Even if he had a lot of cash, it is still wasting money but if it is burning a hole in your pocket and want someone to learn you things, then go at it.

The BA is almost as equally worthless but it checks the box large airlines are looking for:a bachlor's degree. Keep in mind, that it can be ANY bachelor's degree and not the $200,000 one Riddle is selling. If he wants a degree that he will use, he needs to abandon this train of thought immediately. Get a master's degree in something USEFUL like an MBA or education. The internship will not help him network. If he wants to do that, he would be much better off flying cargo for an FBO like Landmark. He will meet more connected people that way than at some internship. If he really wants a challenge as you say he does, there are dozens of books out there, specifically the "Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators" that will help him 10x more.

Std Deviation

Masters degrees are becoming as ubiquitous as the bachelors as a result of the proliferation of “soft” degrees offered by for-profit institutions (U. of Phoenix, etc). A Masters was supposed to represent mastery of a skill (get the irony?). It differentiated. Not everyone had the skills to get one. It actually required a standardized entrance exam (GRE, GMAT, etc.). You had to have the discipline to make sacrifices and go to class.

Now it’s just a matter of paying tuition. You can even get a Ph.D online these days with a couple of weeks on the campus (which in my world required about 5-7 years of in person research and teaching). These “diploma mill” online schools lack credibility in the academic community. There’s a lot of literature to this effect if you research it.

outaluckagain

Well,I did notice that when I took some online courses. There was no teaching. The class was made difficult by demanding 35 pages of writing and posting critiques to each and every students posted papers. It was like the school was trying to make this tough, or seem tough, by making a course demanding. Other classes were made difficult by having students make presentations several times a semester. That was online and world wide campus. Just a classroom on a military base. Not even a library, unless I browsed online, and waited.
This whole thread was about a friend of mine trying to get a masters. That may be the case that online id not worth the cost, since the quality may not be there. This is good information here!
Any comments on ASU.

uavking

I can't speak to the Aviation program at ASU, but I can vouch for the MBA program (online). It's cohort based, so you stick with a project group of about 5-6 people for the first year worth of courses. At the very beginning of the program you go out to Tempe for a few days to meet everyone in your cohort (about 75 in mine) and get sorted into teams. The people in my cohort range from military on active service, vets (About four West Point grads, for example), and a really wide range of civilian companies. My team uses alot of video conferencing and e-mail to collaborate on projects, papers, and simulations.

The classes run for 6 weeks, with a week or two between, and you take one class at a time. On average I'm spending 10-15 hours a week between reading, collaborating, and quizzes/projects. The great thing is that instructors will typically open up stuff for about a week at a time, so as long as you get your work in by the suspense for that week you're fine. I find good value in this program and I looked at pretty much every credible (i.e. top 50) online MBA program before selecting ASU.

outaluckagain

Looking at FIT out in Melbourne Florida. Any comments on the avaiation Masters?

ERJF15

I just wrote my final paper for my 5th class out of 12. ERAU of course, but it's not bad. If you're already in the industry it's an easy A or B.

outaluckagain

I went to ERAU as well. The BS was easy enough as well as the Masters. I can't say I still have any respect left for them though. They were completely vague about the requirments of the Capstone course. No help from the professor who was wrong all the time. They could not make up their minds what was required.
I was searching for an Aviation Masters that did not have the lengthy capstone paper as a requirement. I had to take the course 2 times which really cost me a bundle. All because of the school not knowing what the expectations were.
There were several other people who didn't even finish the final requiremnet due to not doing so well. I was lucky enough to find time off from work in the beginning and able to continue.
I know this isn't what all students at World Wide Masters experience, but there were several that haven't been able to finish due to difficulties in the course. If you thought it was a good school, then OK. I won't even consider that place again, but I am finished anyway.

fratedog

I completed the aviation masters at ERAU. I did it all in classroom at the extended campus except for 2 classes. It was a good experience. I had the harder capstone which was basically a qualitative thesis. It did help me get out of the flying side of aviation. It seems to convince people you aren't going back into the cockpit. If you want to fly, the Master's in aviation is probably useless for the most part. I have been in my job 3 years now and glad I did it. With that being said, military experience will always trump a Masters or anything else in aviation (from my experience and in my opinion). If you are going for a safety position, and the guy or girl next to you was a safety officer in the military, forget it. OR sometimes the masters goes against you if the hiring manager has barely a Bachelor's degree or less. My 2 pennies worth

outaluckagain

I appreciate your feedback. I thought the overall experience at ERAU was a worthwile one. The only area I was unhappy with was the capstone not being presented very clearly.
Your comment on the Masters only being useful when a person is convinced he is finished with the cockpit seems believable. Such a level of education is just not necessary for a pilot. Seems like it is just too much education with little opportunity to apply. How would a pilot apply it anyway?
I went for it back when I was unsure whether piloting would work out for me. Now that I think things are going to pick up on the flying side, I will no longer need it.

PRS Guitars

I don't think a masters will help your CFI friend move on. He'd be better off using the money to split some multi time or something. If you look at posts from guys hired that have a masters, they are mostly military. They had to get a masters to get promoted, I don't think it's what sets them apart to get hired.