JOutten

Hi, I'm new here and I just finished my freshman year and got my PPL here as an Aeronautical Science major in ERAU's Daytona Beach campus. Now, I think we can all agree that ERAU is the biggest waste of money, blah blah, blah. I knew that when I applied and still do. I've read all the older posts about Riddle, but they seem to be dated.

With new FAA ATP rulings, impending pilot shortage, and possible pipeline programs, and ERAU's networking, is it still worth it to stay at Riddle? I've been contemplating transferring to another p141 school to save on money and a better quality of life. (Daytona sucks). But with all these recent changes and rumors, is staying at Riddle worth it in the long run?

I understand that an aviation based degree is useless if things turn bad as a pilot. I feel like I'm putting all my eggs in one basket by relying on the pilot shortage that is rumored to start affecting airlines very soon. Should I change my degree, and give up flight? Should I transfer? Should I minor in ATC? Should I minor in Business?

I just want a little unbiased advice. I feel like my school advisers just want to milk me of my parents' money.

KSCessnaDriver

Is it just Daytona you hate or is it the school or the flying? If it's just Daytona, maybe take a trip out to Arizona and see if you'd like it out there any better?

rickair7777

I would recommend another major at the very least. The R-ATP will only save you 500 hours, less than a year of flight instructing so I can't imagine it's it's worth the colossal price they charge.

It all depends on your financial situation.

jarretk

Take it from someone who is a recent alum and leave. If you stay, get a degree in something different that interest you because it will be a backup plan if something happens with a medical. If you have mom and dad that are paying for most of it then it's a toss up but the debt that you take on being there 4 years is so astronomical that it makes it not worth it due to pay as an instructor or regional fo. You get a good education and you will learn things about jets and turbines that other people won't know. That will help in the future if you keep all the power points and homework and such like I did but if you don't go to riddle you can put in the time and effort and learn it on the side. Meeting restricted atp early will be nice but imho it's not worth the mental anguish of crushing debt on your mind all day so unless you have a guaranteed gulfstream job at 100k a year after school it's best to look other places. Other schools have flight programs at half the cost and allow you to meet r-atp mins (ou, osu, siu, purdue, ect). Sorry for this being scattered around but thinking about my first year regional fo pay and my school loans gets my blood boiling and mind scattered, haha. I got very lucky and found a corporate jet job with 800 hours that allowed me to save for the regionals but alot of people aren't so lucky and friends that I went to school with that went straight to the regions are struggling big time. But hey if you like seeing everyone buy houses while you pay off loans or worry about ever saving money because all your money goes to loans, then stick around. Sorry for the long rant

badflaps

Having a major in something other than aviation would seem to be a more reasonable approach. Like the man said, 500 hours ain't squat. We're talking lifetime here, spread the risk.

Spicoli

Guess what. Getting a degree in something other than aviation is not much of a backup. An undergraduate degree is like a GED these days.

atpwannabe

I totally agree with rickair7777 and I'm an '87 graduate of Riddle. I would suggest Hotel Management; Accounting; or maybe even Mathematics at another state university using grants, scholarships, personal funds (parents), and then loans as a last resort.

After completing your BS/BA degree requirements, then I would look into a Part 141 flight school. There are a number of combinations and permutations that you can come up with to reach your goal. Good luck to you.


atp

tom11011

I am an ERAU graduate from over 20 years ago.

It's not the kind of degree that is important to an airline, its important that you have a 4 year degree if you want to go to an airline like Delta as it is still a requirement (not a recommendation).

In my opinion, you need to have a college degree in something other than aviation, something that might have some value in the real corporate America. Given that you are interested in aviation, hands on careers and/or degrees in fields such as Information Technology, Medicine, Sciences, and Engineering are probably compatible with the way you tick.

Here is another suggestion to consider- you are already at Embry Riddle, have you looked at some of their other degree offerings? They are incredible. ERAU is also the first university to offer a degree in Commercial Space Studies.

I also feel that you should know many pilots in the profession would leave aviation if only they knew how to do something else. Pilots do leave and go on to other things, but I suspect more would leave if they felt they could do something else.

Flyhayes

The ATC program is completely worthless now a days since the FAA has recently stopped giving preferential treatment to ATC program graduates, so I wouldn't use that as a back up.

You might want to look into ERAU's aerospace engineering program or the UAV program instead.

As for flight training, don't write off part 61, even though the hour requirements are different for the individual courses, you may save quite a bit of money over the long run.

Just for the sake of comparison (and inserting a shameless plug). I'm based in New Smyrna, and charge 40/hr for instruction and $105/hr (plus a small fuel surcharge) for a 172. Just imagine how much more flight time your could have put in your logbook compared to Riddle!

tom11011

To build on this, one other thing to consider is the school you give your money to in order to learn to fly is probably going to be the same place that gives you your first job.