Jake17R

First post.. Will keep this concise though I know it won't be short.

FYI, I have been seriously considering, (I am enrolled for next start term but can back out) going to this school. I am 20, almost 21, and decided the career path I was going down was not for me so I am onto pursuing aviation.


There is a brand New 141 flight school in Southern California called California Aeronautical University. It has the goal of getting a student zero to hero with an associates and bachelors in aeronautics and the necessary hours for acquiring ATP in 3 years. After the first 18 months or less, all pilots ratings are acquired with 200 - 300 hours, and they tell students to build hours being a CFI or different pilot while finishing out the bachelors (classes only occur in the evening at the very earliest 5ish to 10ish at the latest) Nobody has finished the program yet because it is so brand new, though some are nearing the end and have almost their 1,000 hours right on schedule. They have good pipeline/cadet/signing programs. Cost is 140-150k raw after ALL is said and done, that does not include scholarships I have been rewarded this far nor the ones I will be rewarded in the future, the transferable credits I have, or the fact I can begin paying loans down a year and a half into the program long before I am expected to start paying them.

Worth it? Or settle for different degree like everyone says and gather ratings at local FBO?

Thank you


PS I am leery of this place and its striking resemblance to other money hungry "pilot factories," question is, are these potential benefits enough to outweigh this cost? Is it feasible that if I play my cards right and am skillful I will be at the regionals in 3 to 3 and a half years?

Sincerely,
I just want to be a pilot

kingsnake2

This doesn't sound much different than a program we have with Tarrant County College. However, it is a lot more expensive.

The two year college get you "zero to hero" and associates degree. Then students can transfer to UNT's Aviation Logistics backelors program and work at US Aviation Academy to build hours. You can get your licenses, ratings, and hours in about 4 year. Even for someone out of state though, I don't think the program including the two years at UNT would cost more than $110,000 including books, flight fees, etc. Even for an out of state student.

Jake17R

Excellent suggestion, thank you. Will be looking into it further today, and if that rate seems to hold true, might be A viable option.

thetarvs

Jake,
Did you end up going to CAU? Looking at the school and saw this post. What did you end up doing?

JohnBurke

The web site advertises that the student will get "six different licenses and ratings upon graduation." Aside from the fact that there are no pilot licenses in the USA, their claim that the private pilot and commercial pilot are different licenses is incorrect. There's just one pilot certificate (not license) and it's available with different levels of privilege. The same is true of the CFI; they cite the CFII as though it were a different "license," when it is not. What the certification shows is bare-bones, basic entry-level certification and nothing more. The same as one gets everywhere else.

While these small technicalities an inaccuracies are minor, it shows an effort to snow the student, and doesn't speak well of the school. CAU doesn't provide the flight training, either. It's provided by "local training center in at the Oxnard Airport (sic)."

The poor grammar, technical errors, and assembly of the website looks more like something that foreign investors and young instructors clapped together, not something that a university offering a four year degree offers. Who's teaching grammar there? Certainly not anyone reviewing their web site.

The success rate, if you're hoping to talk to other happy students, appears to be a bit of a blank slate.

http://cloud.calaero.com/downloads/S...U-SPFS-MAS.pdf

Perhaps most interesting is the accreditation of the "college" that's supposed to be granting two, four, and post-graduate degrees. The current website claims that the school's accreditation is the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. The website states that the ACICS is "recognized by the US Department of Education."

What the school doesn't say is that the US Dept of Education removed accrediting authority of ACICS in 2016. Read the US News & World Report article on the action taken:

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles...ege-accreditor

Is that really what one wants on one's resume when approaching an employer? One thinks not.

There are plenty of other options.

On the other hand, there are really great strawberry stands this time of year around Oxnard...

badflaps

Hmmm... Be a pilot or sell strawberries? Pilot or strawberries? What to do? What to do?

JohnBurke

Do both. It's science.