The market for airline pilots sucks. I went to ERAU, completed the B.S. in AeroSci in 4yrs and am STILL paying off the student loans almost a decade later. Do NOT do it! Going to ERAU was fun in some geeky airplane ways, but it didnt help me get hired at a real airline any faster.

Go to a big state school and get a degree in finance or something more useful and do the flying on the side. Check out Ohio State, I know they have an aviation program, but are a real school as well.

And another thing, dont get a Masters in anything aviation related. It is useless if you plan on being a pilot. If you want to get into management at an airline get a MBA or someting finance related.

 

Go Buckeyes!!!!!

 

Buy a 152/172 and do the flying on your own. You can do everything in your own plane except for the few complex hours required for the commercial and CFI. When you are done sell the plane. You'll save yourself a lot of money.

 

So many people talk about this really big, but I don't know a single person that actually did that...

It would be more practical for a career changer that is older, but not for a college student.

 

I went the DCCC route. Dallas County Community Colleges. Why not?? There are many CCs with Aviation degrees, and state schools that accept their credits. Good luck.

Sled

 

Thanks all! I am finding I'm Having a hard time thinking... and I could really use the help and advice. I'll give you the main points in my decisions...

I don't have any money in the family... well, enough for like 50-70k but that's it. and I have been into flying all my life. My grandfather was personally taught by Paul Riddle in 1927. So I want ERAU to be apart of my life and I want to learn at the Prescott, AZ school. I want the four year collage experience that I missed out on when I went to the Community collage after high school. I want to fly. Anything anywhere. I want a family someday. A wife who is already on a career path and independent.

I have read threads all day saying go to school for a degree outside of aviation. I do have four and a half years of working in accounting, taxes and divorce litigation, under my belt as of now. I feel like I have a good fall back plan and am ready to go for flight training. I understand the math of reality when it comes to the figures of how much pilots can make and what most do make. I want to know is, is the student loans idea a HORRIBLE idea. Can the yearly wages of the first five year in a commercial job pay for the interest so I don't go under right after school...

 

Get a college degree in anything NOT aviation related. I would say ANYTHING, but get something that will allow you to make a living if you get furloughed. Then, find an Air National Guard unit near you and join up. They will teach you everything you need to know to get on with an airline, and you might even find that the military isn't a bad way to go. I have a degree in architecture, and never really worried about being furloughed because I knew I could do something else. I have talked to a ton of ERAU grads that weren't as confident. I am not disparaging ERAU or any other aviation school, but you are pretty much putting all your eggs in one basket, and the key to getting rich in the stock market is diversification... this is no different.

 

I bought a C-150 when my wife said she wanted to get her license. I kept it a grass strip tiedown ($15/month) I insured it as my plane ($250/yr). It was stc'ed to run on car gas and burned 6 gal/hr.

She took the ground school ($200) and got a 98 on the test. We hired an instructor $15/hr. She got he license in 1 month at exactly 40 hours. The examiner cost $200.

Sold the cessna after flying it for 250 hours at a $4000 profit.

It can work for anyone if the plane is bought reasonably and you bang out the license. Actually keeping the plane long term in my opinion is a waste because a C-150 can only take you so far in aviation. It does beat the heck out of Embry Riddle price-wise (or any airport school rental for that matter).

 

Find a rich nymphomaniac who owns a chain of liquor stores and youll be all set.

Otherwise, youll be financially devastated. 4 years at Riddle with flight training will cost around $100-150k+ total. Student loans are going to eat up a huge chunk of your future paycheck.

 

Most all this advice is spot on. The only q you have left....is 300k debt worth being able to say years from now you went to Riddle. I get the part about your grandpa, but honestly when you get to the age most of us on here are....you wont care as much as you think now. Good luck.