By the way, there's a lot of misunderstanding on the net about what Harvard Extension School is. This is what a master's degree looks like from Harvard Extension School. HES master's degrees are conferred by the Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), and because FAS issues all degrees in Latin, so too are HES master's degrees. About half of Harvard's graduate schools still issue their master's degrees in Latin, the other half in English; Harvard College (the undergraduate school) stopped issuing in Latin in the early 1960's. This isn't my degree, just pulled it off the net to give you an idea. It's identical to all other master's degrees (master of arts/science) from the FAS, the only difference is it's a master's in liberal arts (Magistri in Artibus Liberalibus). As you can see, your diploma still says Harvard University. You take your classes with students from Harvard's other graduate schools, taught by tenured Harvard professors, and you get to join the same Harvard alumni association when you graduate. It's a real Harvard degree and you complete 95% of it at home. Only catch is, they use the same grading standards as the rest of Harvard, so it ain't easy. You earn it. Be prepared for serious academic rigour. The cool part though is that it's truly best-qualified by merit, not your last name or how much money you have. You earn you way into the program by doing well in your first three classes, not by test scores or "legacy" admissions status. If you can hack the academic rigour, I strongly recommend you go this route.

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qim...d156e8809.webp

Become a PA online with Yale University
 

Master of Science in Physician Assistant studies:

https://paonline.yale.edu/

This would be a good career backup and/or flexible side job. When I was looking at med school my college room-mate (who went the MD route early on) told me just to do PA, faster ROI and a lot less painful.

But there's probably going to have to be some sort of internship to get certified I would imagine?

Good point! Looks like there is a year of clinical rotations built into the program. The didactic coursework is online but the "hands-on" practical would be difficult to juggle with work but not impossible! I've seen airline pilots do amazing things with their schedules to become Lawyers, Doctors, PhD's, Generals, Politicians, etc. so it wouldn't surprise me. Although I doubt they have the time to comment on this forum.

My take - go with the non-aviation related Master's, and try for the best school you can get. I did an MBA from a diploma mill while in the military only for the promotion (which was a huge waste of time). I just started an MPA at USC because I actually want something I'm interested in just in case the medical goes by-by. Whichever route you go, good luck!

Yeah dude, this is an amazing looking program! I've got an old bud whose wife did the PA program at a school in Texas (in person). She literally went from graduating straight into an ER job making six figures. Healthcare is ultimate portability and PA/NP is guaranteed good money anywhere you want. If you look at the details of this program, the downside is it has a pretty gnarly set of entrance requirements (Biochemistry or Organic Chemistry, Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, Genetics). Most of these courses you have to do in-person at a local college and they require labs and are not easy, especially A&P and Biochem/Ochem. Also requires GRE's and requires some significant time spent both in clinicals and on the Yale campus, so might be hard to swing while you're an active duty pilot like the author.

Reason I went with Harvard is you can arrange it to only spend a few weeks total there to satisfy their residency requirement, they don't require GRE's or any test scores, and no prerequisites for most of their degrees, you just have to do really well in those first three classes to get into the program.

+1. Was very tempted to go with a diploma mill that awarded me "life experience" for certain classes (super rigorous) or the cookie cutter staff war college master's degree. I had to do JPME at the Naval War College and had the chance to do an extra year to get a master's in strategic studies, but I pictured some civilian HR recruiter going "what the hell is strategic studies?". These options were a waste of time. Go with a good brick and mortar school, whatever you do, and get something you can actually use in a non-aviation field that you're interested in. Crap happens, and for one reason or another, a decade from now many of us could be furloughed. If you're lucky enough to have military TA or the Post 9/11 GI Bill, use it to be prepared for life after the military and life after flying.

MBA
 

If you are going the MBA route figure out if you want to go tech or finance after. Go to the brick and mortar school but only if you get into a top 10 school or then it's not worth it.

You're not going to learn anything new, most likely retaking the same classes you already took with an excuse to charge you again. The purpose of an MBA is not to learn it is to network. You will be competing with legacies at various banks / mgt consulting firms / etc. for the same internships and eventually jobs. More than half of each hiring class (in my opinion) are always people with important parents or family in the business. Even if you do get a job, finance isn't what it used to be and headcount is declining across the board at senior levels. Maybe it comes back but Volcker put a lid on big pay days for a while.

If you want to break into tech go to Stanford and network network network. The tech space is very small and you need to be well liked to break into the tech VC world. Usually you will also have to have a very strong tech background. BA in electric engineering with Computer Engineering double major from MIT and a MBA from Stanford or a law degree with xyz years at a tier 1 patent firm.

The GI Bill does not fully cover private grad school, you will still have to come out of pocket for a significant part of tuition.

Almost went this way as the Harvard set up seemed very appealing for what I was trying to do and is only 45 miles away. Issue is I have 2 months of mil benefits left so it would be out of pocket. It really tipped the scales for me as it would have been an “accomplishment” as well as a “nice to have” item. Even with a masters from Harvard, I simply don’t have the mentality or fortitude to stick it out in any career that I could network into with that type of education. Whether it be business or finance, it’s simply not in me. Other issue is I’m out of the military (no promotion incentive) and left seat at a major so there is no career incentive as well. I would have enjoyed the challenge had it been free, but the pros/cons doesn’t work out when it’s out of pocket.

I'll give this a different spin. To me it looks like you're trying to square fill, why even bother? If you want to be an airline pilot then a master's degree is worthless once you have the job. If you're looking for a backup, then figure out what you like doing and study that instead of asking a bunch of strangers what your backup profession should be. Money is great but won't fill the void created by a soul-sucking job that happens to pay 20% more than something you enjoy doing.

Best advice is this!