A different century. College is readily available to almost anyone, and anyone who is airline pilot material can pull it off.

If you choose not to, you'll have to swim upstream. At a job interview you'll need to come up with a plausible reason for not going to college. Here are two answers I have heard to that question.

"I don't have time to listen to what a bunch of academics think"

"I don't know why any pilot would waste his time with college"

Just in case it's not obvious... those were the wrong answers.

That is an easier problem to solve. Aircraft can be sold off, leased out, replace a soon to be retired fleet, etc...

I just think people put way to much emphasis on a degree. For me personally it came down to dollars and cents. If my budget is 100K, I can get a collage degree and pilot ratings VS A&P IA and pilot ratings. I felt the A&P would be much more beneficial to have vs a collage degree and make me a better pilot.

What you feel is beneficial is much less important than what your dream employer feels is beneficial.

I'm not debating that in any way. I have learned that a lot of employers would rather have a pilot with a degree in underwater basket weaving than one with an A&P. Your absolutely correct that is just the way it is, I'm just saying that its a narrow minded approach to assessing someones value.

All 3 defense contracting companies I have worked for were owned and founded by people with no collage degree.

College. With an e.

Yikes. .

I got my collage degree in third-grade art class. Cost me nothing. Just sayin'.

[MENTION=86678]cfimechanic[/MENTION],

The idea isn’t that college (with an “e”) is the only place to get an education. It’s to create a set of standards that serve as additional qualifications and statistically could/should show that a candidate,

1. Can commit to something long term
2. Can pass higher levels of curriculum and that might translate to one’s ability to pass systems/learn profiles etc.

I’m not denigrating trade schools, as I graduated from two different trade schools in non-aviation fields as well as an accredited four-year university.

It is a set of standards. It’s out of your control. Commit to them and complete them. Or don’t.

You know where I got my degree? On overnights. In a crash pad. In the crew room. With a laptop. While flying for a regional.

Set your mind and do it. Complaining about it or naming historical figures without degrees won’t exactly work in an interview.

It’s not about assessing someone’s values. That makes things personal and that’s not the intent. It’s a filter more than anything else.

Another poster by the name of duvie posted this in the UA forum.

“As a prior enlisted guy who did a 4 year degree on sight.... The two experiences are very different. I met a lot of super hard-working, intelligent NCOs that just didn't have it in them to grind through a 4 year program. (and obviously I know as many, if not more 4-year GPA studs who wouldn't last a week as an E-1)

The personality/aptitude it takes to make it through 121 ground school and succeed on our first few months on the line is a lot more narrow than many of us realize. Whether because of a military background, or civilian (where aviation often becomes a big part of your life), most of us are surrounded by personality types like our own. Mission oriented, determined, work-hard play-hard, etc. The general populous has a lot more variation out there.

The ability to get through four years of school, get good grades shows:
- patience
- commitment
- prioritization
- above average intelligence

All qualities you'd probably want when assessing a candidate for your organization.

THIS ISN'T TO SAY THAT MANY ENLISTED FOLKS DON'T HAVE THESE QUALITIES..

Its just to say that when sorting through 11,000+ applicants, the degree is tangible evidence of that.

The 4 year degrees that are done remotely show some of the above, but not to the same level, hence why Delta for one looks at how long it took you to get your degree from start to finish (and from where). United puts a larger emphasis on not selecting the same guy/gal over and over again, thus the thrust on diverse backgrounds/educations, different sectors of aviation etc.”