How do airlines with preferential interview programs such as Aviate with United view applicants without a degree? Are you allowed into the program without one, and if so, would that person stand a realistic chance of getting hired, or would the company simply select someone who did what they expect an applicant to do?

 

I'll definitely do it; maybe I'm wrong. Always willing to learn.

I was simply looking up the average in-state/out-of-state public institutions, and going on anecdotal evidence, for what it's worth.

 

One of my kids is at a state university and the total bill comes to about $25,000 per year. Friends in the same boat in other states say that their cost are similar. That includes books, lab fees, dorm, and meal plans. Unless an industry (like ours) requires a degree, or if a student is going into medicine, science, engineering....., a degree isn’t worth it. Spending $100,000 on a generic degree doesn’t pay off in the long run. A degree that won’t train you for a job that is actually out there makes no sense. Majoring in French literature won’t exactly open many doors.

 

Just finished reading the article; it was very good and highlights several points I hadn't considered in full, but kind of tackles what I said from the back-end (STS).

Seems like folks are leaving school with an unpaid debt of $30K-ish, but the overall cost that is PAID as a sum is way higher than it used to be (and exponentially increasing). So, yeah, Johnny may not have to pay back $100K at the end of four years, but someone was paying a higher amount along the way.

Definitely agree there is some hyperbole involved in the higher education front (from multiple parties), usually to push one agenda or another. At the end of the day, I still value a college education very highly, but it depends on what your end-game is, I suppose.

And one thing someone else may have alluded to earlier is the notion that not everyone SHOULD go to college. Not all folks have the capacity or desire, and we have a massive need for professional tradesmen that is not being met in any real way. If I hadn't had my scholarships to pay for school, my dad had pushed pretty hard for me to do a trade of some sort, make some money, and then head to school. Looking back on it, seems like that would have been a pretty good way to go, if I hadn't had the means.

Anyway, kind of derailed things... End of the day, airlines love degrees, so it seems like the easiest way to do it would be an online diploma mill, as you sit on your 18-hour overnights.

 

I'm curious, what do you think the reality of college debt is?

This is an FO I flew with recently, with an aviation degree.


Total debt due: $445,905

 

180,000 means they went to the wrong school. In state, all flying + room and board I ended up around 80,000 in debt after scholarships and financial aid. Almost all of those are lower interest subsidized loans. On captain pay at a regional I can pay back more aggressively and cut down the interest even further. 180,000 is not the norm, and you shouldn’t characterize the decision to go to college as bad just because some people go to the wrong school.

Also 11% interest is insane. They either didn’t try to get any financial aid or their parents are loaded.

 

The 11% is due to default when their first regional went TU. The issue is that that debt should have been shed in a personal bankruptcy.

This is what your debt load might look like if you participate in one of the Legacy college hiring programs, and the industry has a hiccup.

 

Not really, because I can pay my student loans waiting tables if I had to, and I can also adjust my monthly payments to income based if I lost my job.

Just gotta be smart about things.

 

The flexibility you have depends on the principle size, that's the risk problem with an aviation degree.

 

I have an aviation degree. Again, you need to go to the right school. Apply to a dozen and see how much financial aid each offers. Somebody going to riddle, taking on 180,000 in student loans with no way to pay them off is not a smart way to go to college.

Going to a state school, preferably one in your state, taking out federal student loans which offer much greater deferment and repayment flexibility, and either dual majoring or have some kind of non-flying backup plan is much lower risk.

Your comment is like saying digging ditches is impossible because you saw someone try to do it using a spoon. Your example is someone who went about college in a tremendously foolish way.