The comments about the established training programs ring true in my ears too. I went to a university with an aviation program. The primary reason I went this route was because I couldn't afford doing the training on my own. I paid the same for my degree as every other BA and BS there cost. As soon as I finished my flight training there (Multi Comm) I got out. I went to another school to do my CFI, and I now work there. Learning from a different perspective and a different mentality makes you a better pilot.

We have all the bells and whistles. Five aircraft with G-1000s, and three with Avedynes coming. I think it's great. They're useful tools if you know how to use them. I've also turned everything off on a student, and said "you get one comm radio, and a transponder, take me home". Learning the old school stuff, and not being afraid of it, is important as well.

My school is just flight training. I'm not getting a degree out of this and that kind of concerns me. It is a good school though. I've been pleased so far.

No degree?
 

Well,
There is one important thing right there. If you plan to take this thing past the regionals, a 4 year degree is pretty much a "Must Have". Some times as a previous poster mentioned some people go the 141 way just to make the loan process easier. The quality of the degree is not so important. Heck you can get a decent job with one of those university of phoenix degrees from your spare time. The important thing is that you have it though. Best of luck in your decisions.

XtremeF150

No Degree?
 

Even at most of the better regionals a degree is strongly prefrered. By the time you are finished with all the flight training and college you could be well over 100K in debt to get a job that pays 18K.

Skyhigh

Who cares if a degree is required or not!? Do you really want to be 40 with 2 kids, lose your medical and have to either go back to school or take a job that you can barely feed yourself with? Hard to believe that a decision you make now about a degree could put you and your family in a real tough spot down the road.

If you're not getting a degree, you should not be there longer than 6-9 months to get your COMM/CFI/CFII/MEI. Otherwise they're wasting your time, and probably your money as well.

You can get the degree online later; unless you went to a service academy they don't really care where it came from.

HVAC School
 

WWFLYBOY,

Maybe you should switch to a trade school? Sometimes it seems that people jump into aviation as an excuse to play for a while in the vein attempt to be trained for a "job". Especially at the college level I see kids taking a 4-5 year party vacation funded by mom and dad. They choose aviation since it really isn't that hard and is more fun than business school. Is the government paying for your training since you were laid off and all?

SkyHigh

I agree with XtremeF150. You must have your BA or BS degree if you plan on going to the majors. You may even want to start at your local community college, get your AA or AS degree and then transfer to a state university. This will keep the cost of obtaining a four year degree to a minimum. Just make sure the degree program you get into at the 4yr level will accept most, if not all of your credit hours from the community college.

The other factor to consider, just as rickair7777 and SKyHigh put it, is your wife. I would advised you to talk it over with her at length. She MUST be part of the decision process.

At any rate...best wishes & blue skies!!!!:)