Researching flight schools for a hopeful start date of 4/2019. I came across Academy College, in Bloomington, MN. It was appealing because it is the only flight school in the Twin Cities metro area that is able to be financed via student loans. They offer a 2 yr AA degree and a 4 yr BA degree in aviation. I am considering the 2 year program. Cost of enrollment includes flight training and all required licensing/ratings, etc. at Thunderbird Aviation. This is the only part 141 school in the Twin Cities so the idea of the R-ATP is nice, even with the 2 yr degree.

My question(s):
1. Has anyone heard of this school/program or flown with anyone who is a successful graduate?
2. Because they are part 141, does that somewhat guarantee a quality curriculum/education? I'm imagining they don't just give that to any school who wants it.

Any insight would be great, thank you!

I know a guy that trained/graduated from there. He had crippling debt and only the two year degree to show for it - not a great situation. Although some airlines have recently dropped the requirement of a four year degree, I believe it’s still a requirement to be competitive. If you only get a two year degree your chances of regretting it in the future are high.

So, my advice is to keep researching and try to end up with a four year degree with as minimal debt as possible.

Thanks for the reply. My main requirement is close to home since I'll need to keep a job and my wife has a great job now. And unfortunately this is the only school in the twin cities that offers a degree with flight school. So the ability to finance it period regardless of debt afterwards is nice. All other flight schools in the twin cities are cash up front since there is no degree aspect. So I'm torn. I absolutely appreciate your insight, but this seems like the only option without moving out of state.

Still worth the debt? Always the possibility of finishing a 4 yr degree online while in the regionals. Can defer student loans if I'm doing online school for another two years lol.

I got my PPL through Thunderbird Avaition at KMIC which is the FBO and flight school that is associated with Academy college. They had some really good instructors there that knew their stuff. When I finshed my license they tried talking me into going to academy college but I chose a different route. They told me I’d expect about 100k of debt after getting everything up to your CFII and that would roughly take a year a half. After that they would give you a job to teach the new students. If you do the bachelors program you’d only need 1000 hours for ATP because it’s a 141 school. I had already graduated college so doing part 61 training was a better option for myself.

Thank you for your insight. I'm glad to hear thunderbird is a quality operation. I don't have any degree's right now, so that's why this program is appealing to me.