First off im asking this question on behalf of a friend he tried to join but only has a free email acct. He is currently 25 years old working for a 135 passenger outfit about 2800TT and about to upgrade on a lear 40. When he was 17 his parents divorced so he was completly on his own for college. He attended a state school that offered pilot training along with a degree. after 4 semesters he could no longer afford tuition and flight training, he felt like he had to make a choice between flying and college. He knew he could land a flying job with out a college degree just not the kind that he dreamed about. Anyway now with the added pay raise he is about to recieve he can afford online classes, not only that his company has some sort of tuition reimbursment program. His concern though is many people say 4 year online degrees are worthless. He wants to eventually work for American, Southwest, or Delta. However he feels like they will not approve of his online degree. I didnt really know what to tell him thats a tough position to be in. I feel like its not fair for him to be denied a fair shot. He worked his butt off in college as a line guy an airline ramper and a gas station clerk. Several times I saw him sleeping in his car at the airport since he only had a few hours to go from ramp agent at the airlines back to a line guy at the FBO. I know if i was in his shoes i could not have done it. its great to see someone so passionate about something they love. So what do you guys recomend?

I recommend cosc.edu or tesc.edu or excelsior.edu

The most flexible colleges I've come across, I've been a student at TESC, and my actual degree is from Excelsior, they take 100% of credit as long as it is from an accredited college or ACE recommended and applies to your degree plan, and they also allow you to petition for college credits based on your work experience.

Very valuable for me is the fact that almost 100% of the credits are allowed to be tested out of through CLEP and DSST. Lots of hours not wasted in a classroom, IMO, if you can study for a certain subject to take a test, or know a lot about it already.

Best part is, these colleges are all accredited by the same body that Harvard and Princeton is, so no problems with recognition. The diplomas say nothing about receiving the degree online, and TESC is an actual state college with classrooms in addition to online only classes.

Ensure that it is from an accredited institution.

An online degree should work fine at a regional, but some majors may not be too excited about it.

The reason for this is that hiring decisions at majors are made by older people who all went to a traditional college...they probably harbor the attitude that online education is akin to a diploma mill. It will help if you get your online degree from a large, well-known school that happens to offer distance learning. They might not notice that you did not do a traditional program.

For example: TESC??? What the heck is that? If I were a hiring person (I have been) I would google that to see what it's all about.

But if your degree said Arizona State University, I wouldn't think twice.

I may be biased, since I'm finishing up my degree online, but I don't think it makes that much of a difference. There are a ton of traditional, brick and mortar schools, that as rick said, happen to offer online degrees. The diplomas from most online programs look just like any other diploma. I wouldn't pursue a degree from an online only school, but look for a program from a state school that appeals to you. Personally, I did my AA at a local community college, then started online at a state school, but transferred to Riddle because they gave 30 credits for private through MEI. I could see how an online degree might be a peg or two below a traditional degree, but it is still MUCH better than no degree at all. I think in the vast majority of cases, an online degree is enough to check the proverbial box.

I personally know a guy who is on the 767ER out of JFK for Delta who was hired in 2007 with a bachelors from TESC.

Online learning is the direction the world is moving. It's a matter of perspective of what one thinks of online vs. a brick and mortar school. An open minded employer would see that a person who learned online had to balance family, cook dinner, go to work, worry about bills, all while studying the SAME curriculum that brick n' mortar schools have. You're right about the school needing to be accredited.

It depends on the type of job he's going for. Typically, airlines who are hiring for a pilot position won't care much about where the degree is from, as long as he has one (if that is their requirement.) If he's applying for a "desk job," say an analyst of some sort, then where he obtained his degree may be factored in the equation with more weight.

There are several posts here about how to go forward with an online degree and I wholeheartedly agree that it MUST be from an accredited college. If he ever wants to use that degree in another fashion, as a fall back, then the more recognizable the institution name the better.

[one caveat] If the institution he chooses has a disreputable name (commonly known as a degree factory) the education may be "discounted."

Where does Utah Valley University fit?

I am a distance flight student of UVU and I would also like to know if anyone knows where it stands among the flight schools. I know it is a decently well known accredited school. I think its a great program and it allows you to work as much as you need to while attending school since you get to schedule your ground/flight lessons.

I have flown with several people who went to school, nobody had anything bad to say. I think their actual flight training is in cooperation with a nearby flight school? Probably cheaper that without a university markup.