I'm a senior in college in the Seattle, Washington area and I'm considering pursuing a career as a commercial pilot. I've read a lot of the information on here already, including the blog linked to in the pinned topic. My interests in aviation probably began when I was a little kid and my mom was a flight attendant.
I'm specifically wondering about the costs - I have about 15k I could put toward training, but the FBOs in the area state about 40k for the complete costs from private pilot to multi-engine rating. Is there a good option to finance that cost? I've seen "Pilot Financing" and Sallie Mae suggested but the payments and interest on those seem very high.
The other choice for me, besides just saving up to pay for it out of pocket (could take years), would be to enroll in an associate's degree in commercial piloting program at one of the community colleges in the state, even though I will have a bachelor's degree already. Big Bend CC in Moses Lake seems to have a good program, with Japan Airlines training their pilots there. I could get federal loans that way.
Would welcome advice from anyone that has suggestions or experience in Washington State.