Professional Pilot , Aviation , Aeronautics

M

M7MDxSaad

New Member
Good day gentlemen ,

I want to be a pilot with a degree ( I like to study ) not only getting the license is my ambition :) ,

but when I start looking for a study to help me out getting my pilot experience and skills more professionalism as what I can say.

I found so many specialties to study and every specialty has his own study and has his own college or university.

so what is the best specialty for you to build up with your pilot career ( Professional Pilot , Aviation , Aeronautics ) or there are more studies better for me ?
 
To be honest, airlines don't necessarily care what degree you have, they just want a Bachelors degree. Some really like a Masters degree. In my opinion most of those "Pro-pilot" type degrees are useless if you run into hard times in the aviation market. My suggestion to you would be to get a degree in Business or IT/ Computer Science. They are very flexible degrees outside of aviation as well as in aviation, airlines and corporate. In a corporate flight department you would be more desirable to be a multifunction asset. With business and IT you could have a side job or a fall back if aviation isn't working at the moment. Meteorology degrees don't hurt either. Engineering is great too. Basically anything to fall back on or utilize in both aviation and something else.

If you really want you could even double major. The main thing when picking a degree program is to have an interest in it. If not your years of study are going to be hell.
 
I have an aviation degree, on which I still owe a considerable amount of money on. If I were to do it again, I would have majored in anything else that costs less. If you have someone paying for it though, go nuts.
 
IF I were to go back to college I would certainly pursue a business degree, hands down. Next in line would be a law degree.
 
dasleben said:
I have an aviation degree, on which I still owe a considerable amount of money on. If I were to do it again, I would have majored in anything else that costs less. If you have someone paying for it though, go nuts.
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Not wanting to distract from the focus of this thread and certainly not to make this about you personally. I don't understand how the choice is either someone else paying for it or going cheap. I paid all my college out of pocket, I paid all my flight ratings out of pocket. In college I worked full time (up to 3 P/T jobs simultaneously) while carrying a full load of course work. I don't mean to hold myself as shining example but do want to say where there is a will there is a way. It may not be easy but in the long run it pays off when you realize you carry zero debt.

Dasleben I do not perceive you as being a slacker.
 
FlyDutchman said:
If you really want you could even double major.
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With the caveat that the 'minor' could delay graduation. Get the paper first, then pursue the minor if it comes to that. It seems like it's liking reading tea leaves with many universities cutting or delaying this or that major. Example, my brother had a double major, history and math. Unbeknownst to him, and with short warning, the uni cut required math classes for 3 quarters which would have delayed his graduating for almost one year if he hadn't listened to me and gotten his graduation in history before pursuing the math degree.

The main thing when picking a degree program is to have an interest in it. If not your years of study are going to be hell.
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Ain't that the truth. Geology, cartography, meteorology...those were my 3 personal choices. I chose geology because of the 3 it required the least amount of math. Still had to take statistics. Ugh. But it was fun and interesting. If not for that I woulda' shot my brains out.
 
M7MDxSaad said:
Good day gentlemen ,

I want to be a pilot with a degree ( I like to study ) not only getting the license is my ambition :) ,

but when I start looking for a study to help me out getting my pilot experience and skills more professionalism as what I can say.

I found so many specialties to study and every specialty has his own study and has his own college or university.

so what is the best specialty for you to build up with your pilot career ( Professional Pilot , Aviation , Aeronautics ) or there are more studies better for me ?
Click to expand...


Where do you live? What schools are near you and what degree programs do they have? How are your finances for tuition?

Could you attend a community college for two years to get the basic courses out of the way at low cost and then move to a University?

The answer to those questions is important to know in order to give good advice.


Been many years ago for me, but I went to a local community college for two years while getting all my ratings through CFI at the local airport. Worked full time at the FBO as a ramper. Then went to an In-State University for low cost for another three years. The last two of which I also worked full time as a flight instructor. Graduated in June and was hired by a regional in July. Degree is in Aeronautical Operations with a specialty of Flight Operations.

I tend to be in the minority here in thinking that some of the Aviation degrees are worthwhile. If aviation and flying is what you love and what you like to study it makes sense to study that and get that degree. It can and does come in handy later in your career. The one regret I have is not getting an A&P. I could have done it with another semester of school.



Typhoonpilot
 
RICHARD5 said:
Not wanting to distract from the focus of this thread and certainly not to make this about you personally. I don't understand how the choice is either someone else paying for it or going cheap. I paid all my college out of pocket, I paid all my flight ratings out of pocket. In college I worked full time (up to 3 P/T jobs simultaneously) while carrying a full load of course work. I don't mean to hold myself as shining example but do want to say where there is a will there is a way. It may not be easy but in the long run it pays off when you realize you carry zero debt.

Dasleben I do not perceive you as being a slacker.
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You're old, flight training was much cheaper. Congrats on being awesome.
 
RICHARD5 said:
Not wanting to distract from the focus of this thread and certainly not to make this about you personally. I don't understand how the choice is either someone else paying for it or going cheap. I paid all my college out of pocket, I paid all my flight ratings out of pocket. In college I worked full time (up to 3 P/T jobs simultaneously) while carrying a full load of course work. I don't mean to hold myself as shining example but do want to say where there is a will there is a way. It may not be easy but in the long run it pays off when you realize you carry zero debt.

Dasleben I do not perceive you as being a slacker.
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No amount of part-time jobs would have been able to pay for what I racked up, unfortunately. I went to ERAU, because as an ignorant 17 year old, I thought that's where you went if you wanted to be an airline pilot. By the time I really figured it out, it was best to just finish the program.

Not sure when you graduated, but higher education costs are spiraling massively out of control. I'm sure some in-state public schools are still affordable to someone working and paying out of pocket, but that's becoming increasingly rare. I couldn't make it happen even on 2001 tuition rates at a private school, and it's now 2014; things are just out of hand.
 
Stomp16 said:
You're old, flight training was much cheaper. Congrats on being awesome.
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Moreover, college was cheaper. Keep reading.

dasleben said:
No amount of part-time jobs would have been able to pay for what I racked up, unfortunately. I went to ERAU, because as an ignorant 17 year old, I thought that's where you went if you wanted to be an airline pilot. By the time I really figured it out, it was best to just finish the program.

Not sure when you graduated, but higher education costs are spiraling massively out of control. I'm sure some in-state public schools are still affordable to someone working and paying out of pocket, but that's becoming increasingly rare. I couldn't make it happen even on 2001 tuition rates at a private school, and it's now 2014; things are just out of hand.
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This. The exploding cost of higher education (my state school tuition went up—no kidding—100% from when I enrolled to when I graduated, and was just barely affordable out-of-pocket at the end there) coupled with (perhaps, caused by) dwindling state support is going to price a bunch of people even out of State universities. It's still possible now, but it's a lot harder than it was 10-15 years ago. I would categorize things as "somewhat insane" now.

Here's a hint: if you can go here for the same amount of money, possibly less, as Riddle, then you might want to consider exactly what it is you're buying and what your career prospects thereafter will be like. Because I can go right now to the FBO on the field and write a large check for flight training (followed by walking out to the local California State University and writing a second, large check) that will still be cheaper than the ERAU education, and may additionally expose you to more varied training and experiences.

Pursuant to the Higher Education Opportunity Act, there's some transparency in higher ed pricing information now. See http://www.collegecost.ed.gov/ . Incidentally, the page there for Riddle Daytona mentions that the price of attending that campus has increased 10.8% from 2008-2010 and that it's approximately a $30k/year endeavor to attend. The per-month borrowing rate is considerably higher as well than the very small sample of institutions I examined in the course of writing this post at around $230/month.

Riddle seems to be an expensive education that doesn't have the sort of funding support beyond loans that other high-ticket universities have, is the conclusion.

(Interestingly enough, or perhaps alarmingly, my college has a higher loan default rate than is disclosed for ERAU—remind me to check into that. My school, net-price wise, also got cheaper 2008-2010, which is backwards industry-wide.)
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Moreover, college was cheaper. Keep reading.


This. The exploding cost of higher education (my state school tuition went up—no kidding—100% from when I enrolled to when I graduated, and was just barely affordable out-of-pocket at the end there) coupled with (perhaps, caused by) dwindling state support is going to price a bunch of people even out of State universities. It's still possible now, but it's a lot harder than it was 10-15 years ago. I would categorize things as "somewhat insane" now.

Here's a hint: if you can go here for the same amount of money, possibly less, as Riddle, then you might want to consider exactly what it is you're buying and what your career prospects thereafter will be like. Because I can go right now to the FBO on the field and write a large check for flight training (followed by walking out to the local California State University and writing a second, large check) that will still be cheaper than the ERAU education, and may additionally expose you to more varied training and experiences.

Pursuant to the Higher Education Opportunity Act, there's some transparency in higher ed pricing information now. See http://www.collegecost.ed.gov/ . Incidentally, the page there for Riddle Daytona mentions that the price of attending that campus has increased 10.8% from 2008-2010 and that it's approximately a $30k/year endeavor to attend. The per-month borrowing rate is considerably higher as well than the very small sample of institutions I examined in the course of writing this post at around $230/month.

Riddle seems to be an expensive education that doesn't have the sort of funding support beyond loans that other high-ticket universities have, is the conclusion.

(Interestingly enough, or perhaps alarmingly, my college has a higher loan default rate than is disclosed for ERAU—remind me to check into that. My school, net-price wise, also got cheaper 2008-2010, which is backwards industry-wide.)
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Riddle is more likely over $50,000/year now with flight included. I was "lucky" that I got tuition and flight for more like $25,000/year (not including housing and expenses).

Of course, for those keeping score, pay is low for the first few years in aviation. I wasn't able to begin repaying my loans until 2010 (kept them in deferment), which resulted in some pretty gnarly capitalized interest. Thankfully I have a decent-paying job now, but I'm shelling out $1500/mo in repayment (hint: that was my entire monthly net income first year at a regional).
 
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I'm at a good aeronautical university (not Riddle). There is NO WAY I would be here without the scholarship and help that I am receiving. Tuition is $12-13k a semester, not including flying and other living expenses. Think long and hard about what education decision you make.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
Or get an aviation degree from a school that isn't Embry Riddle and pay state school tuition.

And there are girls there.
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Where is that meme with eight dudes in a hot tub?

Get your ratings and education as cheap as possible, whether instate, community college and transfer or whatever. As mentioned earlier, student loan debt from Daytona will be more than the average mortgage.
 
Where are you from? It sounds like English is a second language for you, and the answer to your question is dependent on where you're located in the world.
 
I just want to bring up a point that no one really talks about when bashing an aviation degree or supporting one. Yeah most places do not care what type of degree it is. But if you go to a proper University with a well established Aviation Program there are benefits. If your true passion really is aviation, I don't think when the times get rough you should just give up and say well I'm gonna fall back on my non-related degree that for the past 10 years I have no experience in the field of. With that being said I will now voice why I think an Aviation degree does hold some weight. The first major point is the amount of connections a well established University can present you with. Most of my aviation related professors came from various backgrounds, PHD in Aviation Meteorology and an expert witness for many NTSB cases, Former Pilot from NETJETS, a military Veteran that flew F-84s and F-4s, A woman career Airline pilot that worked her way up the hard way, etc. Yeah you may be able to make these kind of connections on your own but at a University they are sitting there at your disposal day after day teaching your classes. The second major benefit of having an aviation degree vs. flight training and a different degree is, the amount of professional pilot courses offered. I don't know about most people on here but my end goal is to fly a a jet. If that isn't your goal then disregard, but I have spoken to so many pilots that I have had the pleasure to work with or met throughout my time as a pilot that haven't the first clue about how a jet engine works. Not to mention the complexity of the systems on a jet vs a light piston. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to complete "mock" ground courses on the B727 CRJ700 and Phenom 100. Not to mention sitting in a full motion 6 - axis 727 sim and a CRJ700 FTD, along with sitting co-pilot in the Phenom. Then there is an aspect that many people overlook, CRM. Whether you plan on flying part 91, 135, or 121 I believe that exceptional CRM is crucial to operating an efficient safe cockpit. I can't tell you how many courses I have taken talking about the proper use of CRM or accidents that happened as a result of poor CRM. Then there are the courses on Aviation Law, International Aviation, Business Aviation so on and so fourth. My point is that I believe that there are just as many benefits to having an Aviation Degree as there are to having a non-related degree. It just depends how you look at it. But my opinion is obviously biased so take it with a grain of salt but I believe given the state of the industry and the so called "shortage" of pilots, an aviation related degree can make your life a lot easier if you are looking for a career in aviation. I am greatly in debt but I wouldn't go back and change my choices if I had to do it over again.
 
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