Currently a High School Senior, and sent the tuition fee for Riddle. I am terrified.

niceguy810

niceguy810

New Member
All I see right now is just people bashing on Riddle. I have a -1500 SAI Index for FAFSA and plan to take out Federal Loans to help with tuition. I plan to go with Aeronautical Science (with flight training). My parents tell me not to worry about the cost. But I am to say the least. How will payments be per semester/end of year? Should I recall my admission acceptance? Is it still a good flight school?
 
I'm far too old to answer very intelligently, hope we still have some younger guys around with more current info. But I would bet that Riddle training is fine. I've flown with a lot of Riddle Aces, and I think there are a few around here who I would count as friends (ie. they don't suck). AFAICT, they are trained reasonably well (insofar as having a Dispatcher who tells you how much crosswind you can handle vs. the POH can be "reasonable")

With Riddle, my concern would be the cost, as you indicated. Not sure it's the same as it was back in the mists of time when I was confronting these questions, but for me, the calculus indicated that it would be wiser to do the training in a part 61 school, have some adventures, and get a degree in something I was actually interested in.

Obviously, there are a lot moving parts here. If you're 100% certain that all you ever want to do is operate Aviation Appliances, RIddle is probably still a good move. You'll get through fast and get that seniority number that much more quickly (and that is not to be sneezed at; My contemporaries who went to Riddle and places like it have 10-15 years of seniority on me, and boy howdy that matters).

That said, I'm not sorry that I went the Road Less Traveled. Saw a lot of stuff, went a lot of places you won't go at the airlines, and most importantly got to study something I cared about (as much as I love planes, they are not the limit of my interests).

It's going to be a specifically personal decision, I suspect. IMHO, you wouldn't be wrong to go to Riddle (see above), but it's also not the only way to do this.

OTOH, I hear those hot-tub parties are *on fire*.
 
Boris Badenov said:
OTOH, I hear those hot-tub parties are *on fire*.
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I'm sure @derg and @MikeD can talk all about those... although that was so long ago that it probably looked like this.
ChatGPT Image Dec 2, 2025, 07_27_08 PM.png
 
niceguy810 said:
All I see right now is just people bashing on Riddle. I have a -1500 SAI Index for FAFSA and plan to take out Federal Loans to help with tuition. I plan to go with Aeronautical Science (with flight training). My parents tell me not to worry about the cost. But I am to say the least. How will payments be per semester/end of year? Should I recall my admission acceptance? Is it still a good flight school?
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1.) They will be hard. But you should be making enough to cover them if you live very frugally. YMMV. If you have supportive parents, it will help.
2.) No, if this is what you want to do... then do it.
3.) Yes.

Aviation is a great career - it's not gonna be easy. You are behind the curve of a huge wave of hiring that just took place, but during the next 10-15 years a lot of folks are gonna be retiring. The jobs should still be there, but you won't see the same amazing career progression stuff that you are probably watching on the -gram or tiktok or whatever social feed you are watching. The pathways are still there and it's a marathon and not a sprint. You've got a lot of adventures ahead of you, enjoy the ride and don't worry about the endgame. That's the secret about this job - it's going to generate a lot of stories that you are going to be able to tell. And you get to live those stories first.

Your job for the next 4-5 years is to work hard, learn everything you can, and go out there and meet people and do the things and get yourself ready for the next stage after college. Keep your eyes open - do the reps - follow the program - become a good pilot, everything else will follow. Once you get that first job, then worry about paying down those loans & putting as much money as you can in the bank.
 
Just my 2 cents as someone who isn't a pilot but at one point, I planned on an aviation career and looked into many options. Nothing wrong going on Riddle, but you can get the same training and degree at a busy state school aviation program for a lot less.
 
If you’re going to DAB enjoy your time 12 deep at the hold short only to be told that the pattern is closed due to too many airplanes. That place gets ridiculously busy.
 
Boris Badenov said:
I'm far too old to answer very intelligently, hope we still have some younger guys around with more current info. But I would bet that Riddle training is fine. I've flown with a lot of Riddle Aces, and I think there are a few around here who I would count as friends (ie. they don't suck). AFAICT, they are trained reasonably well (insofar as having a Dispatcher who tells you how much crosswind you can handle vs. the POH can be "reasonable")

With Riddle, my concern would be the cost, as you indicated. Not sure it's the same as it was back in the mists of time when I was confronting these questions, but for me, the calculus indicated that it would be wiser to do the training in a part 61 school, have some adventures, and get a degree in something I was actually interested in.

Obviously, there are a lot moving parts here. If you're 100% certain that all you ever want to do is operate Aviation Appliances, RIddle is probably still a good move. You'll get through fast and get that seniority number that much more quickly (and that is not to be sneezed at; My contemporaries who went to Riddle and places like it have 10-15 years of seniority on me, and boy howdy that matters).

That said, I'm not sorry that I went the Road Less Traveled. Saw a lot of stuff, went a lot of places you won't go at the airlines, and most importantly got to study something I cared about (as much as I love planes, they are not the limit of my interests).

It's going to be a specifically personal decision, I suspect. IMHO, you wouldn't be wrong to go to Riddle (see above), but it's also not the only way to do this.

OTOH, I hear those hot-tub parties are *on fire*.
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Majoring in degeneracy IS an option it seems.
 
niceguy810 said:
All I see right now is just people bashing on Riddle. I have a -1500 SAI Index for FAFSA and plan to take out Federal Loans to help with tuition. I plan to go with Aeronautical Science (with flight training). My parents tell me not to worry about the cost. But I am to say the least. How will payments be per semester/end of year? Should I recall my admission acceptance? Is it still a good flight school?
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Just my personal opinion, but what you get out of flight school is largely what you put in to it. Sure, bad schools and instructors exist, but for the most part your odds should be pretty good regardless.
Being fully submerged in the aviation culture has some advantages too, some of the most fun arguments I ever had were in a collegiate flight school over various minutiae. Being surrounded by others moving towards the same goal can have the effect of helping drag you along with it.

That said, some of my best training occurred in a Part 61 environment away from the structure of the 141 and my most valued (personally) experience was the survey job I did to build my hours that took me over a big chunk of the country and truly taught me how to operate in unfamiliar environments including plenty of single pilot IFR.

Edit: In short, it all depends. Your path is unique to you and, like flying, you have to make a choice and see where it leads. You will never have all the information you want. That doesn't mean you can't divert if you don't like where the path you chose is leading you
 
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moxiepilot said:
Frankly I think you can get equivalent knowledge with a much smaller price tag. YMMV.

Personally I still continue to be unimpressed with Riddle graduate's egos and their lack of workspace situational awareness.
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A lot of guys , dodge the question when it comes to riddle
 
sound similar to inhaling sharply through clenched teeth

Do not construe any of this as me stomping on the dream of flying airplanes, but I think you should stop and have a think, and some informed discussions. Perhaps not with other pilots; it is axiomatic that you should not take financial advice from pilots.

Anyway, allow me to proceed to give you financial and academic advice:

I would strongly recommend that you sit down with someone counseling-wise who is fluent in the modern student aid system, such that it is, in the United States. And I would strongly recommend, based on the very limited facts you presented here, having a hard look at state schools because it sounds like affording Riddle may be a bit of a stretch. I say this as someone who was ready to go to Riddle for undergrad and wound up taking a cheaper/better and more fun/but a bit longer way.

niceguy810 said:
I have a -1500 SAI Index for FAFSA and plan to take out Federal Loans to help with tuition.
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For those following along at home (I had to look this one up; this is a new way of doing things but it's the same old federal aid goat rope where they bin a student based on their family income), -1500 is as low as you can get and indicates that a student is likely to need the maximum financial assistance an institution and the government can offer nervous laugh.

The good (?) news is that at that score you should be eligible for the maximum in federal Pell grants. You don't have to pay back a Pell grant (that's why it's called a 'grant') and you should exhaust that money and any other scholarship or grant money that may be available to you prior to drawing on a student loan. There is a surprising amount of money to be had out there, but you have to be somewhat aggressive in hunting it down and applying for it. A good counselor and a good financial aid person knows knows you, and knows where those things are, and can match them up for you. The problem is finding a good one; Student Affairs is rarely a haven of administrative competence but the good people in that end of the world tend to be worth their weight in gold.

niceguy810 said:
My parents tell me not to worry about the cost.
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Serious question: are your parents well-heeled enough to make such a statement? Based on your SAI I would guess not, though if I remember correctly that's much more based on your parents' income. If they are, then fine. Borrow or just accept outright grants from the Bank of Mom and Dad. If they aren't, then that's a problem.

niceguy810 said:
How will payments be per semester/end of year?
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That's difficult to say. If you have such a low SAI score I'd expect you'd qualify for a subsidized loan, which keeps the great evil of capitalized interest away (this is the thing that balloons someone's loan amounts well beyond that which they originally borrowed). An unsubsidized loan, on the other hand, is issued on a no-financial-need basis and interest is capitalized. Whether the subsidized loan will cover the entire cost is beyond the scope of this post.

It depends on how much you borrow and heavily on the terms of the loan. Financing it all through loans could be terrifically expensive, hence the comments about other money sources above. I have met people with loan payments that are the size and shape of rent payments, for example. That is a boatload of money in the early-career days.

Like I said, I'd sit down with someone who understands this system (and, preferably, who works for you and your parents, and not Embry-Riddle) really well before signing for loans.
 
The only benefit I gained from going to an Aviation university (as opposed to learning to fly part 61 and getting a degree in anything else from a state school) was the networking.

The thing is, that networking has been invaluable. The people I met at that school and remain friends with today helped me get jobs through just about every furlough and downturn in my career. Hard to put a price tag on that.

Riddle is expensive, but it's also the gold standard. (I didnt attend Riddle but I know many who have). If the AirForce Academy isn't an option, Riddle is the next most popular (anecdotally in a survey of those I fly with). That said there are many other great universities for flying, UND, Florida Tech, OSU... and dozens more that will likely provide the same benefits of terrific flight training AND networking.

If you can take the edge off with scholarships, grants, and test out of some credit hours with CLEP tests or similar I'd say go for it. Maybe even talk to them about doing some classes at a nearby community college to save money.

Take my advice with a grain of salt. It's been 30 years since I left college. My last direct dealing with ERAU training was when I was a CFI at Flagler County Airport north of Daytona and shared the pattern with legions of their pilots - all flying a 20 mile final while in the pattern. ;-)
 
ZapBrannigan said:
The only benefit I gained from going to an Aviation university (as opposed to learning to fly part 61 and getting a degree in anything else from a state school) was the networking.

The thing is, that networking has been invaluable. The people I met at that school and remain friends with today helped me get jobs through just about every furlough and downturn in my career. Hard to put a price tag on that.

Riddle is expensive, but it's also the gold standard. (I didnt attend Riddle but I know many who have). If the AirForce Academy isn't an option, Riddle is the next most popular (anecdotally in a survey of those I fly with). That said there are many other great universities for flying, UND, Florida Tech, OSU... and dozens more that will likely provide the same benefits of terrific flight training AND networking.

If you can take the edge off with scholarships, grants, and test out of some credit hours with CLEP tests or similar I'd say go for it. Maybe even talk to them about doing some classes at a nearby community college to save money.

Take my advice with a grain of salt. It's been 30 years since I left college. My last direct dealing with ERAU training was when I was a CFI at Flagler County Airport north of Daytona and shared the pattern with legions of their pilots - all flying a 20 mile final while in the pattern. ;-)
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In a seaplane amirite?
 
I spent a year and a summer at Riddle PRC and had a great time. I graduated through the international campus program (worldwide is what they call it now). I was able transfer in with a two year degree and all my ratings thru CFI from a small flight school. You can't do it that way anymore if you want an R-ATP (which is what 99% of these aviation colleges do now). You learn stuff and have experiences at the small flight school that you'd never have at Riddle.

Unlike Zap above, whom I greatly respect, I got zero help with networking or career placement. Networking is huge, but you can do that working at an FBO, going to career fairs, forums like this, EAA, CAP, working at a flight school, ect.

Riddle is institutionalized flight training and the stucture is like the airlines. And, yes, it's very expensive. I don't think the R-ATP is worth the money and that's what all these aviation colleges are pushing now. The time for that has passed and may or may not come back but you could be wasting a lot of money pursing that.

I have a Riddle degree and I had a great 31 year career at a major flying big jets. Riddle did NOT make that happen or really help in any way other than checking the degree square. Being at the right place, at the right time, with the right quals, and a whole lotta luck (devine providence) made it work for me.

College was really fun and I don't regret going to Riddle at all. I just think one should explore all options and not buy into fancy websites. The OP doesn't say enough about what other options they have explored. Highly recommend checking out the Raising Aviation Teens facebook page.
 
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