aviator4252, you might consider the Utah Valley State College online degree. My thoughts were very much along the same lines: go through the Ari-Ben program (roughly six months), sign on there as a flight instructor (something that's virtually guarenteed--and no better opportunity to accumulate multi-engine time!), and while flight instructing begin the UVSC degree. You might not be able to complete it until you have landed your regional job (assuming you get a four-year), but at least you'll have gotten the ball rolling. Most regionals do not require a degree. Majors, of course, practically do.
One disadvantage to UVSC: it is an aviation degree. Meaning that if you lose your job as a pilot (can't pass the medical, get furloughed, etc) you won't have a degree outside of that field to "fall back on". But having been through the military I'd say you were already a pretty "well-rounded" guy and wouldn't have trouble finding work outside of aviation should something like that happen. Having any four-year degree to begin with is a big step in finding work, even if it's not in the field you're looking at. The airlines certainly think so: they couldn't care less what you have your degree in.
A pretty significant advantage to UVSC, though, is that your flight training applies as about one year of college credit. Plus, it's relatively cheap. $8,600 for an associate's degree, and $16,000 for a bachelor's.
Their website is
www.uvscaviation.com. I don't know whether UVSC offers VA benefits, but I know Ari-Ben does. Not all schools are approved by UVSC (due to part 61/141 training), but Ari-Ben certainly is. When I toured there, Mike Cohen (the owner) said they had some ten or eleven guys doing the UVSC program.
