Question for airline pilots - how did you go about getting your ratings AND a 4 year degree? How are you currently or did you manage the debt?

[-]

DwayneHerbertCamacho@reddit

Got an A&P, had the company I worked for as a mechanic pay for my ratings and college.

[-]

Went to a regional, and then went back to school full time while flying full time at said regional, and knocked out the remaining 40 credits in a year. Got an interview offer from my preferred airline two weeks before graduating. 🤦‍♂️

[-]

InvestigatorShort824@reddit

Did you have enough schedule control to make all the classes? Did the airline support you in that goal in terms of scheduling?

[-]

huertamatt@reddit

I suppose I should have added that I did it all online.

No airline that I know of is going to accommodate that. It’s up to you and your seniority to get it done if doing it in person.

[-]

InvestigatorShort824@reddit

Thanks! Actually have a couple of degrees already. But I’m very interested in how much schedule control I will or will not have when I start at my regional. Thanks for responding.

[-]

huertamatt@reddit

Count on having very little when you are brand new, especially right now when there is not a lot of movement. Your seniority will move slowly.

[-]

InvestigatorShort824@reddit

Yeah I may try and end up at NetJets instead of the airlines. I really value schedule predictability over income, and I'm too old to get to a point of high seniority at an airline.

[-]

Working_Football1586@reddit

College isn’t particularly challenging unless you are going to medical school or something, I went to a state university full time while working full time as a cop and it wasn’t difficult but I had a full schedule.

[-]

RealAirplanek@reddit

I grew up in Florida, and thus qualified to go to any state school paid for directly by gamblers and the state. Thus I took that option, I was bright enough to get a secondary scholarship on top of it and worked throughout the semesters as a TA, or as a undergraduate research assistant, got my four year degree and a combined masters with it after just one year extra. During each summer I would work and get a license, went into my senior year with my CFI and worked at a local mom and pop which I knew the owners having flown there a few times during the year. The way I paid for it was as I said tutorial assistantships and research assistant ships plus I was able to use my scholarship since the state was covering my tuition.

It’s a bit of an oddball way to do it. But currently just got winged a legacy after working at one of WO for a few years.

[-]

Italian_airbus777@reddit

that’s amazing! I’m also in Florida and am gonna graduate high school next year with 100% bright futures scholarship and my Associates degree, I’ve been looking at flight schools but don’t know which to stick with. Which flight schools would you recommend, if any?

[-]

RealAirplanek@reddit

Honestly, any school in Florida is good. I grew up in Miami and flew with a multitude of different schools, a few of which closed down, like Silver Express and Dean. If you're in the Miami area Pilot Training Center is, I think, fairly good and reputable, but honestly, they all are pretty good safety-wise wise find the cheaper option. For the rest of the state, just ask around or take a discovery flight with some of the schools at your local field. I went up north to Nole country for college, there was a local school up there called FL aviation center, not sure if they are still operating, they may have gotten bought out.

[-]

skateboard_pilot@reddit

I didn’t finish college, decided it was a waste of time and money. I hated it. I was enjoying the regionals and spending my time off doing stuff I liked. Ended up with a flow to an “air line” but took an earlier offer to another legacy. I don’t make a million dollars a year, but I fly fun routes and have plenty of time off to spend with friends and family. No ragrets!

[-]

scudrunner14@reddit

Not even a single letter?

[-]

clearingmyprop@reddit

Took out a loan at 19, moved across the country, did a fast track program, instructed for 9 months, flew PC-12’s for 2.5 years with some contract on the side, airline class in a week and a half at a low cost carrier.

Zero degree and absolutely fucked if I lose my medical and have no backup. 90K~ in debt for flight school still paying around $700 a month.

Absolutely DO NOT do what I did 👍

[-]

andrewrbat@reddit

I went to college for something unrelated. Paid for about half with loans. Several years later i took flt leasons on my own dime on the weekends i got my ppl this way but it took forever.

I went to atp for the rest and had about 48k in loans from that. I paid off college a few yrs ago. Have maybe half my flt school debt left maybe less.

Managed debt by not getting in when it was 100k for atp, paying as i went for some of the way, refinancing my loans as soon as i could. I was also in a predecessor to the modern cadet programs which paid a part of my student loan payment while i was a cfi.

[-]

bureaucrat37@reddit

I finished my CFI, II, MEI in between my second sophomore year and junior year. Then, I instructed my last two years of college. I scheduled all my classes from 0800-1200 then flew from 1300-dark. Also flew all day every weekend. I was wiped out and got the nickname of grandpa by my non-pilot friends because I was too tired to go out with them. Legacy captain now, it was worth it.

[-]

BeeDubba@reddit

2000: Went to the Coast Guard Academy (free). 2004: Worked in the engine room of a ship for two years until I got accepted into Coast Guard flight school. 2006: Started flight school. 2007: Got divorced basically because I put flight school ahead of my spouse. Worth it. 2009: Completed flight school. 2009: Comm/IR via military competency exam (ASEL and rotor). 2012: ATP rotor via paid checkride. 2020: CFI/II rotor via military competency exam. 2021: Completed a masters with tuition assistance (I paid 60%). 2022: Time built ASEL with a flying club. Paid out of pocket for roughly 180 hours. 2023: AMEL comm paid by military credentialing assistance. Paid for CTP out of pocket. Paid for 20 AMEL hours out of pocket. 2024: Retired from the Coast Guard and got a job with a regional.

I never went into debt for flight training expenses.

[-]

RemarkableScarcity8@reddit

Not an airline pilot yet, but I focused on the class work first before I hammered the nail down on training. I had to get college physics out of the way, and then i basically coasted until i graduated with my CFI cert. I actually didn’t pass my private until summer of my sophomore year lol. That was 7 years ago now.

[-]

Accomplished_Copy863@reddit

Spent 4 years in the worlds greatest Amphibious Fighting Force. Got out used my GI Bill got paid BAH my entire way through my 4 year aviation degree, CFI -CFII now I am at a 121. 0 debt

[-]

usmcmech@reddit

likewise

[-]

McDrummerSLR@reddit

I got my degree before I started flight training. I did do my flight training at a 2 year college and was able to transfer units from the 4 year over to the 2 year and got an associates degree in aviation without any of the standard coursework which was cool. Neither of my degrees are things I could fall back on, I’d recommend you get yours in a field you can go to in case of any issues with medical or job market.

Only way to get rid of the debt is to live below your means. That means not buying the latest phone every year, no car payment, eat out rarely and learn to cook, etc. Dave Ramsey and Ramit Sethi both have great content on debt repayment. Throw every extra penny you have at it, and keep doing that as your income goes up. I finished up my training in 2018, and as long as nothing weird happens my balance will zero out at the end of this year. I had roughly 70k in loans. I managed to be fairly comfortable on 30k a year as a CFI with no help from anyone, so it can be done.

[-]

tommyboy11011@reddit

It's hard. It's always been hard. Each generations challenges are different. I would advise someone getting in to get their degree in something else other then aviation.

[-]

MunitionGuyMike@reddit

141 flight college

[-]

EliteEthos@reddit

I got my first degree before I started flying. The second was while working full time and flying when I could.

Putting priorities in order is key.

[-]

Unlucky-Meringue-312@reddit

I did college while working on my ratings. I graduated college with a bachelors. It’s all about time management. However being a CFI and doing college may be harder

[-]

squawk1018@reddit (OP)

Wow nice! What did your schedule look like on an average week and how long did it take you to finish your instructor ratings?

[-]

OutOfBase@reddit

I went to college, got an engineering degree, and started working as an engineer to pay for my flight training. The only debt I took on was an airplane I bought which I subsequently sold for what I paid for it anyway.

[-]

StructureOver9800@reddit

Graduated UND got a aviation safety degree. Got my CFI, CFII, and MEI part 61. I’m 50k in debt but at 7% interest. Am able to make my loan payments easily with my instructing job. Still broke though

[-]

ndem763@reddit

Went to college first, paid for ratings out of pocket while working. Still paying off undergrad loans but now that I make good money it'll be paid off in a couple years.

[-]

PuzzleheadedBell7236@reddit

chat-gpt 😎

[-]

NoConcentrate9116@reddit

Not an airline pilot yet but, the military. ROTC in college, Army flight school, GI Bill while still in for rotary transition program for airplane ratings.

[-]

Knockoutpie1@reddit

I decided to do a career change 2 years after I completed my computer science degree with working full time as a programmer.

[-]

rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

I am a 21 year old commercial pilot (ASEL) and I am slowly getting my CFI at a local mom and pop. I want to emphasize slowly because the finding a job instructing sounds like it will be quite difficult and it looks like I’ll need to get my CFI-I as well. On the bright side, I have a full ride scholarship to a 4 year university that I will definitely be taking. I am a bit concerned about how I am going to simultaneously get my CFI/CFI-I and balance course work, and eventually instruct once that opportunity presents itself.

How did all of you go about getting both? I know many people will say they got a 4 year professional pilot degree… but for those who didn’t, how did you go about it? Also, how are you (or did you) manage the debt?

Please downvote this comment until it collapses.

Questions about this comment? Please see this wiki post before contacting the mods.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. If you have any questions, please contact the mods of this subreddit.