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

Hey y'all, I'm a HS Junior in a pretty fortunate spot and have been trying to figure out the best path to becoming a pilot. I've asked around and learned as much as I could, but received mixed answers for college vs flight school so please help! For the sake of this post let's say I'm trying to reach a major airline in the future.

College pros breakdown
- Tuition and housing is 5k a year. Additionally I'm very likely to receive a full ride which would remove this cost.
- It is an ROTC school if I try to go the military pathway. My ASVAB was 94 and I'm also going to boys state if relevant.
- Their flight program goes from PPL to 1000h rATP and has a program to go directly to 2 different regionals, though I realize that's competitive.
- The fleet size is about 50 and has been steadily growing over time. However, I've heard mixed opinions about getting labs scheduled due to availability.
- About an hour from my home which I can also return to following graduation.
- The flight program is projected to cost 51k since I'm already working a job and taking classes to receive my PPL before college.

That leaves me at a total of 71k to graduate from the program without any scholarships. However, since I've been mentioning scholarships I'll add that I have a 4.0, took 7 APs, and have participated in plenty of clubs and selective programs, so I think I'll receive a lot of them.

For reference the local flight school I've been repeatedly recommended is 89k to CFII and about an hour away. The benefit here is a local factory job paying in the high 20s I could apply for following graduation.

So, what do y'all think? Do I take the 71k debt trying to minimize private loans and work throughout college, or do I stay home and go to a nearby school while saving up? The reason I hesitate is due to taking out debt and the about difficulty scheduling checkrides I was told of. I've tried to stay concise but it's a lot of text, sorry!

Also, I've heard vastly different opinions on the importance of a college degree in aviation to the airlines. Any comments on that specifically?

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.