Pilotyip college manifesto
I have seen you make this comment countless times, but you are equivocating. You are trying to make the leap from a fact (that being a college graduate doesn't necessarily make you a better or worse pilot) to a fiction (that you shouldn't get a college degree to be in aviation).
The fact remains that those who would choose to be successful in today's economy would do well to have a degree. It may be POSSIBLE to be successful without a degree, but it is a hindrance one must overcome, not a feather in your cap to not have it.
You may have a solid audience who want to believe they needn't "waste" the money on a degree, but you are doing those a disservice. As someone who has been a pilot recruiter, and sat in meetings with airline management discussing who a qualified pilot is, anyone who doesn't have a degree is at a disadvantage.
Also, the data shows that those who come from structured programs in general do better in training and OE than those who do not (at the regional level). That doesn't mean a superstar cannot come from part 61 with no degree, but in general the most consistent pilots come from a school with training guided and built with an eye towards airline training. If you're going to go to a structured school, you might as well go to one that offers a degree if you don't already have one. Kansas State at Salina has a program that will get you a B.A. and your certificates through CFI for under $80,000 (in state). That is less than most people spend at FlightSafety.
I know what your point is. A degree doesn't make a pilot fly a plane better. Fine. But a degree absolutely categorically positively does make it more likely that a pilot will be successful in their career in today's age. So what, exactly, is your point? Why would you suggest someone not get a degree? This isn't 1940. Look around yourself, man.
I beleive I have been consistent. It has been posted that I am anti-college degree. Nothing cuold is further from the truth. The country needs all the college-educated citizens it can have, its raises the level of knowledge to keep this as the greatest country in the world. Real degrees in business, engineering, the sciences, math, and medicine provide a graduate with marketable skills. If you are going to go to college, get a real degree from a real university. I have said never don’t get a degree, I have admitted that it will probably open doors, but it has nothing to do with flying an airplane. It is only a box to be checked on an application. Going to a 4 yr. college out of high school is not the only way to get your degree. This following example in the model of success in pursing flying job. We hired a 20 year old pilot a few years ago, 1 year of on-line college credit completed, started working the ramp pumping gas in high school, got hired hauling cargo in SA-227 as an F/O, at 18, got promoted to 208 Capt. at age 20, he has 1600 TT, 1100 MEL, 350 Turbine PIC, 1450 total turbine, he is started as a DA-20 F/O at $33K, he was a DA-20 Capt. the day he turned 23, he had his degree completed by the time he was 26 years old. At that time he should had 5200 TT, 4700 MEL, 5050 Turbine, 3200 hours 121 time, 1200 121 Turbo Jet PIC. He had his on-line BS degree in Aviation Management that our company helped pay for through the tution assistance program, and no debt. He will be interviewing with the 4 or 5 year traditional college graduate for his first airline job, The traditional 4 yr degree guy who has TT 1200 350 MEL 15 Turbine. Who is the more competitive? For the “College Only” crowd, there are many ways to skin a cat, you have your way that you feel is the only way anyone should do things. "The way I did it". I do not agree with you, if my grandson elected to pursue a pilots career, I will recommend he not go to college full time, but follow the other time tested path where I have seen too many people succeed. That is fly full time, do your degree on the side, build time, build your resume. I will not debate the fall back value of a college degree, as I have stated many times it is nearly worthless after not being used for 30 years. Let me give you the background on the college degree thing. I do not judge a man by his degree, where he lives, or what he does for a living. I judge a man on the content of his character. I find the college degrees only crowd here, a bit arrogant, a smacking of if you do not have a degree you are not as good as me. I know too many people who are successful and fine men who do not have a degree, I know many people with degrees who will never make any impact upon anything. I know too many pilots without degrees who I consider some of the most successful people I know. I admire them and the lives they have built. So I bait, about the non-importance of the college degree in this business. I think this sets off the college degree only crowd because it distorts their view of what they have done Many have posted they agree it has nothing to do with the mastering on an airplane I have seen too many non-degreed pilots reach a good career position with out a degree. But then my focus is on job satisfaction and not upon pay, respect, and prestige. It is about the joy of flying an airplane. Others out there may feel the same motivation I do. My advice is go to school part time or community college and fly, pilots get hired because they have flight time. Flt time moves you up the food chain to better jobs; the degree is not needed until the last step. You can go to school part time with a full time flying job, you cannot build real flight time while going to school full time. I have seen non-degreed guys go to the Nationals in their mid-20’s.
