SBD said:
I did instruct at one of those academies. The numbers usually vary in regards to enrollment. But overall the enrollment is going up. A lot of 20-23 year old kids have that dream of flying a jet. It is just a dang shame that a lot of them do not understand the outlook of the regionals today. The marketing teams at Flight Safety, DCA, Embry Riddle, etc, are very good at telling a 20 year old kid with little or no college education that this is the only way to get to the regionals. If I had to do it all over, no way would have I choosen the route I took to get to where I am at today. Luckily I have a four year degree to fall back on. Another gem that fell my way is that I do not have these astronomical loan payments that are due to many after they complete these various programs. I made smart investments as a young twenty year old and have a great sugar momma. Be wise to anyone thinking that Flight academies or Flight colleges are the only way to go. I learned the hard way.
I agree with all you said.
Yes, the quality of flight instruction and the academics are above average at these schools, but the amount of money paid for those services is just a bit too much. A hard working student can read all the academics on his/her own (after all unlike engineers, lawyers, doctors, to become a pilot, you DO NEED a degree, just FAA licenses). Find a good instructor and study hard and you will do as well if not better than these flight school graduates. But, I must say that the part 141 programs at UND is perhaps the best when it comes to flight training...again, it's just not worth paying the 'amount' you have to in order to get all the licensees.
It's a money making machine for UND and others...their cost is incredibly cheap (yep, it's North Dakota folks), but the amount they charge is ludicrous. Granted that some of the advantages are that few [very FEW] among the thousands would get the job with such airlines like Horizon, Eagle, etc. with fewer hours than the average applicant would, but that’s what the ‘false advertisement is all about. If you look at UND Aerospace’s web page, they still show pictures of 2 (not one, but 2) Beech 400A’s (
http://www.avit.und.edu/f2_Programs/f1_Undergraduate/index.php).
Now isn’t that false advertisement? Yes IT IS. They do NOT have the Beech 400’s. At one time the did, but for past many years, they don’t - were taken away by China Airlines…so, my point is that these kind of marketing gimmicks are what work wonderfully well and they have thousands of people willing to pay incredible amount of money to get the licenses.
On the other hand…I have worked with Part 61 and Part 141 non-collegiate pilots…and I must say that the collegiate program graduates have on average better knowledge and skills at a comparable level with non-collegiate products. After all, why do you think the airlines like Horizon, Eagle, etc. don’t officially lower their minimums for non-collegiate pilots?
I believe in the flight training programs of these institutions, but I don’t believe in whether it’s worth so much money. Especially an institution like UND that’s a ‘state-run’ institution, it should not cost more than half of what they are charging. But, again…we Americans fall for ‘false advertising’ all the time anyway.
Sorry, got way off the topic here…but any comments are welcome.
Bunny
