AFIT options
I'll try to answer all of your questions, but my experience is limited on a couple. I was an instructur pilot in the F-15E until I was picked up for Test Pilot School last Feb. They are sending me through AFIT first to get my masters (in Aerospace Engineering) before I report to TPS in Jan of 06.
>I'm wondering how the Air Force Institute of Technology works. If you go into
>the Air Force as an engineer, how soon does grad school become an option?
More than 50% of the students in my section are 2LTs _directly_ out of their Undergraduate degree. I'm fairly certain they make up the largest percentage of AFIT students (i.e. directly from BS degrees).
>Do you have a lot of leeway in choosing where to study?
Depends on where the AF sends you. I know of some people who graduated (from the Academy or ROTC) and the AF sent them to some other school (i.e. GA Tech) to get their graduate degree. Some they send to AFIT. No idea how the selection is made.
> How much will the Air Force pay in tuition?
If the AF sends you (after you are commissioned) they will pay all of it.
> What are the additional time obligations by getting a graduate degree?
No idea here. If I were guessing, I'd say somewhere between 2 and 4 years after you graduate. Again, take it with a grain of salt.
> Do pilots have the option of pursuing a graduate degree on the Air Force's dime?
Very few make this happen. AFIT/TPS is one way (but you have to get picked up for Test Pilot School to make this happen). A _few_ other folks get picked up for the Naval Post-Graduate school (still AF folks). Also, the Intermediate Service School (Military school for Majors) now has an option where they send you to AFIT instead of the Air War College in Montgomery Alabama. But by and large, an advanced degree as a pilot on the AF's dime is hard to come by.
> Thanks.
No problem, glad I could help out.
Mongoose
