College Aviation Programs

[kf4amu]

Why do some airlines require or prefer a pilot to have a 4 year college degree in order to work for them?

Probably because it shows long term commitment to a moderately difficult goal.

For whatever that's worth in this short term outlook, come and go operators, of an industry

 

[pilotyip]

Why do some airlines require or prefer a pilot to have a 4 year college degree in order to work for them?

makes it easier to screen out resumes, and that might have some statistics that these college grads make less speeling mistakes when filling out the logbook than non-college grads. But I personally know it has nothing to do with flying an airplane. BTW This college degree thing becomes much less important during a hiring boom, like the that will start next year.

 

[ksu_aviator]

I agree with the above and offer this. Not all kids graduate HS and are ready to go off to college and take a full load of classes at 18yo. If your son isn't exactly a scholastic achiever and could use a year to mature, you might let him get his ratings while working at the local FBO then let him go off to school a year later.

This idea is great. Have him take a year to get all the way through his MEI and then send him to college for a business or accounting degree or something. That way he can work part time as an instructor while going to college. By the time he graduates, he'll have enough time to get a job at a regional or charter company and when he does get furloughed (and we all get furloughed at some point) he'll have an unrelated degree to fall back on.

 

[infoman]

Surfnole,

First; your child needs to be a self starter. If you can say "yes" without a doubt...ask your child what they want too study. Once you both understand what the goal is you will find the answers. I will not document my own journey in aviation but I had the "self starter" covered when I decided my path. I will say one thing too motivate...it has been an amazing journey.

Infoman.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Broward College Near Ft. Lauderdale.

 

[Friend]

Southeastern oklahoma state university best value for your dollar
www.su.edu. DURANT, OK 74701

 

[LearLove]

While I think the aviation type degree programs are great they do lock the person into one career in aviation for the most part. Unless your last name is Hilton or Kennedy and you (or your kid) can afford to go back to college if they cannot fly (medical DQ) or furloughed then I would recommend getting a degree in something other than aviation. Look to engineering/science or a business BA/BS degree. In high school and during the summers in college send your kid to the local FBO to get his/her PVT, INST, COMM/MEL and CFI.

I started taking lessons in high school and had my comm/mel and cfi by my senior year in college and was building time (CFIing) before I got my degree (outside aviation).

This day in age I would plan on spending 30K for your kids ratings at a local FBO.

 

[pilotyip]

I would recommend getting a degree in something other than aviation. Look to engineering/science or a business BA/BS degree. In high school and during the summers in college send your kid to the local FBO to get his/her PVT, INST, COMM/MEL and CFI.

The fall back value of a college degree is greatly over rated. I have a BS and a Master's in Management, but at age 53, I was making $250/wk loading cargo. After Zantop pretended to go out of went out of business in 1997, I had been a temporary High School Chemistry Teacher up until two weeks before the cargo job came along. However, they do not teach school in the summer so I had to take the cargo job. The value of an unused degree is highly over rated. 53 year old unemployed airline pilots are not eagerly greeted in any industry that I know of, even of having a couple degrees. Of course, I did not apply for many of the "College degree preferred jobs" such as apt manager, telephone direct sales, and plumping floor manager at Home Depot, etc. If you get a college degree you have to use, the knowledge gained in college to develop a career or the degree is useless. After getting a degree, flying an airplane is not a knowledge expanding experience; it is skill development experience. Anyone care to chime in and share their experiences on entering the non-aviation job market after being out of college 20-30 years?

 

[coffeedog]

I would recommend some form of formal structured training to become a professional pilot. Jets are so much more common in low experience positions than in the past, and anyone flying a modern jet needs to know the aerodynamics of high altitude flight. The FBO patchwork education just doesn’t ensure a comprehensive coverage of this type of essential information. For example clean minimum maneuver speed at 5000’ is not the same as at F390. The FBO education has not proven to be a reliable source for this type of essential information.

As far as a 4yr degree at age 53, a technical degree such as engineering will have become outdated, while a management degree should age more gracefully. I agree that all will become somewhat “stale” in marketability after 30 years of non-use. Perhaps a better backup plan is an education that the student could use directly in their own small business?

 

[deej]

To add my experience to this discussion. I have a Master's Degree in Accounting. A degree I completed while flying for a regional airline full time. Five years at the regional and no upgrade to captain, thus no PIC (in fact, classmate still with the company and a 10 year FO). Flew for a large fractional and then furloughed. I have been looking for an accounting job for 1.5 years with no success, only experience is internship as auditor.
Conclusion, I would not recommend getting an aviation degree, but also an degree in another field while flying has not served me well personally so far.
My recommendation from my personal experience is do not go into aviation.