If I were to pursue a flying gig, this is how I'd do it over...
1) Go to a CC and live at home. If you live in California, community colleges are DIRT CHEAP. The one I went to charged less than $30/cr for instate tuition. My school also had a flight program where you could fly for pretty darn cheap. I'd do that over Riddle any day of the week.
2) In California, we have these "UC transfer programs" or something like that where if you take the right courses for your electives/gen ed requirements, that you pretty much have a seamless transfer. I had a BS before I went back to school, so those things weren't important enough to me to look into.
3) Whatever you do, DO IT WELL. I have less than a 3.0 for my undergraduate courses, and that is closing a lot of doors in other respects (non flying jobs, graduate school).
4) Go to college now. I'm 26 and am VERY glad it is done with. The thought of going through a four year program now is not something I want to think about. Getting a Masters is bad enough.
What good is having a degree you haven't used for ten years? Seriously, it's good for getting into grad school. With a 4 year degree being yesterday's HS Diploma, you may eventually need the Masters. Grad schools won't care that you haven't used your undergraduate degree in ten years, and they will look favorably upon your life experience.
