WOW! Talk about ill informed. I graduated from UND with a B.S. in Engineering and a minor in "Professional Flight", along with my other degree I paid about 36K total for 6 years of school, all my license through CFI/CFII/MEI and 200 hours of flight time. I did it all with grants, scholarships, loans and working my arse off. I got to fly almost brand spanking new warriors, arrows, seminoles, barons and if I had stayed long enough a cheyenne. I went on to instruct for 2.5 years/1000 hours. Not a lot for 2.5 years but I did get hired at my first regional with 1200TT/300ME.
Was it because I went to UND, yup, is that a bad thing, nope. Did the training at UND make me a "better" pilot than a part 61 fella, no, but it did teach in a structured, disciplined way that it is what these airlines like. CRM training, transport category aircraft systems classes, aerodynamics classes etc. I would say I and most of my classmates, KNEW more about regs, aerodynamics, systems and crew concepts coming out of UND than someone coming out of a part 61 school. That isn't meant as a flame and I don't hold myself above anyone just simple numbers. I not only spent ground time with my CFI I spent hours a week in a classroom setting with retired USAir, NWA, and other mainline captains and retired military pilots teaching IFR rules, advanced aerodynamics, etc. I simply had a larger pool of knowledge to drink from and drank heavily I did.
UND did have internship programs with ACA (Indy Air) for a while and a lot of guys took advantage of it and did very well there. Places like Mesaba, Piedmont, Horizon used to hire at lower times than normal but lately the mins have been fairly standard with Eagle and Piedmont coming down to 500 or 600 TT with a couple hundred Multi.
Does UND have its flaws, sure it does. There are "management" type Lead instructors who don't understand the first thing about flying an airplane but those are few and far between. Some of the policies where born out of one or two students stupidity, things like that. All in all though the place is a great place to learn how to fly, extreme emphasis on safety, checklist usage, CRM concept, basic flying skills along with using the latest and greatest that GA technology has to offer. There are, the last time I was there, 8 single engine simulators (almost brand new) 4 120 degree Vis multiengine sims (seminole setup) and a lvl 6 CRJ sim. All are used in the curriculum and all are used very well. The CRJ sim is a new course and is mandatory (I dont agree with that one, but it is a business, gotta pay the bills) and is taught by guys/gals that have flown in the 121 world.
Now does all the fluff make UND any better than going to some 61 outfit and getting your ratings, absolutely not. It's all in what you want to get out of your training. Plus it is easier to get the money to finance your training through a university system than it is part 61. I probably paid 18 to 19K for all my flight training including ground time and sim time, sure thats a higher than I would pay on the street but I could have never made or loaned the money to earn all my ratings in 2 years. Plus after that I earned a job instructing at UND that paid 20 bucks an hour. Not shopping on Rodeo drive with that, but at least I made enough to pay rent and my loans and still have enough left over to have a beer now and then.
People whine and moan about GFK and the winters, well it keeps the wimps out and at least you can leave your doors unlocked in ND without fear of getting ripped off. And a little snow shoveling and wing sweeping never hurt anyone
Now as far as the guys who complain about the high costs, they are the ones who don't study, don't come prepared, and have to incomplete or do review lesson after review lesson. 10 hours of review lessons in a seminole is almost 2K. Those same people have done that through every flight course and with 5 flight courses (not including aerobatics, floatplane, tailwheel, etc) that adds up over time.
If you are the type that just wants to get by meeting ONLY the PTS mins, UND isnt the place for you, but if you want to actually learn how to FLY the airplane and operate in the enviroment check it out, and for those wimps that cant handle the cold we have satellite operations in Hawaii, Arizona, and North Carolina.
