Which Aviation College/university Should I Go To?
Feb.28, 2010 in
College Selection
I am going into my senior year in high school and need help choosing a college. I have a 4.0 GPA and want to be a pilot, although I am not sure which type, but I do know that I want to have a career in the aviation industry. I was thinking about Embry Riddle, but I don’t think that will work out because it is so expensive. Now I have been looking at Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but that is really far away from home (I live in California, so a closer college would be more desirable). Your imput would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!
February 28th, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Now, having just done this myself, one thing to remember is that the two, two thing (two years in a community/local college, then two at a university) is not permissible with many aviation programs. At the school I attend, SOSU, the flying is a full four-year program. I, too, looked at ERAU, and was turned off by it. It was approximately $45 thousand per semester, and that was without flying. In the grand scheme of aviation hiring programs, your total time and ME time is much more important than where you went to college. Do not be fooled by the attractive campuses and large fleet of schools like ERAU, the degree you get is the exact same as any of the smaller schools. And with a 4.0 GPA (and assuming high test scores that typically come with high GPAs), you will be a no brainer acceptance for most schools; not to mention, the smaller schools will be much more open about scholarships.
Let me know if you need any more info, I’ll be happy to help.
March 1st, 2010 at 3:16 am
Go to a junior college for the first 2 years, then to ERAU. We looked at Spartan, too, and found it didn’t have the reputation that ERAU does. It is not academic and you won’t learn as much about aviation, avionics, systems, etc., if you go there. It’s called “spartan” for a reason.
Consider 25% of all airline and cargo pilots worldwide have gone to ERAU (and very few from Spartan– I couldn’t find a reference to them), and it is considered to be the “Harvard” of flight schools.
Be aware flying is expensive and it’s not included in your tuition. My son had $125,000 in student loans after 2 1/2 years at ERAU, but got up to his multi-engine rating. He joined the navy to get enough flight hours to walk into an airline job when he gets out, but he had to go through officer candidate school, basic and advanced flight training (in jet trainers), plus an 8 year committment after he got his wings. He did have quite an advantage over the other pilots because of ERAU, though.