Originally Posted by SchmutzigMSP
How much did your college degree cost you? Embry-Riddle graduates pay for their degree, just like you or anyone else did. Maybe you went to a private school where tuition is in excess of $25k a year? That's about the same as the cost for schooling from ERAU. Is college foolish, IYO? You are right that someone could go to a state university and get a degree in aviation. But some feel that they get more for their money and better experience at places like ERAU. And often times they're right. They tend to come out of graduation with more hours and experience and they tend to be more competitive than the state uni grads for the same positions.
Blah blah blah. Yes, I went to a private school, but my tuition and room and board after my scholarship was equivalent to out of state tuition at most major public flagship schools. College isn't foolish, but spending $100,000 (not including flight training) for a BS Aviation Science (or whatever they call it) is suspect. You don't need a flying degree to get a flying job, which is one reason I didn't go to ERAU. Good thing too, because I found out the hard way that REGIONAL AIRLINE FLYING JOBS AREN'T WORTH THE $100K THESE KIDS SINK INTO THEIR DEGREES. If you have to borrow all of that money, you're looking at a loan payback of over $600/mo. Can you afford that on $20k/yr? No.
I really reject the comment that the ERAU grads are more competitve than the state uni grads for the same positions. How do I know? Because those first jobs everybody gets don't require a college degree.