Everything that I was going to say has been said, so I'll just say this. With ERAU, you're only paying for the name. You can get an equal or better education at any local four or two-year school, for a lot less money.

tcco94 wrote on May 6^th, 2009 at 12:32am:


Well for one, North Dakota has a terrific flying program, which is where I was supposed to be this year if I could have afforded it. Others that come to mind are Jacksonville, Arizona State, U Alaska, and not to mention hundreds of community colleges that offer associates degrees for a lot less money. Most four-year schools also offer ROTC, NROTC and AFROTC.

Many four-year schools ain't cheap, especially out of state. And bear in mind that flight time is tacked on to your tuition, which could be upwards of $40-50,000 to eventually earn your commercial, CFI and multi ratings.

If you join a branch of the service, namely the Air Force, many bases have special services which include a few old-fashioned, steam-gauged 172's for you to work towards your license/rating, and you don't even have to be an officer. I know for one, Dover AFB has this.

Sean_TK wrote on May 7^th, 2009 at 8:11pm:

Where are you now?

Skoker,

Going for a non-aviation degree right now at Penn State.

I have been acquiring the aviation credentials on my own time.
I currently have a Private license with an Instrument rating and a complex aircraft endorsement. (Single-engine land aircraft. You can usually find me in either a Cessna 172S or a very nice 172RG. I started my initial flight training up to my first solo flight on a Cessna 150.)

Almost ended up at Dubuque, but there were more benefits attending Penn State from my current personal standpoint.
Either way, flight training is quite costly no matter if you do it through a college/university or privately.

The neat thing about doing the training though, is the realization that once you have the license, you'll have it forever (barring medical reasons or if you did something stupid), and you will have accomplished something that only a small percentage of the world population has done. (Relatively speaking...)

EDIT: A word of advice when you start. If the FBO tries to convince you to do all of your training on a glass cockpit (like a G1000) and they have a classic/steam-gauge aircraft available, take the steam gauges. Besides receiving cheaper training, you can always get glass later on.

Also, and jumping ahead a bit...after you get the private, be prepared for quite a bit of work with the instrument rating. It is in my opinion (and I believe others can vouch for this), the most challenging training that you can go through. Yes, you have things like the ATP rating, but that is mostly just the refining of established skills. The instrument is challenging simply due to the immense amount of brand new material you will be introduced to. FS really does help with instrument training though, so when you get to that point, practice, practice, practice.

SubZer0 wrote on May 7^th, 2009 at 10:54pm:

Well thats not a bad idea, although im interested in ERAU I might not decide to go their.

I did also read 1 in every 4 students go to AFROTC at ERAU. Although if I decide to not go their ill most likely just go to a diffrent college with Air Force or Navy ROTC.
I guess bringing up ERAU was a bad idea.