It's the commitment thing.. showing that you can  take on something, and finish it. One of many methods for narrowing the field.. not to mention the evidence of intellect.. and a person no doubt leaves a university, better educated.

If you have 1000 people applying to you for a job... and that job itself requires a commitment to lots of technical training (training that you, the employer will be paying for); I think it's prudent to limit your investment risk, as the employer; to potential employees with a college degree.

It's weird how these things go in cycles..  I'm old enough to remember that at 20 years old.. airline piloting was out of the question for me. We were still on the edge of the era where  ONLY ex-military pilots need even apply... and those without perfect, uncorrected vision could forget about it too.

Then, not all that long ago.. 1200 hours and a multi-engine rating all by itself got your foot in the door.

The booming economy of the 80s and 90s had many airlines competing for both passengers and pilots.. wasn't there even a pilot shortage for a while ?

The same boom/bust that converted airports from glamorous places where adventures began; into giant bus depots with people sleeping on floors.. has turned the once glamorous and prestigious job as an airline pilot, into that of an over-worked, under-paid robot.

You can literally drop out of high school.. take a job delivering pizza.. stick with it and work your way into management, and have a MUCH more financially satisfying career, by age 30, than you could flying jets.

The big problem now, is that airlines KNOW that most aspiring pilots will work for nothing, just to be flying ...

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Yeah.. I was talking about that the other day, with my instrument instructor (now flying piston twins for mapping photography)..

This isn't racial or political.. just a fact that these "schools" know that those groups can get grants and loans more readily.. they'll put the kids into debt, and not blink.

I get the picture. I do. I've been educated on how hard it is becoming an airline pilot, especially with the struggling economy and everything else.. I dont care if I live in a tent for a few years, I will become an airline pilot. I know it will be hard, lets face it I don't come from the wealthiest family... I live in a normal suburban home in New Jersey.... but I will  become a pilot, no matter what it takes.

go to school to be a lawyer or doctor or some other profession.

buy yourself a small plane and fly when you want, on your terms.

that's the best advice i could give anyone looking to go into professional aviation.

I'm feeling retrospective   (grant me a little political, creative license, Mods)

Nobody is certain how these things happen, exactly..  What has happened to piloting, is a good microcosm of what has happened (is happening) to our culture and society. Pride, independence, self-sufficiency, character, big-picture/long-term thinking and integrity are becoming less and less important. Those are values that require a sort of "teaching"... as in they're passed from one generation to the next.

Of course, the current economy plays a role in what is happeneing to aviation as a career.., but its state (and our ability to recover) are also victims to this decline. The main reason that we were able to recover from the Great Depression; is that as a people, we proud and felt priviledged to live with such freedom and opportunity. Patriotism and civics were core parts of public education.. long-since replaced by new-age gobbly-goop. Politicians use to inspire with orations that included calls for us to, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country".. whereas today's politicians get elected (and re-elected), by convincing everyone to expect the government to take care of them, literally.

I digress....

ANYway.. the revered airline pilot, is much like the doctor. Society wanted, and even needed them to be bigger-than-life entities. Some of the reasons are obvious... we literally place our lives in their hands.. but the other reasons are more subtle. As important as the primary skills might be, we all need to feel that there's even more to it. We need(ed) to place blind trust in these men. Somewhere along the line, seeing a flight crew walk through an airport as something awe-inspiring; fell the way of the doctor's house-call. Somehow, through all of this, doctors became clinic staffers, and pilots became bus drivers...  and teachers went from proud stewards who guided even the under-achievers through a public education, to babby-sitters, happy if 1/2 their charge end up able to read.

My point ?   Maybe it's not all bad to chase the piloting dream. The other careers mentioned here aren't showing a much brighter future. Doctor-ing is headed toward being a government job.. and with the government running everything, the need for skilled lawyers diminishes. Heck, if the economy keeps spiraling downward, even the airlines might end up as government entities.. and nobody will be able to afford air travel, anyway...

BE BOLD..chase that dream  (while you still can), we need Captain Sullys , more than ever  

Just food for thought.. an aspiring airline pilot might want to research the effects that the current administration's energy policies will have on his future..

(I'll give ya a hint.. it aint good)