How should I do schooling?

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taken.username

Filing Flight Plan
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Hi. I'm an upcoming high school senior graduating in 2025 and currently trying to get my ppl. I'm trying to figure out how I should approach college. I've found that getting an aviation degree is basically useless and been told that I should get a non-aviation-related degree and then go to flight school. I also want to be a teacher, but a pilot first.

Here's my problem: My mom wants me to use my dad's GI bill to get an aviation degree. I'm trying to convince her that it's useless, but she brought up the idea of doing aviation as a minor if I do a different degree. My very rough plan was to do four years in an education field while flying on the side and do flight school (ATP) after. My mom's also proposing I do dual enrollment in college. I know it's a lot of work- I just want to know if it's better than just getting a useless aviation degree.

I would really appreciate some advice on what to do. Thank you.
 
I am not sure an aviation degree is useless. Some specialize in related fields other than piloting, such as airport management, etc. Talk with an advisor at an aviation college or university.

In our area, many go to Minnesota State University at Mankato for a four-year degree. Some get an associate degree at Fox Valley Technical College, and all those credits transfer to the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh if a four-year degree is wanted. However, there is a substantial wait to get into FVTC's aviation program.
 
you should absolutely use your dads GI Bill if that option is availble to you. Its absolutely 100x better than going to ATP after going to college to rack up another 120K that becomes 300K in student loan debt. Your mom is 100 percent right here - go and double major, minor or whatever. If you have the opportunity to utilize the GI Bill - why would you in gods name (and any other name you can conjure up) not utilize it but choose to go 300K in debt and arrive in no better shape ?
 
if you qualify for the GI benefits use it. I have a bachelor of science with a minor in education. Also got my ATP on my own.
 
Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for flight training are nothing to sneeze at.

Teaching is a love it or hate it field and though there’s transferable skills, the degree ain’t worth much other than qualifying you to teach. Kind if like an aviation degree in that matter.

I’d do a lot of number crunching to find out how I could get the most value out of using the benefit available. This is not a benefit you want to use without understanding how to maximize it.
 
You mentioned wanting to teach. What area? Kindergarten? high school? College? There are universities out there with teaching programs and aviation programs. See if one of those works for you for what you want to teach. SLU.edu is one option.
 
Tom J said:
You will need to have your PPC before using GI Bill benefits, but absolutely use it to get your ratings and a degree.
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Where are you located?

There are many scholarships available to high school students. Start here:
Aviation Scholarship Database
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Aviation Scholarships Database

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Contact your local EAA chapter and ask about the Ray Scholarship.

Strong suggestion:
1) Download the FAA books, start studying.
To start: https://www.faa.gov/pilots
Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM)
Aeronautical Chart User's Guide
Airplane Flying Handbook
FAA Aviation Weather Handbook
Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (PHAK)
Weight and Balance Handbook

2) Find a local AME and get a CONSULTATION to see if you'll pass the required medical exam. If the AME will not do a consult, find another AME.

It's much easier to get a scholarship if you already have your Class 3 Medical exam.

School:
Find a topic you really like, major in it and choose aviation as your minor. It's always better to have options.
USE THE GI BENEFITS!
 
Go get an introductory flight to see if you even like being a pilot...
 
I stand corrected, thanks for the information. That is a good change to the program, and the caveats to it actually make some sense.
 
Useless degrees? It matters more what the holder makes of it.

I know people who took arts degrees and end up with rewarding (monetary and otherwise) careers. And I also know folks who did finished engineering and does jobs they could have gotten if they just have a high school diploma. Fair numbers of folks in my engineering year ended up in jobs nothing to do with engineering.

It’s not quite clear if you wanted to fly for a career. If you do it might be worth it to get on the path sooner than later.
 
I’d get a degree in business or engineering (and if I were to choose again I would get a business degree instead of an engineering one), you might love the idea of flying now, but you never know, you might want something different with life later on. Also it’s good to have a technical mind. Keep your options open.
 
Second everyone else that a four year degree in something that's practical is a good idea. Engineering or comp sci, with either a business minor or at least some classes in business. A bs in education doesn't make any sense to me, and I say that coming from a family of teachers. I'd do engineering before business, because a monkey with an engineering degree can get an mba later, but not as simple for someone with a bs in business to get a masters in engineering....and to me the former is more well rounded than the latter. But I'm just sgoi.
 
Ever been diagnosed with or on medication for ADHD or any related condition?
On any meds now?
 
frfly172 said:
if you qualify for the GI benefits use it. I have a bachelor of science with a minor in education. Also got my ATP on my own.
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I don't know why I didn't think of doing education as a minor instead of the other way around smh. Did you fly while you were in college, like on the side?
 
FPK1 said:
Go get an introductory flight to see if you even like being a pilot...
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I have flown a few times and I really like being a pilot. I've just been overwhelmed with finances and other factors. It's also why I was thinking about having teaching as a backup- something to fall on if aviation really doesn't work out.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that but you can never be too sure :)
 
SebIp said:
Useless degrees? It matters more what the holder makes of it.

I know people who took arts degrees and end up with rewarding (monetary and otherwise) careers. And I also know folks who did finished engineering and does jobs they could have gotten if they just have a high school diploma. Fair numbers of folks in my engineering year ended up in jobs nothing to do with engineering.

It’s not quite clear if you wanted to fly for a career. If you do it might be worth it to get on the path sooner than later.
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Sorry for the harsh wording. When I made the post I was really overwhelmed and quoted what other pilots told me. You make a really good point- it's what the holder does with it. I do want to do aviation as a career and I'm working on getting my ppl right now. I just got cold feet being told the degree is useless so I thought teaching would be something good to fall back on.
 
It seems that more employers want a 4 year degree of some sort regardless of major. Its easier to make a pilot into a teacher than make a teacher into a pilot if that makes sense. If college is paid for, get an aviation degree. One route to consider exploring is to take community college courses DURING highschool. Pick ones that will transfer to the 4 year school. That way, when you finish highschool at 18, you'll have college credits for cheap/free and more of your GI bill money to cover the higher cost of most flight programs.

My son just graduated one year early with 30 college credits and his HS diploma. My daughter will graduate next year at 16 as well because instead of HS classes, she takes college classes that count for twice as many HS credits. Our out of pocket costs for this were negligible due to various programs that encourage dual credit classes. My research suggests that this is more advantageous than honors classes through highschool which arent recognized by many colleges.
 
taken.username said:
Sorry for the harsh wording. When I made the post I was really overwhelmed and quoted what other pilots told me. You make a really good point- it's what the holder does with it. I do want to do aviation as a career and I'm working on getting my ppl right now. I just got cold feet being told the degree is useless so I thought teaching would be something good to fall back on.
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Let me tell you the cold, hard truth about most white collar jobs. A degree is required not because it prepares you to do the job; hiring managers want to see if you can accomplish something that most of their incumbent employees also accomplished. Also, it’s an easy cut line. Your first few flying jobs won’t care about a degree and you won’t be able to fly for an airline until you’re 23.

Yes, there’s exceptions for certain careers, but they’re exceptions for a reason.

Now before you put all your eggs in the flying basket, you need to fully understand in the pro pilot world, you have a recurring twelve month shelf life until you hit forty, then it shrinks to six months. Also, aviation is a fickle business that’s seniority based. The more junior you are at a shop, the more likely you are to be furloughed.

So it makes sense to have marketable experience outside of the cockpit as you age. Some folks are part-time financial advisors, some do various real estate related things, and some do a wide variety of other things. But a teaching certificate isn’t that helpful; most states don’t even require one for substitutes.

If you’re looking around and wondering what you want to be when you grow up, go be a boom operator or one of the other career enlisted aviator jobs in the Air Force for four to six years. You’ll easily be able to knock out a degree while you’re flying the line during that time frame. You can also do your PPL and come out the backside with your own GI Bill benefits to pay ATP for a zero to hero program and be a guard/reserve boom operator on the side if you want.

ETA: do the dual credit classes if you can, AP just isn’t worth it anymore and 20 credits at enlistment gets brought in as an E-2 instead of an E-1.
 
taken.username said:
Sorry for the harsh wording. When I made the post I was really overwhelmed and quoted what other pilots told me. You make a really good point- it's what the holder does with it. I do want to do aviation as a career and I'm working on getting my ppl right now. I just got cold feet being told the degree is useless so I thought teaching would be something good to fall back on.
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You are getting some good points in this post. I'll add a few more thoughts.

TCABM talked about a degree required as a line to cross. And for the most part that is true for the entry level average employee. Where I work HR mandate bachelor degree for the jobs I hire for, unless that person has extensive experience in the field. This is typical for software jobs. You can get a degree do some work terms and get into entry level jobs, but there are people out there who never did the degree who also has the job because they learn it on their own. There are some career where the experience path isn't possible, like being a nuclear physicist building reactors likely required that education background.

I brought up the above and my previous post because where you ends up in your career it is really hard to tell from the starting line. Some folks are on rails and will be in one industry from start to end. I do think there is some limitations to how high you'd go if you like to be on rails. In many companies senior management jobs aren't just about technical skills purely (and that topic can be one to argue forever), but could be more about people skills and knowing how to leverage people with the skills. In a lot of places CEOs (again more arguing possible) could have been a lawyer, the CFO, and not necessarily rising through the ranks of that particular industry. And even if you look at lower levels people make lots of jumps and changes. I am working with someone who in his career at one point installed the ILS systems at my home field. Today he is a product manager for one particular software app my team works on. I myself have mostly done software work but at one point I was deep into hardware, and at one point rail signalling, and today android software.

I don't think you need to worry if a degree is going to lead somewhere, and should think more about what motivates you. What are you going to do to make career a success? If it's aviation you want to try I suggest concentrate on that. Sure, you should understand it can end badly and you need to find another career. Worrying about that and trying to build a back up might work for some, but it can also mean divided attention and efforts. Your own actions whatever happens will matters way more than what your plans are because we can't predict the future. We can only plan so much and there will always be surprises.

Having said the above I must also mention not to tunnel vision on a goal. The career going where you don't expect cuts both ways. You feel right now you want aviation so in my opinion go for it, but don't make it a sacred cow you can't slaughter. You might find later on it wasn't what you wanted or you actually hate being in the majors. And maybe you'd rather do something else and fly on the side, or fly outside of the majors. Be flexible as needed but determined and driven is kind of what I am saying in so many words.
 
I am not a pro pilot. I am not an educator. Having had a PPL for 30 years I have heard this question asked a TON. If you do an "Aviation Degree" from an "Aviation College" and things dont work...medical, you hate it, life changes, etc you CAN get into another line of work with an Aviation Mgt degree..lets say. But why not keep more options open and maybe keep costs down. Go to a regular 4 year state school, low cost for a business degree, STEM degree, etc and fly at a 91 or 141 school. Heck depending on what state your in a few of those state schools even have aviation programs.

There is no reason why you cant go from zero hours to PPL>Comm/multi>CFI>1500hrs in the 4yrs or so it takes to get your college done. Especially if you have some GI Bill benefits to cover flying costs.

Good luck.
 
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