My son wants to go to ERAU for aviation, but he is also being recruited for sports. He wants to do both, and to be honest, the small amount of money is is likely to get for that is needed for us to be able to afford ERAU! My question is how difficult is it for kids to be able to balance the aviation program and sports? He’s a good but not great student, and I’m concerned that he will quickly be overwhelmed. Is there much academic support for the student athletes?
My daughter went to Florida Tech, so a similar set up for aviation, sports, and school. Honestly, I don’t know any athletes who were also pilots. At Florida Tech, the athletic money did not cover aviation (we were told that up front).
If you are asking if the student athlete will have an extra 15 hours a week for flight training, it depends on the student. I guess it just depends on when the flight training is scheduled and how flexible that is. My daughter usually didn’t work during the school year but several of her teammates did, probably more than 15 hours per week. My daughter did put a lot more time into working out than others on her team (running, extra conditioning sessions, extra practice sessions with the wall or a goalie). She also studied a LOT (she’s pretty slow at reading). Do I think most college students can find an extra 10-15 hours a week? Yes, but they have to stick to a schedule.
Athletes at FL Tech have required study tables (8 hrs week) until they have a 3.0. There are athletic tutors but most students used the help available to all students - office hours, writing lab, TA’s, study groups. Plenty of help available but they aren’t going to make him do the work. My daughter’s coach knew her grades before daughter did, and knew if she skipped class.
One time saver for athletes is that the schools in the conference are pretty close together and that cuts down on travel time.