Student Loans for son to become a pilot

My son has wanted to be a pilot ever since he was a little guy. Through a scholarship with Civil Air Patrol he has his private pilot license. He has been accepted to a few schools. His number one choice is Embry Riddle - Prescott. They gave him an ok scholarship package. We have toured other schools and feel like he will get the most bang for his buck at ER. The issue is, we will have to take out some significant loans to put him through school. Due to the upcoming pilot shortage we feel like he probably will not have an issue getting hired out of college and the airlines have mentor programs that may help with college in the senior year. Are there any pilots out there that have taken out loans and do you regret it. I don’t know what other options we have.

United airlines is opening a new pilot college in Phoenix. You may wish to inquire. In the US, many commercial pilots come from the military, so that might be another avenue to explore for ROTC scholarships.

Seems like going to ER would be a double whammy. Not only $$ for tuition/COA, but also $$$$$ for the flight school/hours portion.

My son graduated from Auburn University in May 2018 with a Professional Flight Management degree. He had not completed his private pilot’s license before entering. Through CFII, his flight instruction costs and FAA testing were over $60K. He took the full federal loans, and we paid the rest, plus tuition, room and board. He did have the Presidential scholarship from Auburn. He had no problem finding a flight instructor job after graduation. By 12/19 he had enough flight hours to start his commercial pilot job with Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American. He is in training now. Auburn has a great program. They prepared him well. Plus he participated in the marching band and concert band, and had a great college experience.

My daughter is in the same boat and she’s looking at a service academy because there are four kids at our house and that “extra” $60k in lab fees is someone else’s tuition. It’s our understanding that there are jobs out there and will continue to be until she’s ready to enter the market. But talk to a commercial pilot about what the salaries are and how long it’ll take to pay off that mortgage-sized loan. Entry-level pilots don’t make a ton of money, so it could be pretty lean for quite a while. Best of luck, as I understand the draw of the dream for your son and am walking the same line between helping and freaking out at the cost.

I hope that getting flight training on the U.S. taxpayer’s dime so she can fly for an airline isn’t a prime motivator for your daughter considering a service academy.

*“Before you get to sell what we teach you over at United Airlines, you have to give the Navy six years years of your life, sweetpea.”

Louis Gossett, Jr., An Officer and a Gentleman*

Believe me, she’s far more interested in SAR than commercial flight.

Then as far as service academies go, I hope the Coast Guard is at the top of her list.

@lisajane08 , how much of a loan are you thinking of taking? The unsubsidized federal loans of around 28k have been manageable for my son. He made around $25/hour as a flight instructor, but his weekly hours varied, not always full time depending on the weather. He is on the graduated payment plan. First 2 years payment is $197/month, going up $50 every two years for total of ten years. This should be quite manageable as his salary increases. But a loan of $100k or more would be much more difficult. Any more than the federal loans would be parent loans.

My son has some color blindness, so would not qualify as a pilot with the service. He passed a special FAA test to fly commercial.