I’m a high school sophmore in the States and my family is not very wealthy. I plan on getting a bachlors before my flight training, but I definitely do want to do both. However, both is sure to cost a lot of money that I don’t currently have. Of any or all of the people any of you know who’ve had this problem, what solutions have been the most successful and least costly? Loans or scholarships or Cadet programs or something else?
Thanks,
Anosha
Not sure how financial aid works at your place, but at least here in NY/NYC, if you are as poor as you state, then you don’t have to pay a dime for your bachelors.
I’m sure it’s the same everywhere since it’s federal.
Anyway, fill out the FAFSA, once it’s processed you’ll get an EFC (Estimated family contribution) number. If it’s all 0’s (and it should be if your parents don’t make a lot), congrats. You’ll get federal grants and other grants you won’t have to pay back. It’s up to 140 college credits for free I believe, of which you only need 120 for a Bachelors.
If you are a certain age (I believe 24), even if you are living with parents, you won’t be considered dependent on them anymore, and are instead independent, so they’ll use your income instead of your parent’s to make a determination on how much you receive (and if it’ll be free)
I believe the limit is like 28k yearly or something for independent people.
Anyway, call up the financial aid office of your selected college and inquire.
As for paying for flight school, financial aid won’t pay for that. It’ll all either have to be out of pocket, or through a loan.
Good luck.
Anosha,
Many aspiring pilots are not wealthy. As Moe said there’s no reason college should cost you a fortune but flight instruction is costly. The majority of people take out loans to cover the cost. The fact airline pilots have the ability to make a considerable amount of money makes it a worthwhile investment.
Adam
Moe,
Thank you for your thorough answer. As a sophomore, I cannot currently fill out the FAFSA, but I’m fairly familiar with the process through older siblings and I definitely am more or less counting on that. Bachlors is the less concerning thing, though. But according to you, Chris, and some more research I’ve been doing, most people pay for flight training through loans, so I guess I’ll have to rely on those too. While debt does not sound very appealing, I’m definitely not surprised. I just wanted to ask in case there are better alternatives. Thanks for answering!
Anosha
Adam,
Thank you for the answer. I expect I will also be relying on loans also. From your experience, how long does it usually take to pay back the loans? I expect the training itself will cost around 80k, since that’s what ATP charges, and they seem to be the leading program. With residence and cost of living and everything, since I don’t live by any of their bases, I suppose I’ll be looking at around 110k - 130k in total. So how soon after flight training can I expect to be debt free in terms of these loans? First officer pay did not seem particularly generous and most of the airlines I’ve researched.
Thanks,
Anosha
Anosha,
That’s literally impossible to answer as everyone’s situation is different. Some people live at home with minimal expenses, others have families to support, and others are in between. It’s also possible (though not always advisable) to defer payments till a person is doing better financially.
As far as FO pay not being “generous”, it’s 3 times higher than it was just a decade ago and really not bad for an entry level position.
Adam
Adam,
Then I guess I’ll just have to wait and see which type I am. And I meant generous in terms of how costly getting there in the first place is. I definitely wouldn’t be complaining about the pay objectively lol. Thank you for your answers. I suppose my questions for now are answered.
Anosha