Expert: D. Norkus - 9/17/2009

Question
I am a 31 year old student at Spartan College of Aeronautics and Tech. I am enrolled in the aviation maintenance program. My goal and dream is to get my Applied science and aviation management Bachelors degree. And be a airline pilot. Any advice that may help me make the right choices. And it is very expensive for flight training. Do you know of any scholarships that my help me out. I have a wife and three kids, so school is very difficult right now.

Answer
Paul

I am curious as to why you are going to school for av maintenance yet desire to get a different degree. Especially if your budget is tight, I would think paying tuition for something you didn't intend to pursue is money ill spent. Perhaps you are planning on changing your major? Just a point of info for someone planning on becoming a pro pilot, it is not always desirable to major in aviation. If you ever encounter a furlough during your career, an aviation degree probably won't help you get a job during your lay off. Speaking from experience, I would suggest considering a degree that you can fall back on. This also holds true in case you were to lose your aviation medical.

Regarding scholarships, I catalog all the flight scholarships I am aware of here- http://www.FlightScholarship.info

The goal of my list was to collect info on non-collegiate resources for pilots. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any that will assist you but you should double check the list. Most of my database scholarships are small $500-$2,000 one time, geographically or affiliation restricted grants for flight training. Most usually require a Private Pilot certificate to apply. If you are interested in a scholarship for tuition at an aviation school, see the links I provided for info on collegiate awards.

Here is a link of interest on airline pilot careers- http://www.pilotcareer.info

Regards, Dottie