![]() ![]() Our son only ever wanted to attend ERAU, so I don’t have a lot of info on other schools. Ironically he does not work in the aerospace field, but it continues to be a passion of his. He had a great experience at ERAU and graduated with the AE degree with minors in CS and math. Once he accepted that it was not going to be as a pilot, he figured he could get to space as an engineer. Our son had had his heart set on an aviation career forever and had always dreamed of becoming a commercial space pilot for Virgin Galactic. That view was reinforced when he discovered the eye condition. First of all, it’s not the only way to become a commercial pilot and we felt that that degree was fairly limiting (much like your son’s impression of Embry-Riddle). When our son was looking at colleges and choosing a degree, we strongly encouraged him not to pursue just a professional pilot’s degree for a number of reasons. “Aviation Science” is what many colleges call their professional pilot’s degree program. He even went through an appeal process with the FAA, but with no success. His medical certificate is only good for a Class 3 license, which means he can fly for recreation, including flying others, but could never be paid to fly. My son didn’t “think” he wouldn’t pass the medical – he had the medical exam for a Class 1 certificate and they discovered a congenital, non-correctable eye problem that prevents him from ever qualifying for a commercial license. It’s a huge state school with about 58,000 undergrads and they have a number of marching/pep bands. We’ve known a couple of kids from our area who have gone out there, but not in the aviation program. Their Barrett Honors College is very well respected and I believe they have pretty good merit aid even for OOS students. While he was searching I called the aviation department to ensure that he could combine an aerospace eng degree with flight training. We didn’t end up visiting and my son didn’t apply. Laushein: I don’t know much about ASUASU. One of my son’s housemates is in the PhD program at Purdue and loves it (no real knowledge of the quality tho). He does hope to get back to flying for recreation now that he can afford the plane rental. But when he found that he would never qualify for the medical certificate for a commercial pilot license, he stuck with the AE degree, concentrated on CS applications and had a job lined up as a software engineer prior to graduation. ![]() Is your son interested in aviation science leading to a commercial pilot career? Or is he interested in studying in a related field while continuing flight lessons? My older son actually started at ERAU intending to major in aerospace engineering with a minor in aviation science (he also had his private pilot’s license prior to college). I think ASU also has an aviation science major. I loved ( ) when we visited in 2006, but my son opted for Embry-Riddle Prescott. ![]()
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