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4 year college degree needed?

Asked by: 3517 views Commercial Pilot

I've been thinking about my future as a pilot and was wondering how far can one go without having a 4 year college degree? I mean does it even matter since I would have the flight experience?

I would like to go the corporate pilot route and from talking to a 30 year corporate pilot, he stated that a 4 year would be great to have, I have no college experience so I'd have to start from the beginning. 

Any advice guys? 

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2 Answers



  1. Wes Beard on Dec 22, 2013

    If there were two pilots with the exact same resume except one had no college degree most would hire the pilot with the degree. I don’t think having a degree is a requirement to be a corporate pilot though and I’ve know of some corporate pilots without a degree.

    The degree could literally be in anything but should be something you are interested in and can fall back on if needed. The piece of paper you receive when you graduate tells the prospective employer that you are dedicated enough to walk a tremendous amount of steps to achieve a goal.

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  2. Jim F. on Dec 22, 2013

    Just want to post in agreement with Wes. No, there’s no requirement for a pilot to have a degree. Now, if you get an aviation degree , that will reduce the hours needed for your ATP certificate, but that’s up to you what route you want to go. But again, if there’s two similar resumes sitting in front of HR, they’re gonna pick the one with the degree…

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