Flight Student FAQs
Step 4: Things You Should Consider
What are the national dropout rates?
You may be surprised to learn that the national dropout rates, as provided by the FAA, are consistently around 70%. Click this link to see the table of the FAA’s new certificate statistics for the last 10 years.
Original Airmen Certificates Issued
Students that finance their training with Flight Training Finance, however, have a dropout rate of 8-12%. There may be many reasons why our customers are so much more likely to achieve their training goal compared to more traditional buy-a-lesson-at-a-time methods. We think it is related to how:
- Students and schools sit down and commit to the entire program from the beginning instead of merely starting training and “seeing how it goes”; and
- Students do not have money worries about finishing their training as the money is all set aside and available.
Can you obtain funding from other sources besides Flight Training Finance?
Over the past 10 years many institutions that previously offered financial assistance to prospective flight students, namely Sallie Mae and Key Bank, have either ceased to do so or severely limited their offerings. There may, however, be select alternative options available.
(The following link, while not endorsed or vetted by Flight Training Finance, does seem to discuss some of the best options for getting training funds.)
https://www.aviationschoolsonline.com/faqs/top-10-flight-training-financing.php
We are committed to offering you as much information as we can about paying for your training. If new options become available, we will update this section of the website.
Title IV flight schools, colleges and universities, are usually eligible for federal student loans and grants. Though we don’t have a list of current schools eligible for these payment options, you can read more about Title IV financial assistance at the following link.
Additional funding options can include a home equity line of credit (HELOC), a high-limit, low-interest credit card, the Post-9/11 GI Bill, or a private loan from a local bank.
What are the biggest reasons why I might not become a pilot?
Though money is certainly an important consideration when planning your flight training, it is not the only issue that you should consider. Equally as important are the amount of time you can commit to your training, both inside and outside the cockpit, and how realistic your expectations of your training are.
For more detailed information, view/print our brochure,
“The Three Reasons You Might NOT Become a Pilot”.
View/Print 3 Reasons Brochure