found this somwhere on the net:
For the kid asking about UD, I graduated the University of Dubuqe and now fly at a regional of Delta. Unlike others, I still love aviation and had a great time in college, but if there is any kind of advice I can pass on to you is to simply not go the University route unless you can avoid loans. I've been instructing/flying a CRJ for the last 5 years and 19,000-30,000 dollars a year does not pay 140,000 dollars of loans. My monthly payment is $1300 dollars!!!! My first year at the regional was 600 dollars every two weeks, and being a commuter to Minneapolis meant I couldn't afford a crash pad, so I along with a few others spent months literally living in the terminal for five days in a row on reserve, sleeping on recliners in the sleep room, and washing up in the family bathrooms, or bumming a shower off a pilot friends apartment. I had huge trouble paying my loans and I had to split one foot-long subway sandwich per day because that was all I could afford with no per diem. *I work at a respectable regional with a good reputation. Now three years later I am still on reserve and am barely busting into $30,000...that is 900 dollars every two weeks plus maybe per diem if I get to fly. *if that's the kind of financial situation you want, go to a university program. Otherwise, go to a community college, work your way through your ratings, and come out as debt free as possible. The Loan counselors will fill you with "oh don't worry, youll be able to pay, oh don't worry, the loan companies will help you out, oh don't worry everybody takes out loans, oh don't worry just sign here". They only want your money, and the loan companies are like office mafia if you don't pay them.*