Good post IMHO, one point/query from someone who get some approached by wannabes but who is not really up so speed on the modern finance aspect of all this.
, I would PERSONALLY prefer spending 120k (on an airline sponsored training) and knowing within 7 years I could pay it off.
Serious question: As a student signed up for one of these courses can you ever "know" that?
I ask because some do seem increasingly to regard passing the aptitude tests and getting on a course at a ATO as the hard bit, and that the rest from then on is almost assumed to be a "given" and one will progress serenely into the RHS of a shiney jet on a relatively good salary. Sadly it doesn't always work like that ....
I guess the answer might be course/airline policy with regard to course failure or withdrawal.