Heather Ducimo’s aspirations to be a pilot began as a child when she would watch the airplanes with her father. Today, 22-year-old Ducimo is making that dream a reality as an aviation major at Ohio State.Ducimo began flying at the age of 18 and has been enrolled in OSU’s aviation program for three years, but it is this dream which has put her in debt.Ducimo said she pays an extra $3,000 to $4,000 a quarter for flight labs in addition to her out-of-state tuition. She said it cost her $232 on Monday for one hour and six minutes of touch and go landings.Doug DelVigna, a senior majoring in aviation, said he pays about $30,000 a year, which includes his tuition and flight lab costs.”A specialization like this is not going to be cheap, but when you look at other specializations, such as medicine, they are not cheap either,” said Tim Adams, senior flight instructor at the OSU airport. “Unfortunately, flying has always been expensive relative to any other activity.”Adams said to complete the program, students need an average minimum of 229 flight hours. He said students usually average 300 flight hours and spend around seven quarters taking these flight lab courses.”This is very building-block and everything is dependent upon what you’ve learned and skills you’ve attained from the previous quarter,” Adams said. “If you have to regress and go back to polish up those skills that you didn’t get to begin with, it can lead to extra cost.””Students must be serious about this because if you are not ready to take on the responsibility, you will lose money,” Ducimo said. “If you stop you have to go back and do some training over again.”Financial aid, working, parents and bank loans are some of the options of funding a major like this, Adams said. He said some students have been saving money since they were kids to pay for this type of education.Ducimo said she receives assistance through parent plus loans and Stafford loans, but it is still not enough. She said she also has two babysitting jobs and works out at the airport.DelVigna said he receives Stafford and Perkins loans, and makes plenty of calls home to his parents.Students may have a written letter which states they will need extra funds for flight labs to take to the financial aid office, Adams said.”Once you get into the program, you want to try to look down the road and make sure that everything is lined up to the best of your ability,” Adams said. “If you are only looking one quarter in advance and you come across a quarter where you will not have the money, you may have to stop, which is very detrimental to your skills.”Adams said students who are serious about being an aviation major must maintain a high grade point average and work hard in all their classes.”This is expensive, but when you look at the potential down the road, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the income that you can make,” Adams said.When it is all said and done, Adams said he has the best office in the world because he has an ever-changing view, and the work is very rewarding.