Hi Scott!

Welcome to the forums.

No college will not squash the dream, but it could slow it down some depending on the airline.  The real issue is what do you do in the future if you decide not to fly OR you have a medical issue?  That is where the degree would come in handy.

Also you might get a better student loan if you did school and flying together, at a place like San Juan College in Farmington NM (they are a customer here on Pilot Journey) but any two year community college with an aviation program could also work.

28 is not old   - You also might want to think about a program like PACE from San Juan where you can get into the right seat of a regional jet as fast as possible.  There might be other programs like that out there as well.

Have you seen the free Career Pilot Seminar here on Pilot Journey?  There is an ad for it on the home page.

Thanks for visiting!