Are there any colleges like erau or spartan for helicopters specifically?

Question

Preferably a good one that a company might say, "o, I like him because he went to x instead of the lesser y"

Answer 1

Have you considered the US Army?  You'll get a ton of turbine time, and instead of you paying them, they pay you.

Answer 2

None of the universities I have heard of offer a helicopter program. You will have to do your training at flight school, and there are many to choose from. I personally think it is better to do so anyway to save on the cost of training. The reputation of the place where you train will only matter if the guy hiring you has a personal connection there, or if the school has a really bad reputation (like the now defunct Silver State Helicopters).

There do exist some college programs where you do their online classes while conducting flight training at a school in your area. Utah Valley State College is a program that many have had success with. The bad news is that they do charge a tuition, and most of their classes are designed for airplanes. The main reason people do it is to have better access to financing:

http://www.uvscaviation.com/

ERAU has a helicopter program, but you are still training at an external flight school:

http://www.erau.edu/er/degrees/m-helicop...

You can find helicopter flight schools here:

http://www.sacusa.com/1directory/states....

http://www.verticalreference.com/helicop...

You might also consider the military if you think it might be for you, and the military obviously does have a good reputation.

You can learn more about helicopters and the helicopter industry here:

http://www.verticalreference.com/

http://www.justhelicopters.com/

http://www.helicopterflight.net/

Good luck and have fun!

(Added)

I totally agree with Ryan's idea of getting a degree alongside flight training, like a degree outside of aviation, but doing your primary training at Bell Helicopter is insanely expensive for most people. The last I heard, their hourly rate in a 206 was $1500, compared to about $275-$300 throughout the rest of DFW flying Schweizers.

A commercial pilot certificate requires 150 hours. At $1500 per hour, that equals a total cost of $225,000. At $300 per hour, the total cost is $45,000. You could finish a degree AND flight training for less than Bell school. Don't get me wrong, they will train you, and the quality is exceptional, but it's just not practical unless you are wealthy.

Answer 3

Here's an idea-check out the website of Bell Helicopter http://www.bellhelicopter.com/.  They have a huge training academy located near Dallas, Texas.  It's not a college but you can obtain all your rotorcraft training.  Private and commercial.  As for college, you should definitely attend it.  Maybe find a school around Dallas and do your training alongside your schooling.