Flight1339I think the quality of a low time pilot is highly dependent on how they were trained.

I would trust a 300 hour ERAU or, dare I say it, UND pilot over someone from Joe Shmoe's FBO

How come you think an riddle or und pilot would have better training than someone from an FBO school? Have you been to both? I never attended one of those schools (went to a regular college) I can't say anything about their training programs. However, at the flight school I taught at while I went to college, we've had a couple of these guys work there and I don't think anybody was impressed by them. One of them even ran one of our cherokees off the runway and just about totaled it. I guess he couldn't divide his attention between worrying about the bill collectors calling nonstop for his student loan payments and the student he was with. Anyway, if I had a choice I would take the FBO guy any day. But that's just me.