Doctors pay for med school. Lawyers pay for law school. It is ok for pilots to pay to money to get trained.
Where I agree with the original post is the pilot academies. I looked at some pilot academies (Raa, Mesa, FlightSafety, PanAm, Comair), and the fact was I was paying MUCH more for the same aircraft, MUCH more for the instructor, and MUCH LESS flying for the same amount of money as an FBO. Would you spend an extra $40,000 on a "guarenteed interview." Not me.