I agree. Your local FBO training can be just as tough as some of these PFT programs. It will depend on your CFI's and their involvement, or lack thereof with your training.

For instance, I am assuming that after a year or so of teaching, we forget to ask our new student what they want out of flying. We focus on "I will get you your PPL" and don't look much beyond that. In hawaii, all my CFI's were military folks and I told them my goal was to fly for the military. Guess what, all those Uh-60 and CH-47 IP/IFE's jumped all over me and trained me according to the school syllabus, but with tighter military standards. Needless to say, all my ground's, and check flights were WAY above what the examiner could even hope to bring and I was hella bored on most of my checkrides.

Now, without all that PFT, you CFI's out there could do just the same for the 0-hour lawn darts that come to you and say "I want to be an airline pilot." Take that enthusiasm and run with it. Stick with them and train then to tight tough standards from day one. Teach them to study systems and procedures like an airline pilot and I am sure that you will see an increase in the quality of folks coming through your door. I have several right now that love the fact that I am taking the time to do that for them. They do all the calc's prior to each flight, and even make call-out's in a 172. They eat it up. Perhaps it is a cheap from of ab initio training, but those students are all hours. Most of them at least 100 + that I get to log.

Bottom line. You can't blame the programs for everything. Pilots are only as good as their instructors teach them to be. One should not strive to be better than the competition, but always be better than themselves.