Erong
ERAU Alum here,
And I agree with all of you. I ate the "Harvard of the Skies" thing up when I was younger. I am still paying off the loans and loans and loans I took out. One of the worst decisions I made in my career was ERAU. (my fault for not researching it more)
If I knew what I was getting into I would have cleaned up all the classes I could at a local community college and then transfered into a state school and pursued a degree in something non-aviation related. I have already scratched my eye once very badly once but luckily it healed. I would still be a pilot today but just 80k ahead of the game.
ERAU and other flight universities may change their approach with ab initio but until that happens to the masses there is not a reason to spend that much money on a certificate.
ERAU is a nice place but you can learn just as much at many other flight schools.
There is an attitude amongst most ERAU grads. An uppity better than thou attitude. It doesn't involve everyone but there is a reason that it is WIDELY perceived about ERAU. That mass ideology doesn't come from being the most humble pilots.