I think "best way to learn" and "best thing to do" are not necessarily the same. Spending four years and $160K at ERAU immersed in aviation-related subject matter and surrounded by one-dimensional airplane dorks may be the best way to learn aviation (for the sake of argument), but (1) that's not required for success as a pilot, (2) only medical and law degrees from top-ranked schools are actually worth that much, and (3) there's more to life than aviation.