To me it’s not just about a percent that passes. Sure, that’s a good goal to have. But, how many of the OTS peeps(myself included) would not be even counted towards “passing statistics”? We wouldn’t even have the option of being hired. Realistically, how many people would go to college for specific thing? Even med school has multiple options along the way. This, not so much.
Really, I wouldn’t leave my old job, even with its meager pay, to go move to a “good” CTI school and then PAY them to teach me basics just so I could HOPE to get picked up by the FAA to still further go into job jeopardy at the academy for option specific training. That doesn’t even include pass/fail at a facility.
People like me, who have a shot at it, it’s not because we paid to go to school for a “general” degree like something in business that can be used in a variety of careers. It’s because they open the doors to us OTS people. Sure you could argue that the passing percentage would be higher, but your total number of applicants would be 50-70% less.
How many people would honestly go to a CTI school, leave their job, pay somebody else, then try to find a job and hope to get picked up by the FAA and not get tier-2 in the process and pass medical and so on and so forth. It’s just too risky, not many people would give up their lives for that. The way it’s structured now, it gives people who couldn’t afford the school but, had the aptitude, the opportunity to try it at a minimal risk to their livelihood.
FWIW both of my instructors in basics right now were OTS. Just sayin’