Look at it this way.
PPL Ground school: one term, one class.
Practical experience to get ready to test: about the equivalent in
hours of one class, one term.
Instrument rating: An additional class one term for flight and one
class for books.

Another point I forgot to make originally was that most classes you
take during undergraduate and even graduate programs have no value
to your final profession. I took 7 semesters of math above calculus.
When was the last time I took a derivative? Ummm, a long time ago.
I use the concept but I certainly didn't need 7 semesters of math.
So with PPL and so far with the IFR, 95% of everything you learn is
practical and therefore the training is a lot more efficient.


Gerald Sylvester