AJ,
Once again you are sticking your head in the dark places with your lack of knowledge and obvious ego issues.

Tuck your ego in your pocket for a bit. If you believe your apprenticeship is better than the developed apprenticeships around the country, you are making a silly mistake. First, all apprenticeship programs have to be accredited by the Bureau of Labor (federal government) before they are accepted by any state agency for implementation.
Second, if you think being taught the state codes in addition to the NEC adds anything to your program, you are still grasping at straws. The fact is, what good would any program be if the State codes weren't part of the curriculum? All states with a program, including continuing education programs for jouneymen, include the state additions to the code to suit the conditions present in their particular jurisdiction.
Addressing the fact you think all this is to avoid having to pay "overinflated contractor prices" is laughable. It has been proven many times that competitive contractors can easily save companies money over using their in-house people when doing what they specialize in- construction, installation, trouble shooting, and designing of electrical equipment. The only time this might not be true is when the internal people are working on equipment unique to their own manufacturing processes and must be maintained by factory trained personnel. This is actually quite common.

Your so-called in-house apprenticeship is simple union busting in its highest form, plain and simple. Since your buddy is an electrical contractor, ask him straight up if anything I've said is untrue.
Regardless, I'm through with this thread. It was pretty interesting but now you're just being petty and childish when confronted with facts. Have a good life and try to remember this is all just entertainment- we're not confronting world peace here- Sheister

Never underestimate your ability to overestimate your ability.