I gained my FATPL without needing to borrow a penny.
I saved the money for it by sweating my b@lls off for five years, fixing jet fighter aircraft for our Arab friends in a very hot Middle Eastern country. I too think that employers should give greater credit to those of us who got the money together 'the hard way', by working for it.
Of course the downside to this route, is that you are often a good few years older than those who have borrowed money, by the time you start training.