What kind of reputation do these programs and their graduates have among people in the pews?  

"Lay minister" as a title gets some people's hackles up itself (not because the laity shouldn't minister but because ministry is a universal duty), and sometimes parishoners find themselves in conflict with the paid help (especially DREs, sometimes also musicians) trained in an earlier age.  The photo shown with this article--specifically the stoles--would (rightly) cause orthodox laity to think a program deficient in one respect (clericalizing the laity) and lead them to think it may be suspect in others.

It could be that the laity do not want what they perceive these programs to be offering.  I'm not saying that's how it is, but it's a question that should be answered.