I’m an NRA certified instructor, and somewhere down the road I’ll look into becoming a USCCA instructor. I loved the USCCA elearning class, and like any training you take even when you are experienced you learn things, but I won’t claim knowledge of USCCA’s overall training offering. If you think about overriding factors the NRA program assumes someone is entering with absolutely no firearms knowledge, is potentially intimidated by them, and is equally (if not more likely) getting into firearms as a hobby than for self-defense. For example, it’s for your girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse, etc. who has never touched a gun but now wants to go plinking with you, or just wants to know how to safely handle a gun, or wants to get into competitive shooting, or (of course) wants to be able to defend themselves but doesn’t know a muzzle from a hammer. So it is designed to avoid overwhelming the student, and it doesn’t mix topics in the early part of the curriculum. The NRA Basics of Pistol Shooting (BOPS) class is just that, it is not a defensive shooting class but rather an introduction to the basics. Then you could go on to Personal Protection In the Home and then Personal Protection Outside the Home. The USCCA Concealed Carry and Home Defense Fundamentals (CCHDF) class is excellent, but not really appropriate for someone who isn’t interested in defensive shooting and very likely to scare off many truly new shooters. It glosses over the basics relative to the amount of time spent on them in BOPS. I would consider it a good option for someone interested in using a firearms for personal defense after they take BOPS and put in a little range time. Or, of course, if they are already an experienced shooter but now want to focus on personal defense then BOPS would be quite frustrating whereas Concealed Carry and Home Defense Fundamentals would be right on the money.
USCCA may actually have something more like BOPS, but when I look through the online course schedule I am not seeing it being offered whereas you pretty much can’t walk down the street without tripping over someone offering BOPS.