Initial33,
If you want respect go to the Culinary Institute of America or Le Cordon Bleu, or some other 2+ years $40,000+ USD programs. If you want recognition, you're not going to get it from PICA. Seriously tho, most employers (If your looking for a job) don't care where you graduated from really just so long as you can Cook.
Just a word of advice, i've learned that it's not always smart to turn your passion into your job...you may just end up hating it. I went through a bit of a funk but kinda got excited again thinking about mexican food. French food is great and all, but it's not something you can eat every day. Same thing with Italian, pasta pasta pasta! I'm not knocking them, I love both, but with Mexican food...something about it, it's fantastic. Fresh, delicious, and even healthy. Anyhow, don't let me kill your dreams, follow them out and good luck. Seriously tho, PICA is a good school, but I wouldn't recommend people to go there on the basis that Chef Walter Messiah is a pompus ass who doesn't care about the students and treats them like crap.
my 2 bits.