FAA 20-Year Forecast
The FAA is forecasting some pretty depressing numbers for the number of student pilots in the short term and very slow growth in the mid-term and long term. The light sport category is expected to grow, however, about 25 percent over the short term.
As a new Private Pilot and someone who is working on my IFR and Commercial ratings with the intent on becoming a CFII it's easy to understand why. It's too damn expensive to learn to fly! And there is practically zero student aid available anymore and most banks won't loan money for someone to take flight training. I'm wondering what others think of this. Not much need for CFIs if no one's going to be learning to fly.