The loan scheme still exists in NZ. It has been limited to $35k per year. Uni pilot grads still walk out with a $100-120k loan debt. The number of institutions that carry out the training has been reduced and I'm thinking that this number will drop further in the future. This is do to with the number of graduates actually paying back the loans.
Herein creates the problem..most young people see this wad of cash as a endless bank account..and despite knowing quite a few students that have failed numerous theory exams and flight tests I have seen a training org still "committed" to fulfilling these young students dream of being an airline pilot because of this perceived pilot shortage.
RequestAsymmetrics summed it up perfectly. I overheard a conversation between some students saying that they don't need to worry about S&L or descent profiles because that is what autopilot is for.
Then again..the student loan gravy train is keeping a whole lot of current FI's employed.