They did a U turn on it ... they probably saw it best hold off and look at the upcoming applicants. I guess there's no need for them to take on such a risk if they have a number of suitable applicants who can fund it themselves anyway.
Most airlines either fund courses or they don't, not some halfway house. This allows them to pick the best candidates who apply. Sure, there will potentially be better candidates who don't apply for self-sponsored courses, but the airline never gets to see them.
With EZY's offer of "we might guarantee a loan", it makes the whole issue of funding very transparent and potentially means candidates who have been offered places then can't accept them. With other airlines, they either wouldn't have applied in the first place or the finance would be provided.
This whole idea of "we'll wait and see who we get then decide on finance" is odd. Will they accept a "worse" candidate who can fund the course v one who can't? The public might not like the idea of their pilot being not the best candidate but the one who could pay.....