The entry point to every other certificate, and the first place a downturn in the pipeline shows up. Student certificates stopped expiring in April 2016, so the total accumulates rather than turning over.
Active in 2025
370,286
Change vs 2024
+24,791
Since 2015
+202%
History
2025370,286
2015 · 122,7292025 · 370,286
Last month
719 student pilots appeared in the August 2026 releasable file that were not in July 2026. That file covers 47% of active pilots, and newly opted-in airmen look identical to newly certificated ones, so this is an upper bound on issuance rather than a count of it.