BTW I am learning with Eagle Paragliding in Santa Barbara California. Totally recommend them.
Like many paragliding schools, they have a seemingly odd business model: Buy your gear and the lesson package from them and you get lifetime lessons whenever you want to show up.
This makes a lot of sense from a student point of view, because people learn at very different speeds (it's been kind of slow for me, tbh) and you don't want to feel rushed with a sport that could easily kill you.
The nice thing about #paragliding, from a financial point of view, is that once you've paid for the gear and lessons, flying is basically free. No lift tickets, etc.