The Trump administration is pulling back federal student loans for cosmetology schools — and it’s a great opportunity for states to stop forcing aspiring beauticians to take on debt just to practice their trade.
Under the administration’s proposed “Do No Harm” rule, colleges and trade schools can no longer enroll pupils using federal student loans if their graduates earn less than early-career workers with only a high school diploma. The logic is that postsecondary education should, at a minimum, make people better off than those who never went to college. If graduates can’t clear this basic benchmark, they are unlikely to be able to afford their loan payments.
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Unfortunately, most cosmetology schools fail to meet this very basic standard. Four years after completing their programs, cosmetology graduates earn a median salary of just $27,000 — while similarly aged high school graduates earn around $35,000. As a result, cosmetology schools have among the nation’s worst loan-repayment outcomes, with roughly one-third of borrowers more than three months behind on their debts.
The Trump administration is right to pull the plug: more than 90% of cosmetology schools are expected to fail the “Do No Harm” rule and lose access to federal loans. That will protect hundreds of thousands of students from unaffordable debt. Meanwhile, taxpayers will no longer have to eat the cost when those borrowers inevitably fail to repay.
But the Do No Harm rule should be only the beginning of a broader conversation about how to change the way barbers, hairstylists, and manicurists prepare for their careers. Every state licenses these professions; some, including Nebraska and West Virginia, require them to undergo over 1,800 hours of training before earning the right to work. The federal government has effectively subsidized these excessive training requirements through unconditional student loan subsidies — but now that funding stream is winding down.
States should take the opportunity to cut the number of required training hours to become a licensed cosmetologist. Research has shown that recent reductions in mandated required training hours have reduced tuition and increased enrollment. Some evidence even suggests that the ensuing enrollment increases improve cosmetology schools’ profits.
Utah is one example of a state taking significant steps to reform cosmetology licensing requirements. With the enactment of SB 330 last year, most cosmetology education requirements were cut from 1,600 to 1,250 hours. Barbers can now obtain a license to work in Utah with just 130 hours of education. Aspiring workers may also substitute apprentice hours for beauty school hours.
But states could go even further and end cosmetologist licensure entirely. Cosmetologist licensing is not ubiquitous worldwide. More than 119 million people in the UK and Spain live without cosmetologist licensing. Several Canadian provinces, including British Columbia, also do not require cosmetology licensing. Instead, regulation often occurs at the shop level. Beauty salons may need to register their business and be subject to random inspections. This way, the public is offered protection without overly cumbersome regulation that limits entry to the profession, which research has shown fails to prevent accidents and bad actors.
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Cosmetology schools could still exist in a world without licensure. But rather than relying on state training mandates, they would need to demonstrate their educational value to attract voluntary paying customers. Beauty schools, which effectively teach students to become better at their craft — and achieve higher wages — could thrive. But those that exist mainly as a box for aspiring beauticians to check on the road to licensure would need to reform.
Heavy licensing requirements for cosmetologists were supposed to protect the public. Instead, licensing has sentenced barbers and hairstylists to unaffordable student debt. By reducing or even eliminating cosmetology licensing, states can address the student debt crisis and expand opportunity in one blow.
Edward Timmons is vice president of Policy at the Archbridge Institute. Preston Cooper is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.