A New Look: Rethinking Licensure Pathways

Janice Dorian, a retired beauty school owner in Massachusetts, pioneered an apprenticeship model in the state in 2017.¹ Her experience demonstrates that, despite the challenges she faced in changing the cosmetology educational system, apprenticeships not only can work in delivering cosmetology education, but provide a critical alternative to overly restrictive pathways. This model helps protect students from being exploited for their financial aid or free labor, avoids burdening them with student loan debt, and still preserves a state’s licensing requirements.

Apprenticeships allow students to learn the essentials of cosmetology, prepare for entry-level employment, and successfully pass both school and state board licensing exams. In addition to classroom learning, students gain and refine practical skills at local salons where they are paid. However, such alternative models remain rare, and industry resistance has been strong—most recently seen in Iowa, where an apprenticeship model bill stalled in the legislature.²

Dorian initially used the traditional cosmetology educational model, accessing federal financial aid to help students enroll in her cosmetology school. Although her institutions had no federal or compliance findings, over time she recognized that the costs and regulatory burdens of federal, state, and accreditation requirements made the system financially unsustainable for students without heavy reliance on student loans. She learned that too many potential professionals could not afford to spend months training at a traditional cosmetology school, foregoing wages and going into debt. These students often faced life challenges that made the traditional model inaccessible. This realization led her to transition from a traditional school model to a Registered Apprenticeship program.

A Registered Apprenticeship program allows budding cosmetologists to earn progressive wages and build clientele as they acquire more skills.³ Registered apprentices receive a combination of structured on-the-job learning and classroom-based education. Importantly, they benefit from worker protections they wouldn’t otherwise have while training in-house at a beauty school. Apprentices earn the same credentials as students completing traditional programs.

Dorian encountered several obstacles along the way in establishing her apprenticeship program. Even though her school had recently renewed its accreditation for the maximum six years and secured recertification from the U.S. Department of Education to continue in the federal financial aid program, her accreditor warned her that shifting to an apprenticeship model would jeopardize her accreditation. Undeterred, Dorian voluntarily withdrew her school’s accreditation, and that withdrawal prevented her school from continuing participation in federal financial aid programs.

Her next challenge was securing approval for her apprenticeship program from the state licensing board. The board imposed numerous restrictions on the program, many of which went beyond the requirements for traditional cosmetology programs. But Dorian went on to get approval and she successfully launched a hybrid apprenticeship model, which combined 600 hours of instruction (300 completed in-person and 300 completed online) and 400 hours of hands-on salon experience at salons across the region. The program’s completion, placement, and licensure rates exceeded 90 percent. The experience reinforced her belief that the traditional cosmetology education model fosters poor incentives for schools and that licensed apprenticeships provide a better alternative for everyone.

The model realigned incentives for her students and for salons. Many of the participating salons hosting apprentices provided input on the curriculum to ensure that students received a standardized foundational education, which prepared them for entry-level employment and successful completion of the state licensing exam. This allowed the salons to train apprentices further in techniques and styles specific to their clientele. Students gained hands-on mentorship and oversight as they worked directly with paying clients, creating a mutual interest in high-quality training. Additionally, the model improved compliance with labor regulations. Apprentices couldn’t be paid “under the table,” and salons not meeting compliance standards either had to adjust or forgo hosting apprentices.

The impact of this alternative approach is clear. In New America’s focus groups, a student who was enrolled in a Registered Apprenticeship program described how she was paid from day one for her work. Other students, who had taken the traditional cosmetology route, expressed surprise and envy. They were required to work “on the floor” from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday, until they completed their necessary program hours, which often takes almost a year or more. Many felt that they should have received at least some form of compensation beyond tips for the services they provided at their school’s salon.

Dorian’s experience highlights the benefits of a Registered Apprenticeship model and demonstrates why it should be embraced as a critical pathway for cosmetology education. It offers students practical experience, compensation, and protection while ensuring salons have a pipeline of well-trained talent—aligning incentives in ways the traditional system cannot.