Beauty schools educate students in a number of fields, including cosmetology, esthetics (non-medical skin care), nail and make-up technologies, and barbering/hair-dressing. Because of the diversity of fields that fall under the umbrella of beauty schools, you should remember that each school will have its own requirements for admission and graduation.
One of the biggest factors that impacts what requirements a beauty school will have is its location, as every state has its own requirements for licensing in the beauty fields. For example, some states require a high-school diploma or equivalent for admittance into a beauty school, while others do not. States also determine which practitioners require licenses and how long they have to train or apprentice before they can obtain a license. According to the Beauty Schools Directory, it is often necessary to take additional credit hours or undergo another licensing test if the practitioner would like to work outside of the state where he or she went to school.
Generally speaking, cosmetologists have the largest time commitment for schooling, at about 1,500 hours experiential time. Estheticians and nail technicians typically put in less time. However, that is not always the case; for instance, in Alabama, the number of hours required for cosmetologists and estheticians are the same. For a list of state-by-state requirements, see Resources below.
In addition to differences among programs and different U.S. states, another factor that influences beauty school requirements is the curriculum of each program. A number of nationally recognized curricula are employed by beauty schools, and learning one or more of those is how people in the beauty field enhance their skill set (with additional classes in areas such as chemistry, biology and business). For more on widely used beauty-school curricula, see Resources below.
Licensing requirements are designed to help improve customer/service-provider relations. A licensed cosmetologist has an automatic step-up on a non-licensed practitioner because those with licenses are more trusted by consumers. Additionally, that means that licensing can improve job opportunities for someone in the beauty fields.