Cosmetology license: school hours, exams and fees in your state

Hours first, fees second

A cosmetology license is a school-hours license. Before a state lets you test, an approved beauty school (or, in some states, a registered apprenticeship) must certify that you finished the required curriculum of hair, skin and nail services. That requirement runs from 1,000 clock hours in California, New York and Texas to 1,600 in Washington; Florida sits in between at 1,200, Pennsylvania at 1,250 and Wisconsin at 1,550. At 30 hours a week, a 1,000-hour program takes about 34 weeks and a 1,500-hour program about 50 weeks. Apprenticeship routes usually ask for more hours, not fewer: Alabama and Pennsylvania both set a higher apprentice hour count than their 1,500 and 1,250 school hours, and Alabama does not let school and apprentice hours be combined.

Several states let you sit the written test before the last hour is logged. Texas opens written exam eligibility shortly before the 1,000 hours are done, Maryland lets students take the theory test near the end of the program, and Washington accepts candidates close to completion. Florida allows the exam before the full 1,200 hours but requires every one of them before any retake, so a failed first attempt can mean going back to school before testing again.

Two exams, several vendors

Most boards do not write or grade the exam themselves. They hire a testing company, and the candidate pays it directly. PSI runs the cosmetology exams in Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Maryland and Texas; Pearson VUE in Florida and Pennsylvania; Prov in North Carolina and Washington. Louisiana uses the national NIC theory exam through IQT plus its own state written and practical tests, and Wisconsin sends its practical through D.L. Roope. New York and Ohio give their own exams. The price swings widely: the two New York state exams cost $15 each, while Washington's written test alone is $169.

The usual format is a written theory exam on infection control, chemistry and state law, then a practical where you perform timed services on a mannequin. Two states priced here dropped the practical: California and Indiana require only the written exam. Pennsylvania folds theory and procedural skills into a single computer exam at $93. Washington and Wisconsin, the two most expensive states in the table, are expensive mainly because of their exam fees: $288 and $315 for both parts.

Application and license fees

The board's own charge is often the smallest line. Florida bills $40 for the original license, Texas $50 for the application, Alabama $50. California takes a different approach: one $125 payment covers the application, the written exam and the first license. Wisconsin has no separate board line because its exam totals already include the state's fees. No priced state lists a fingerprint or background check fee for this license, which keeps the totals low next to trades such as real estate.

Failing a part and paying again

Written and practical parts are usually scored and billed separately, so failing the practical means paying only the practical again. In Washington a second try at both parts adds $288; in New York the same mistake costs $30. Deadlines matter as much as fees: Alabama gives candidates two years from program completion to pass both exams, Maryland requires the theory and practical scores within two years of each other, Texas and Maryland test fees lapse after one year, and New York keeps passed results for five years. Set the number of attempts in the calculator to see the effect on your state.

Renewal and moving to another state

Most states renew a cosmetology license every two years. Indiana and New York renew every four. Renewal fees run from $11 in Wisconsin to $100 in Alabama. Continuing education is light: 10 hours per cycle in Florida, 6 in Maryland, 4 in Texas and Ohio, none in Pennsylvania.

A license does not travel on its own, but most boards offer endorsement or reciprocity. Texas reviews out-of-state licenses through license by equivalence; Ohio wants the license held at least a year plus a one-hour human trafficking course; Pennsylvania asks for proof of two years of licensed work for reciprocity. New York may waive out-of-state schooling yet still requires its own exams, and Maryland lists states whose licensees must retest. Check the state pages for Texas, California, Florida and New York before you move. If you only want skin or barbering work, the esthetician and barber licenses ask for different hours.