Esthetician license: training hours, exams and fees by state

What an esthetician license covers, and the hours behind it

An esthetician works on skin rather than hair or nails, and states license this work as a specialty of cosmetology, under names that differ: Wisconsin calls it an aesthetician license, Maryland a limited esthetician license, Oklahoma a facial operator license, and Florida has no esthetician license at all but a facial specialist registration with its cosmetology board. The training is a skin care curriculum at an approved school, and its length is the main time cost. The most common requirement is 600 hours, found in 7 of the states priced here. Illinois, Kentucky, Texas and Washington want 750; Indiana 700; Alabama 1,000. At the low end, Pennsylvania asks 300 hours and Florida 220 for a facial specialist.

At 30 hours a week, 600 hours take about 20 weeks and 1,000 hours about 34, so the hour count decides whether you start working in one season or close to a school year. Apprenticeship routes exist in Alabama, Washington, Maryland and Virginia, among others, usually with more hours than the school route.

Exams: from none to three tests

Esthetics is where states disagree most about testing. California, Connecticut and Florida register or license you without a state exam once the school hours are certified. California, Indiana, Illinois and Maryland give a written exam only; Illinois uses Continental Testing online for $175, Maryland a PSI theory test at $77. Pennsylvania replaces the hands-on test with one computer-based theory and procedural skills exam through Pearson VUE. Most of the others test twice, written then practical: PSI runs both parts in Alabama and Texas, Prov in Virginia and Washington, D.L. Roope with national NIC content in Wisconsin, and the Department of State in New York for $15 per part. Kentucky folds the theory test and the practical demonstration into one PSI fee, and the theory must be passed before the practical can be scheduled. Minnesota is the outlier with three PSI tests: general theory, a written practical and a state laws and rules exam.

The exam bill explains most of the spread. Washington and Wisconsin charge $288 and $315 for both parts, more than the entire first-license cost in most other states.

Board fees, permits and the license itself

California charges one $115 payment for the application, the written exam and the first license. Virginia's board fee is higher at $120 for the individual license application. Minnesota adds a $40 application fee to a $155 license that runs three years, which is why it lands near the top on day one. Two states bill students before they graduate: Texas a $25 student permit and Kentucky a $25 enrollment registration. Florida's facial specialist pays a $30 application fee and a $40 initial registration fee, and may start working once the application is filed.

Retakes and deadlines

Where the parts are billed separately, you repay only the part you failed. Failing both parts once in Virginia adds $194, and Virginia requires both exams passed within one year of the first exam date. Maryland keeps exam eligibility open but wants theory and practical scores within two years of each other; Alabama gives two years from program completion; Minnesota accepts test results no more than a year old when you apply. Set the attempts field in the calculator to price a retake in your state.

Renewing and moving with an esthetician license

Oklahoma renews every year for $40, Minnesota every three years for $115 with 8 hours of continuing education, New York every four, most others every two. Illinois and Florida ask 10 hours of continuing education per cycle, Maryland 6, Texas 4; Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin none.

For movers, New York grants an esthetics license by endorsement to licensees of listed jurisdictions without exam or further education, and California accepts a current out-of-state license without its written exam. Kentucky requires that your former state asked for at least as many hours as its own 750, Minnesota adds its own written operator exam, Virginia may require its exam for some endorsement applicants, and Pennsylvania wants two years of licensed work for reciprocity. A license that also covers hair and nails is on the cosmetology page; the renewal page compares what licenses cost to keep.