Arkansas beauty school programs are shorter than regular four-year college, but students are still winding up with about the same in student loan debt.
This is partly because more funding is available to students at two-year and four-year schools compared to beauty and technical schools.
A data analysis shows the median debt among beauty schools across the state of Arkansas to be $8,156. Sixteen schools have debt above the median, 13 have debt below the median, and debt is not reported at three.
The median debt for students at the Career Academy of Hair Design in Fayetteville is $6,365. This debt is averaged out at five campuses and among 200 students financial aid advisor Barbara Sloan said.
Tuition for the 600-hour program is $6,000 and tuition for the 1,500-hour program is $16,000 Sloan said.
Sloan said, “Sometimes the local high schools will give scholarships to the students, but the Arkansas Academic Challenge won’t recognize [beauty schools].”
The Arkansas Academic Challenge provides scholarships to Arkansas residents pursuing a higher education. The scholarship is available to students regardless of academic status. To qualify, a student must not owe a refund on a federal or state student financial aid grant for higher education and not be in default on a federal or state student financial aid loan for higher education, according to the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
Sloan said since the state will not give funding to the Career Academy of Hair Design, students are reliant primarily on Pell grants and student loans.
The average debt at Searcy Beauty College in Searcy is $8,543. That seems like a high amount of student debt, because the statewide median is $8,701 and the current class is 60 students.
However, admissions coordinator Renee Tucker said students repay their loans.
“I’ve been here for three years and most students don’t have a massive amount of debt,” Tucker said. “Of course, the amount of student loan debt is pretty high, but most students don’t have any loan debt when they leave here.”
Searcy Beauty College offers courses in cosmetology, hairdressing, manicuring, aesthetics, salesmanship and shop management, and the shop department.
A student needs 1,000 hours of courses in hairdressing out of the total 1,500-hour program. Tuition and fees cover the cost of all hair tools, hair products and textbooks, Tucker said.
The Arkansas College of Barbering and Hair Design in Little Rock is the only beauty school on the Student Debt at Arkansas Schools graph with the highest student debt. It is also the only beauty school in the state where students have a median debt that is higher than $10,000.
Among the three previously mentioned schools, the only school that offers scholarships is the Arkansas College of Barbering and Hair Design in Little Rock.
“Tuition covers hair tools, shampoo and conditioner and textbooks. Students are not paying anything out of pocket,” said McKyndra Smith, the admissions coordinator at the Arkansas College of Barbering and Hair Design in Little Rock.
The high tuition is because it covers a wide variety of things, but she said students can apply for scholarships and financial aid through FAFSA.
The attached graphs show that although beauty school is cheaper, and the degree programs are shorter, student debt is higher because beauty schools offer less financial aid than non-beauty schools.
Career Academy of Hair Design – Fayetteville
Barbara Sloan, financial aid
479-935-4550
Arkansas College of Barbering and Hair Design – Little Rock
Mckyndra Smith, Admissions Coordinator
501-503-5050
Searcy Beauty College – Searcy
Renee Tucker
501-268-6300
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