Program / Barbering
Cuts, fades, beard work. Own track, own license.
1,200 hours, focused on men’s cutting, fading, beard work, scalp care, and the business of running a barber chair. Daytime cohorts complete in 11 months. Evening and weekend cohorts in 17. The state license is separate from cosmetology, and so is the per-cut economic model.
Why barbering separately
It’s its own discipline.
The state license is separate from the cosmetology license, on purpose. Barbering work is its own discipline — the cuts are different, the chair time is shorter, the per-cut economics are different. Most barbering graduates work in barbershops rather than full-service salons, and the program is built for that destination.
- Cut time20–35 min average vs. 45–75 in salon work
- Walk-in volumeHigher; chairs turn 12–16 times a day
- Per-cut price floor$22–$40 in this market
- Booth-rent modelCommon; most graduates rent within 2 years
- Straight-razor certificationIncluded in the program, not a paid add-on
The chair time
Eight chairs, all running, most afternoons.
The barbering floor sits eight at a time. Students rotate every two hours during practical, with the instructor floating between chairs and stepping in on the fade work whenever a guard line needs a second pair of eyes. Walk-in clients book in $14 cuts; that’s how the live-client hours pile up.
Cost & placement
The economics after graduation.
Total tuition: $14,600. Books and kit: $1,500. Title IV eligible. Most barbering graduates start at $18 per hour and reach $26 per hour with tips inside two years. The barbershops we partner with usually move graduates from booth-rental into a guaranteed schedule within the first year.
“The shops we send graduates to don’t care if you went to barbering school. They care if you can fade clean, cut on time, and treat the chair like a business. The program is built around those three.” Dontay R., barbering lead