Florida Cosmetology Schools

Training toward a cosmetology license can be taken at four kinds of institution, and private cosmetology schools are licensed by the Commission for Independent Education under chapter 1005 — not by the Board of Cosmetology. The Board sets what the hours must contain; a different body licenses the school delivering them.

The four approved routes

Training toward the cosmetology license must be completed at one of (s. 477.019(2)(c)):

• a school of cosmetology licensed pursuant to chapter 1005
• a cosmetology program within the public school system
• the Cosmetology Division of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
• a government-operated cosmetology program in this state

For specialty registrations the approved list is slightly different, and adds one route worth knowing: a school licensed by “the equivalent licensing authority of another state” also qualifies (s. 477.0201(1)(c)).

Two regulators, not one

This is the part that confuses people. Section 477.023 addresses schools, and private cosmetology schools are licensed under chapter 1005 by the Commission for Independent Education. The Board of Cosmetology sets the training content and the hour requirements; it does not license the school.

So “is this school approved?” is a question with two halves — whether the institution holds the right license, and whether the program delivers the hours the Board requires.

What to check before enrolling

The hour figures below come from the licensing requirements and the training hours.

• That the program delivers the hours for the credential wanted: 1,200 for the cosmetology license, or 180, 220 or 400 for a specialty registration — though for the full specialty the statute names 400 or a figure defined by reference to federal Pell Grant minimums, so the number to confirm is the one on the credential’s own page
• That the school will certify hours for the 1,000-hour early examination route if that matters — it is the school director’s certification that the rule requires
• That the specialty training focuses on sanitation and safety, which is what the statute says those hours are for

What this page does not do

It does not list or rank schools, and it does not recommend one. This site publishes what it has read from a primary source, and a directory of institutions is a different kind of claim that would need its own verified source and its own maintenance.

It also states no tuition figure, for the same reason. What the work pays afterwards is a published federal series rather than a Florida rule, and it is set out separately under cosmetologist wages.