The licensed personal-appearance trades: cosmetology, barbering, nail care and skin care, taught in Florida as clock-hour certificates whose length is set by statute. About 3,146 certificates a year at 44 public institutions, most of them technical colleges. There is no degree in this family.
The degrees this program covers
⚠⚠ Every award here is a certificate. Cosmetology (12.0401) is 1,212 a year at 42 institutions, led by Daytona State 86, Sheridan Technical 74 and Palm Beach State 64. Facial treatment and skin care (12.0408) is 1,256 short certificates at 24, and nail technician (12.0410) 456 at 20. ⚠⚠ Barbering (12.0402) is only 208 at 17, although an employed Florida barber's median wage ($49,410) is well above an employed hairdresser's ($29,530). ⚠⚠⚠ The hours are set in law: 1,200 for a cosmetologist licence (s. 477.019, F.S.), 900 for a barber licence (s. 476.114), and 180, 220 or 400 for the nail, facial or combined specialty registrations (s. 477.0201). The state's barbering programme runs 1,200 hours, 300 more than the statute requires, and its nail and facial courses also exceed the minimums. Ask each school which licence each completion point prepares you for, and when you can sit the exam. ⚠ Barbering has its own board and licence under chapter 476; a cosmetology licence does not make you a barber.
Careers this program leads to
Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end,
and the sources behind it.
Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers.
⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree
keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.
44 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023,
at these levels: Certificate (<12 weeks), Certificate (1-2 years), Certificate (12 weeks-1 year).
A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited
its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing
program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.
Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only —
the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is
strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023
will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.
Updated 23 September 2026.
⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always
read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.