COSMETOLOGY SCHOOLS IN NEW MEXICO — Federal Data, September 2026
Cosmetology Schools in New Mexico, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
6 accredited institutions in New Mexico report enough federal data on this program to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.
See The RankingU.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.
Across the 6 ranked programs in New Mexico, the median graduate needs 8.0 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $11,314, against median earnings of $16,863 one year after completion.
That is slower than the national median of 6.8 months for this field, measured across the 987 institutions in our national cosmetology schools ranking. The best performer in the state is Avenue Academy A Cosmetology Institute in Albuquerque, at 4.6 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on New Mexico institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about cosmetology schools in New Mexico
The Ranking
6 cosmetology schools in New Mexico, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avenue Academy A Cosmetology InstituteAlbuquerque, NM | for-profit | Certificate | 4.6 | $6,416 | $16,841 | 94% |
| 2 | Aveda Institute-New MexicoAlbuquerque, NM | for-profit | Certificate | 6.3 | $9,862 | $18,842 | 88% |
| 3 | Vogue College of Cosmetology-Santa FeSanta Fe, NM | for-profit | Certificate | 6.8 | $9,500 | $16,854 | 75% |
| 4 | Paul Mitchell the School-AlbuquerqueAlbuquerque, NM | for-profit | Certificate | 9.2 | $13,000 | $16,872 | 78% |
| 5 | Urban Academy of BeautyRio Rancho, NM | for-profit | Certificate | 9.2 | $13,000 | $16,872 | 50% |
| 6 | Glitz School of CosmetologyLas Cruces, NM | for-profit | Certificate | 9.5 | $12,766 | $16,178 | 69% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers in this program; earnings are median earnings one year after completion. Where a school offers the program at both certificate and associate level, the shorter payback is shown. Completion is the institution’s published rate, not the program’s.
The Top Five, In Detail
The five fastest payback programs in New Mexico, one by one
Avenue Academy A Cosmetology Institute
Albuquerque, NM
Avenue Academy A Cosmetology Institute is a private for-profit institution in Albuquerque. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $6,416 and report median earnings of $16,841 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.6 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 3.4 months faster than the New Mexico state median of 8.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 94% completion rate.
Aveda Institute-New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM
Aveda Institute-New Mexico is a private for-profit institution in Albuquerque. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,862 and report median earnings of $18,842 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 6.3 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 1.7 months faster than the New Mexico state median of 8.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 88% completion rate.
Vogue College of Cosmetology-Santa Fe
Santa Fe, NM
Vogue College of Cosmetology-Santa Fe is a private for-profit institution in Santa Fe. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,500 and report median earnings of $16,854 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 6.8 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 1.2 months faster than the New Mexico state median of 8.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 75% completion rate.
Paul Mitchell the School-Albuquerque
Albuquerque, NM
Paul Mitchell the School-Albuquerque is a private for-profit institution in Albuquerque. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $13,000 and report median earnings of $16,872 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 9.2 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 1.2 months slower than the New Mexico state median of 8.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 78% completion rate.
Urban Academy of Beauty
Rio Rancho, NM
Urban Academy of Beauty is a private for-profit institution in Rio Rancho. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $13,000 and report median earnings of $16,872 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 9.2 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 1.2 months slower than the New Mexico state median of 8.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 50% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
Absence from this page is not a verdict. The Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, so a small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all. Schools that enroll no students on federal aid are outside this dataset entirely.
The measure is a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing inside one state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.
Other States
The same program, another state
Other Programs in New Mexico
Comparing a different trade in New Mexico
For NEW MEXICO School Operators
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