COSMETOLOGY SCHOOLS IN ALABAMA — Federal Data, September 2026
Cosmetology Schools in Alabama, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
6 accredited institutions in Alabama 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 Alabama, the median graduate needs 11.0 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $14,290, against median earnings of $15,976 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 Blue Cliff Career College in Mobile, at 5.9 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Alabama institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about cosmetology schools in Alabama
The Ranking
6 cosmetology schools in Alabama, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue Cliff Career CollegeMobile, AL | for-profit | Certificate | 5.9 | $9,833 | $20,014 | 80% |
| 2 | The Salon Professional Academy-HuntsvilleHuntsville, AL | for-profit | Certificate | 8.3 | $10,951 | $15,804 | 57% |
| 3 | Paul Mitchell the School-BirminghamHoover, AL | for-profit | Certificate | 10.5 | $13,831 | $15,782 | 56% |
| 4 | Remington College-Mobile CampusMobile, AL | nonprofit | Certificate | 11.5 | $14,750 | $15,381 | 42% |
| 5 | Alabama School of Nail Technology & CosmetologyJackson, AL | for-profit | Certificate | 12.1 | $16,500 | $16,328 | 62% |
| 6 | Brown Beauty Barber SchoolBessemer, AL | for-profit | Certificate | 12.3 | $16,500 | $16,147 | 83% |
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 Alabama, one by one
Blue Cliff Career College
Mobile, AL
Blue Cliff Career College is a private for-profit institution in Mobile. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,833 and report median earnings of $20,014 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.9 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 5.1 months faster than the Alabama state median of 11.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 80% completion rate.
The Salon Professional Academy-Huntsville
Huntsville, AL
The Salon Professional Academy-Huntsville is a private for-profit institution in Huntsville. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $10,951 and report median earnings of $15,804 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 8.3 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 2.7 months faster than the Alabama state median of 11.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 57% completion rate.
Paul Mitchell the School-Birmingham
Hoover, AL
Paul Mitchell the School-Birmingham is a private for-profit institution in Hoover. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $13,831 and report median earnings of $15,782 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 10.5 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 0.5 months faster than the Alabama state median of 11.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 56% completion rate.
Remington College-Mobile Campus
Mobile, AL
Remington College-Mobile Campus is a private nonprofit institution in Mobile. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $14,750 and report median earnings of $15,381 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 11.5 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 0.5 months slower than the Alabama state median of 11.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 42% completion rate.
Alabama School of Nail Technology & Cosmetology
Jackson, AL
Alabama School of Nail Technology & Cosmetology is a private for-profit institution in Jackson. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $16,500 and report median earnings of $16,328 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 12.1 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 1.1 months slower than the Alabama state median of 11.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 62% 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 Alabama
Comparing a different trade in Alabama
For ALABAMA School Operators
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