COSMETOLOGY SCHOOLS IN ARKANSAS — Federal Data, September 2026
Cosmetology Schools in Arkansas, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
16 accredited institutions in Arkansas 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 16 ranked programs in Arkansas, the median graduate needs 9.9 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $10,956, against median earnings of $14,450 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 Academy of Salon and Spa in Fort Smith, at 4.9 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Arkansas institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about cosmetology schools in Arkansas
The Ranking
16 cosmetology schools in Arkansas, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Academy of Salon and SpaFort Smith, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 4.9 | $7,900 | $19,443 | 80% |
| 2 | Arkansas State University-NewportNewport, AR | Public | Certificate | 5.7 | $7,250 | $15,140 | 46% |
| 3 | The Salon Professional AcademySherwood, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 6.5 | $9,833 | $18,091 | 90% |
| 4 | Career Academy of Hair DesignSpringdale, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 7.1 | $9,855 | $16,574 | 73% |
| 5 | Arthur’s Beauty CollegeJacksonville, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 8.2 | $9,833 | $14,388 | 79% |
| 6 | Arthur’s Beauty CollegeConway, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 8.2 | $9,833 | $14,388 | 39% |
| 7 | Academy of Professional CosmetologyRogers, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 8.8 | $8,498 | $11,572 | 89% |
| 8 | New Tyler Barber College IncNorth Little Rock, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 9.1 | $11,000 | $14,513 | 20% |
| 9 | Paul Mitchell the School-ArkansasFayetteville, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 10.7 | $12,500 | $14,040 | 68% |
| 10 | Arthur’s Beauty CollegeJonesboro, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 10.9 | $12,841 | $14,085 | 52% |
| 11 | Designer Barber & Stylist SchoolFort Smith, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 11.3 | $16,500 | $17,460 | 68% |
| 12 | Arkansas Technical SchoolNorth Little Rock, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 11.4 | $16,500 | $17,388 | 58% |
| 13 | University of Aesthetics & CosmetologyEl Dorado, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 11.9 | $10,912 | $11,050 | 50% |
| 14 | Paul Mitchell the School-Little RockNorth Little Rock, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 12.5 | $15,471 | $14,898 | 71% |
| 15 | Searcy Beauty CollegeSearcy, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 13.3 | $15,473 | $13,984 | 55% |
| 16 | Washington Barber College IncLittle Rock, AR | for-profit | Certificate | 14.2 | $14,763 | $12,496 | 89% |
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 Arkansas, one by one
Academy of Salon and Spa
Fort Smith, AR
Academy of Salon and Spa is a private for-profit institution in Fort Smith. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $7,900 and report median earnings of $19,443 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.9 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 5.0 months faster than the Arkansas state median of 9.9. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 80% completion rate.
Arkansas State University-Newport
Newport, AR
Arkansas State University-Newport is a public institution in Newport. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $7,250 and report median earnings of $15,140 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.7 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 4.2 months faster than the Arkansas state median of 9.9. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 46% completion rate.
The Salon Professional Academy
Sherwood, AR
The Salon Professional Academy is a private for-profit institution in Sherwood. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,833 and report median earnings of $18,091 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 6.5 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 3.4 months faster than the Arkansas state median of 9.9. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 90% completion rate.
Career Academy of Hair Design
Springdale, AR
Career Academy of Hair Design is a private for-profit institution in Springdale. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,855 and report median earnings of $16,574 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 7.1 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 2.8 months faster than the Arkansas state median of 9.9. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 73% completion rate.
Arthur’s Beauty College
Jacksonville, AR
Arthur’s Beauty College is a private for-profit institution in Jacksonville. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,833 and report median earnings of $14,388 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 8.2 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 1.7 months faster than the Arkansas state median of 9.9. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 79% 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 Arkansas
Comparing a different trade in Arkansas
For ARKANSAS School Operators
Want to know how your program ranks against these?
We run this analysis for individual schools against their own federal data and show them where they sit against both the Arkansas median and the national one. Where the answer is good, it is the strongest recruitment argument a school owns.
Book Your Free Enrollment AuditBy application only — reserved for trade and vocational school operators enrolling 50+ students a year.