COSMETOLOGY SCHOOLS IN DELAWARE — Federal Data, September 2026
Cosmetology Schools in Delaware, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
4 accredited institutions in Delaware 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 4 ranked programs in Delaware, the median graduate needs 6.5 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $9,489, against median earnings of $19,099 one year after completion.
That is faster 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 Massage and Bodywork in Bear, at 4.2 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Delaware institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about cosmetology schools in Delaware
The Ranking
4 cosmetology schools in Delaware, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Academy of Massage and BodyworkBear, DE | for-profit | Certificate | 4.2 | $6,376 | $18,223 | n/a |
| 2 | Hair Academy School of Barbering & BeautyNewark, DE | for-profit | Certificate | 4.6 | $9,666 | $25,168 | 50% |
| 3 | Dawn Career Institute LLCNewark, DE | for-profit | Certificate | 8.4 | $9,312 | $13,271 | 82% |
| 4 | Paul Mitchell the School-DelawareNewark, DE | for-profit | Certificate | 9.2 | $15,374 | $19,975 | 53% |
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 Delaware, one by one
Academy of Massage and Bodywork
Bear, DE
Academy of Massage and Bodywork is a private for-profit institution in Bear. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $6,376 and report median earnings of $18,223 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.2 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 2.3 months faster than the Delaware state median of 6.5. The award measured here is a certificate.
Hair Academy School of Barbering & Beauty
Newark, DE
Hair Academy School of Barbering & Beauty is a private for-profit institution in Newark. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,666 and report median earnings of $25,168 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.6 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 1.9 months faster than the Delaware state median of 6.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 50% completion rate.
Dawn Career Institute LLC
Newark, DE
Dawn Career Institute LLC is a private for-profit institution in Newark. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,312 and report median earnings of $13,271 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 8.4 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 1.9 months slower than the Delaware state median of 6.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 82% completion rate.
Paul Mitchell the School-Delaware
Newark, DE
Paul Mitchell the School-Delaware is a private for-profit institution in Newark. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $15,374 and report median earnings of $19,975 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 9.2 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 2.7 months slower than the Delaware state median of 6.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 53% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
With only 4 institutions publishable here, this page is a short list by construction. It is not a directory of every school in Delaware: many programs, especially at institutions that do not take federal student aid, never appear in this data at all.
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 Delaware
Comparing a different trade in Delaware
For DELAWARE School Operators
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