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COSMETOLOGY SCHOOLS IN NORTH CAROLINA — Federal Data, September 2026

Cosmetology Schools in North Carolina, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn

21 accredited institutions in North Carolina 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 Ranking

U.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.

Across the 21 ranked programs in North Carolina, the median graduate needs 9.8 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $14,036, against median earnings of $18,408 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 Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, at 4.0 months.

Every figure on this page is recalculated on North Carolina institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.

At A Glance

What the federal data says about cosmetology schools in North Carolina

9.8 mo

state median to cover the debt

$14,036

median debt at completion

$18,408

median earnings, one year out

52%

median completion rate

The Ranking

21 cosmetology schools in North Carolina, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt

Lower is better.

#	School	Type	Award	Months	Debt	Earnings	Completion
1	Wake Technical Community CollegeRaleigh, NC	Public	Certificate	4.0	$7,693	$23,286	33%
2	Carolina College of Hair Design IncAsheville, NC	for-profit	Certificate	4.8	$6,000	$15,026	72%
3	Central Carolina Community CollegeSanford, NC	Public	Certificate	6.1	$12,167	$24,101	43%
4	Aveda Institute-Chapel HillChapel Hill, NC	for-profit	Certificate	6.4	$11,583	$21,826	82%
5	Alexander Paul Institute of Hair DesignGreenville, NC	for-profit	Certificate	6.8	$12,107	$21,443	64%
6	Empire Beauty School-CharlotteCharlotte, NC	for-profit	Certificate	8.4	$10,667	$15,322	24%
7	Paul Mitchell the School-FayettevilleFayetteville, NC	for-profit	Certificate	8.5	$13,833	$19,583	66%
8	Winston Salem Barber SchoolWinston-Salem, NC	for-profit	Certificate	8.5	$6,936	$9,785	63%
9	Rowan-Cabarrus Community CollegeSalisbury, NC	Public	Certificate	8.8	$16,500	$22,578	35%
10	Paul Mitchell the School-CharlotteCharlotte, NC	for-profit	Certificate	9.5	$16,500	$20,877	56%
11	Paul Mitchell the School-RaleighRaleigh, NC	for-profit	Certificate	9.8	$15,333	$18,849	14%
12	College of WilmingtonWilmington, NC	for-profit	Certificate	9.9	$16,500	$19,962	15%
13	Pinnacle Institute of CosmetologyMooresville, NC	for-profit	Certificate	10.2	$14,036	$16,486	52%
14	Empire Beauty School-ConcordConcord, NC	for-profit	Certificate	10.3	$15,765	$18,408	65%
15	Empire Beauty School-PinevilleCharlotte, NC	for-profit	Certificate	10.3	$15,765	$18,408	48%
16	Empire Beauty School-Winston-SalemWinston-Salem, NC	for-profit	Certificate	10.7	$14,492	$16,251	44%
17	Guilford Technical Community CollegeJamestown, NC	Public	Certificate	11.2	$16,000	$17,193	31%
18	Beyond Measure Barbering InstituteMebane, NC	for-profit	Certificate	11.4	$16,826	$17,671	59%
19	Empire Beauty School-West GreensboroGreensboro, NC	for-profit	Certificate	11.6	$16,500	$17,113	32%
20	Bull City Durham Beauty and Barber CollegeDurham, NC	for-profit	Certificate	13.5	$13,000	$11,572	78%
21	No Grease Barber SchoolCharlotte, NC	for-profit	Certificate	13.5	$13,000	$11,572	67%

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 North Carolina, one by one

Wake Technical Community College

Raleigh, NC

Wake Technical Community College is a public institution in Raleigh. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $7,693 and report median earnings of $23,286 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.0 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 5.8 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 9.8. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 33% completion rate.

Carolina College of Hair Design Inc

Asheville, NC

Carolina College of Hair Design Inc is a private for-profit institution in Asheville. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $6,000 and report median earnings of $15,026 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.8 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 5.0 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 9.8. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 72% completion rate.

Central Carolina Community College

Sanford, NC

Central Carolina Community College is a public institution in Sanford. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $12,167 and report median earnings of $24,101 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 6.1 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 3.7 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 9.8. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 43% completion rate.

Aveda Institute-Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC

Aveda Institute-Chapel Hill is a private for-profit institution in Chapel Hill. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $11,583 and report median earnings of $21,826 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 6.4 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 3.4 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 9.8. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 82% completion rate.

Alexander Paul Institute of Hair Design

Greenville, NC

Alexander Paul Institute of Hair Design is a private for-profit institution in Greenville. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $12,107 and report median earnings of $21,443 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 6.8 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 3.0 months faster than the North Carolina state median of 9.8. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 64% 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 Programs in North Carolina

Comparing a different trade in North Carolina

CDL Schools in North Carolina3 schools · median 2.0 moMedical Assistant Schools in North Carolina14 schools · median 6.9 moLPN Schools in North Carolina7 schools · median 3.7 moWelding Schools in North Carolina3 schools · median 3.4 moAll trades in North Carolinathe state ranking, every trade together

For NORTH CAROLINA 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 North Carolina median and the national one. Where the answer is good, it is the strongest recruitment argument a school owns.

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