College of Hair Design-Downtown Cosmetology (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services
- Private for-profit college
- Lincoln, NE
- About 41 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
College of Hair Design-Downtown cosmetology graduates earn about what cosmetology graduates earn nationally, $19,274 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $14,119 in federal loans, more than at 88% of cosmetology programs in the country. Several Nebraska programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Nebraska and national columns are the medians across all cosmetology certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, College of Hair Design-Downtown graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Nebraska median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Nebraska cosmetology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Nebraska medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 26% between the first and fifth year. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Nebraska earn a median of $34,320 across all experience levels, which shows how much room there is to grow after the first few years.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate. BLS figures cover hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists at every experience level.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $14,166 against $12,000.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $150 a month, or 9.3% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 34 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $8,777.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
85% of graduates (120 of 142) were working in Nebraska one year after graduating. Prices in the Lincoln area are about 8% below the national average, so a $19,274 salary here buys what about $21,046 buys in a typical US city.
The median Nebraska cosmetologist earns $34,320, compared with a national median of $35,790. After adjusting for Nebraska prices, that pay is worth about $38,090, which puts Nebraska ahead.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to cosmetology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
$34,320Median pay in Nebraska. 1,890 people work in this job in Nebraska. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 73,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
Manicurists and Pedicurists
$56,940Median pay in Nebraska. 310 people work in this job in Nebraska. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 21,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers
$46,010Median pay in Nebraska. 840 people work in this job in Nebraska. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Skincare Specialists
$58,420Median pay in Nebraska. 550 people work in this job in Nebraska. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
About College of Hair Design-Downtown
Cosmetology is the only certificate program at College of Hair Design-Downtown that reports first-year earnings.
Other cosmetology certificate programs near Lincoln
Common questions
The median graduate earns $19,274 one year after graduating and $24,380 five years after. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in the Lincoln metro area earn a median of $30,440 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $14,119, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 cosmetology certificate programs in Nebraska. That works out to about $150 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 73% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 55%. Compare the cost with other Nebraska programs before deciding.
Most do. 85% (120 of 142) were working in Nebraska one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Nebraska comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the cosmetology program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024