Iowa School of Beauty-Des Moines Cosmetology (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services
- Private for-profit school
- Des Moines, IA
- About 62 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Iowa School of Beauty-Des Moines cosmetology graduates earn more than graduates of most cosmetology programs nationally, $20,355 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $9,130 in federal loans, close to the national median of $9,833. Several Iowa programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Iowa and national columns are the medians across all cosmetology certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Iowa School of Beauty-Des Moines graduates earn more than the national figure and about $1,664 more than the Iowa median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa cosmetology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Iowa 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 43% between the first and fifth year. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Iowa earn a median of $35,700 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 more in their first year than other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $97 a month, or 5.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (72 of 77) were working in Iowa one year after graduating. Prices in the Des Moines area are about 8% below the national average, so a $20,355 salary here buys what about $22,197 buys in a typical US city.
The median Iowa cosmetologist earns $35,700, compared with a national median of $35,790. After adjusting for Iowa prices, that pay is worth about $40,678, which puts Iowa 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
$35,700Median pay in Iowa. 2,930 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$45,420Median pay in Iowa. 190 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$38,780Median pay in Iowa. 770 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$37,080Median pay in Iowa. 710 people work in this job in Iowa. 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 Iowa School of Beauty-Des Moines
Cosmetology is the only certificate program at Iowa School of Beauty-Des Moines that reports first-year earnings.
Other cosmetology certificate programs near Des Moines
Common questions
The median graduate earns $20,355 one year after graduating and $29,143 five years after. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in the Des Moines metro area earn a median of $35,640 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $9,130, which ranks 3rd lowest of 13 cosmetology certificate programs in Iowa. That works out to about $97 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 45% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 55%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Iowa programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 94% (72 of 77) were working in Iowa 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 Iowa 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