Salon Professional Academy-Nashville Cosmetology (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services
- Private for-profit school
- Nashville, TN
- About 31 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Salon Professional Academy-Nashville cosmetology graduates earn more than graduates of most cosmetology programs nationally, $25,878 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $9,833 in federal loans, close to the national median of $9,833. It is one of the higher-paying cosmetology programs in Tennessee.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Tennessee and national columns are the medians across all cosmetology certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Salon Professional Academy-Nashville graduates earn more than the national figure and about $15,291 more than the Tennessee median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee cosmetology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Tennessee 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 38% between the first and fifth year. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Tennessee earn a median of $31,310 across all experience levels.
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 $12,676 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $104 a month, or 4.8% 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.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (52 of 58) were working in Tennessee one year after graduating. Prices in the Nashville area are about 4% below the national average, so a $25,878 salary here buys what about $26,862 buys in a typical US city.
The median Tennessee cosmetologist earns $31,310, compared with a national median of $35,790. After adjusting for Tennessee prices, that pay is worth about $34,081, which puts Tennessee slightly behind.
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
$31,310Median pay in Tennessee. 6,080 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$34,810Median pay in Tennessee. 1,200 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$46,510Median pay in Tennessee. 1,980 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$36,590Median pay in Tennessee. 1,710 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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 Salon Professional Academy-Nashville
Cosmetology is the only certificate program at Salon Professional Academy-Nashville that reports first-year earnings.
Other cosmetology certificate programs near Nashville
Common questions
The median graduate earns $25,878 one year after graduating and $35,780 five years after. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in the Nashville metro area earn a median of $34,430 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $9,833, which ranks 11th lowest of 20 cosmetology certificate programs in Tennessee. That works out to about $104 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 38% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 55%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less.
Most do. 90% (52 of 58) were working in Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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