Which Florida cosmetology program has the lowest debt?

American Beauty and Trade School reports the lowest median federal debt, $3,200, with first-year pay of $11,693.

How much do cosmetology graduates earn in Florida?

The median across 64 Florida cosmetology certificate programs is $16,957 in the first year after graduating and $20,813 five years after. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Florida earn a median of $29,530 across all experience levels.

How many cosmetology certificate programs are in Florida?

64 Florida programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 51 of them also report federal debt.

Cosmetology (Certificate) Programs in Florida, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

64 programs report first-year pay
51 also report federal debt
Certificate in Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Florida cosmetology certificate program pays its graduates $16,957 in their first year, $290 less than the national median. Florida State College at Jacksonville reports the highest first-year pay ($29,668), and American Beauty and Trade School the lowest median debt ($3,200).

Median first-year pay$16,957National $17,247

Median pay after 5 years$20,813National $22,164

Median federal debt$9,178National $9,833

Debt-to-earnings51%National 55%

All 64 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Florida State College at JacksonvilleJacksonville · public	$29,668	$21,869	$13,577	46%
2	Palm Beach State CollegeLake Worth · public	$24,361	$35,090	$9,500	39%
3	Pensacola State CollegePensacola · public	$23,911	$22,904	$5,500	23%
4	Suncoast Technical CollegeSarasota · public	$22,662	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Tom P. Haney Technical CollegePanama City · public	$22,028	$19,253	Not reported	Not reported
6	Cortiva Institute (Maitland, Florida)Maitland · private for-profit	$21,856	$26,665	$7,797	36%
7	Meridian CollegeSarasota · private for-profit	$21,848	Not reported	$12,545	57%
8	Cortiva Institute (St. Petersburg, Florida)St. Petersburg · private for-profit	$21,812	Not reported	$6,333	29%
9	Lake Technical CollegeEustis · public	$21,738	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
10	Manatee Technical CollegeBradenton · public	$21,731	Not reported	$7,242	33%
11	Fort Pierce Beauty AcademyFort Pierce · private for-profit	$20,902	$19,839	$9,500	45%
12	Daytona CollegeOrmond Beach · private for-profit	$20,872	$22,997	$7,798	37%
13	Daytona State CollegeDaytona Beach · public	$20,212	$22,418	$5,807	29%
14	Summit Salon Academy (Florida)Tampa · private for-profit	$20,153	$25,768	$9,833	49%
15	World Class Academy of Beauty CareersTallahassee · private for-profit	$20,087	Not reported	$13,867	69%
16	Okaloosa Technical CollegeFort Walton Beach · public	$20,030	$22,208	Not reported	Not reported
17	Jones Technical InstituteJacksonville · private nonprofit	$20,024	$23,945	$9,500	47%
18	Erwin Technical CollegeTampa · public	$19,607	Not reported	$10,633	54%
19	Aveda Institute-Tampa BayClearwater · private for-profit	$19,456	$27,555	$9,416	48%
20	Paul Mitchell the School-JacksonvilleJacksonville · private for-profit	$19,234	$28,477	$13,433	70%
21	Artistic Nails and Beauty Academy-TampaTampa · private for-profit	$18,766	$22,356	$9,500	51%
22	Aveda Institute-Fort MyersFort Myers · private for-profit	$18,752	$23,160	$10,001	53%
23	Marion Technical College (Florida)Ocala · public	$18,663	$23,585	Not reported	Not reported
24	Indian River State CollegeFort Pierce · public	$18,411	$22,421	$9,540	52%
25	American Institute of BeautyLargo · private for-profit	$18,327	$23,605	$9,500	52%
26	Salon Professional Academy-MelbourneMelbourne · private for-profit	$18,275	$20,586	$9,250	51%
27	Summit Salon Academy-GainesvilleGainesville · private for-profit	$18,067	$21,391	$13,000	72%
28	Aveda Institute-South FloridaDavie · private for-profit	$17,806	$23,107	$9,000	51%
29	Traviss Technical CollegeLakeland · public	$17,741	$18,642	Not reported	Not reported
30	International AcademySouth Daytona · private for-profit	$17,714	$19,252	$13,000	73%
31	Tenaj Salon InstituteThe Villages · private for-profit	$17,077	$22,072	$11,020	65%
32	Hollywood InstituteMargate · private for-profit	$17,033	$20,715	$7,937	47%
33	Cape Coral Technical CollegeCape Coral · public	$16,881	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
34	Boca Beauty AcademyBoca Raton · private for-profit	$16,730	$20,910	$6,920	41%
35	Fred K Marchman Technical CollegeNew Port Richey · public	$16,707	$29,721	Not reported	Not reported
36	Loraines Academy & SpaSaint Petersburg · private for-profit	$16,482	$25,724	$7,208	44%
37	Florida AcademyFort Myers · private for-profit	$16,245	$26,184	$6,404	39%
38	Florida Gateway CollegeLake City · public	$16,195	Not reported	$6,400	40%
39	Parisian Spa InstituteJacksonville · private for-profit	$16,072	$19,779	$7,917	49%
40	Orange Technical College-West CampusOcoee · public	$15,944	$21,254	Not reported	Not reported
41	Ridge Technical CollegeWinter Haven · public	$15,943	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
42	American Academy of CosmetologyOrange Park · private for-profit	$15,903	$17,505	$9,000	57%
43	Prestige Health & Beauty Sciences AcademyHallandale Beach · private for-profit	$15,773	$12,010	$6,333	40%
44	Robert Fiance Beauty SchoolsBoynton Beach · private for-profit	$15,736	$22,040	$8,898	57%
45	Hollywood Institute of Beauty CareersHollywood · private for-profit	$15,540	$20,055	$9,500	61%
46	North Florida Cosmetology InstituteTallahassee · private for-profit	$15,361	$18,911	$13,000	85%
47	Sheridan Technical CollegeHollywood · public	$15,338	$15,470	$9,105	59%
48	Bene's Career AcademyNew Port Richey · private for-profit	$15,325	$17,382	$11,666	76%
49	Shear Excellence Hair AcademyTampa · private for-profit	$15,287	$14,984	$9,500	62%
50	Academy of Career TrainingKissimmee · private for-profit	$15,256	$14,886	$6,249	41%
51	Florida Academy of Health & BeautyOakland Park · private for-profit	$15,023	$17,970	$5,743	38%
52	Academy of CosmetologyMerritt Island · private for-profit	$14,988	$17,744	$9,500	63%
53	Futura Career InstituteHialeah · private for-profit	$14,061	$13,473	Not reported	Not reported
54	Lively Technical CollegeTallahassee · public	$14,031	$17,090	$5,520	39%
55	UR Beauty & Barber AcademySebring · private for-profit	$13,951	Not reported	$13,000	93%
56	Beauty Academy of South FloridaHialeah Gardens · private for-profit	$13,866	$15,505	$7,386	53%
57	Latin Beauty Academygreenacres · private for-profit	$13,773	Not reported	$9,500	69%
58	New Concept Massage and Beauty SchoolMiami · private for-profit	$13,613	$16,182	$5,700	42%
59	Celebrity School of BeautyMiami · private for-profit	$13,305	$15,418	$7,000	53%
60	Osceola Technical CollegeKissimmee · public	$12,567	$21,744	Not reported	Not reported
61	La Belle Beauty SchoolHialeah · private for-profit	$12,402	$18,264	$8,149	66%
62	La Belle Beauty AcademyMiami · private for-profit	$12,087	$13,837	$8,149	67%
63	American Beauty and Trade SchoolMiami · private for-profit	$11,693	Not reported	$3,200	27%
64	Withlacoochee Technical CollegeInverness · public	$11,191	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

13 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Florida cosmetology program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 51 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Florida State College at Jacksonville$29,668
Palm Beach State College$24,361
Pensacola State College$23,911
Suncoast Technical College$22,662
Tom P. Haney Technical College$22,028

Lowest median debt

American Beauty and Trade School$3,200
Pensacola State College$5,500
Lively Technical College$5,520
New Concept Massage and Beauty School$5,700
Florida Academy of Health & Beauty$5,743

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

What hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists earn in Florida

Pay for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Florida, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists

$29,530

Median pay in Florida. 23,530 people work in this job in Florida. 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.

Bottom 10%: $27,450Top 10%: $58,320

Common questions

Florida State College at Jacksonville in Jacksonville reports the highest median first-year pay, $29,668. Its median federal debt is $13,577.

Cosmetology (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked961 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Florida rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the cosmetology certificate programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024