Which Oklahoma cosmetology program has the lowest debt?

Ponca City Beauty College reports the lowest median federal debt, $3,390, with first-year pay of $13,838.

How much do cosmetology graduates earn in Oklahoma?

The median across 15 Oklahoma cosmetology certificate programs is $15,771 in the first year after graduating and $19,881 five years after. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Oklahoma earn a median of $29,650 across all experience levels.

How many cosmetology certificate programs are in Oklahoma?

15 Oklahoma programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

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

15 programs report first-year pay
11 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 Oklahoma cosmetology certificate program pays its graduates $15,771 in their first year, $1,476 less than the national median. Tulsa Technology Center reports the highest first-year pay ($26,713), and Ponca City Beauty College the lowest median debt ($3,390).

Median first-year pay$15,771National $17,247

Median pay after 5 years$19,881National $22,164

Median federal debt$9,500National $9,833

Debt-to-earnings66%National 55%

All 15 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	Tulsa Technology CenterTulsa · public	$26,713	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2	Central Oklahoma CollegeOklahoma City · private for-profit	$19,149	$29,459	$8,707	45%
3	Paul Mitchell the School-TulsaTulsa · private for-profit	$18,119	$19,881	$11,045	61%
4	Academy of Hair DesignOklahoma City · private for-profit	$17,958	Not reported	$16,500	92%
5	Eves College of HairstylingLawton · private for-profit	$17,702	$16,690	$12,252	69%
6	Community Care CollegeTulsa · private nonprofit	$16,948	$20,723	$11,241	66%
7	Shawnee Beauty CollegeShawnee · private for-profit	$16,577	Not reported	$4,333	26%
8	Jenks Beauty CollegeJenks · private for-profit	$15,771	$20,755	$6,672	42%
9	Francis Tuttle Technology CenterOklahoma City · public	$15,765	$18,999	$12,250	78%
10	Broken Arrow Beauty CollegeBroken Arrow · private for-profit	$14,421	$21,796	Not reported	Not reported
11	Ponca City Beauty CollegePonca City · private for-profit	$13,838	$16,094	$3,390	24%
12	JB's Hair Design and Barber CollegeOklahoma City · private for-profit	$11,602	$11,273	Not reported	Not reported
13	Formations InstituteEnid · private for-profit	$11,050	$19,439	$9,500	86%
14	Southern School of BeautyDurant · private for-profit	$9,375	$25,640	$6,750	72%
15	Kiamichi Technology Center-McAlesterMcAlester · public	$9,070	$24,528	Not reported	Not reported

Tulsa Technology Center, Broken Arrow Beauty College, JB's Hair Design and Barber College, and Kiamichi Technology Center-McAlester report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Oklahoma cosmetology program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

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 Oklahoma

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

Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists

$29,650

Median pay in Oklahoma. 1,920 people work in this job in Oklahoma. 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%: $18,980Top 10%: $60,390

Common questions

Tulsa Technology Center in Tulsa reports the highest median first-year pay, $26,713.

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 Oklahoma 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