Best Cosmetology Programs

States ranked by how much may be online

How much of cosmetology school can you do online?

Not the whole thing, in any state. Every board requires supervised practical hours performed on real people, and the field's accreditor agrees: NACCAS caps distance education at half of any program, so a fully online course could not be accredited even where a board allowed it.

What varies, and varies a lot, is how much of the theory you can take at home. That ranges from a tenth to a half depending on where you train. Here is the rule in each state we cover, quoted from the rule itself.

Maximum share of required cosmetology hours each state permits as online theory. Practical hours are in person everywhere.

Which states allow the most cosmetology school hours online?

Texas and New York allow the most cosmetology school hours online, at half the program each, and Illinois the fewest at a tenth of every curriculum section. Only theory hours are ever eligible.

#1

Texas

1,000 hours required · 714 licensed schools

50%

may be online theory

Up to 500 of the 1,000 hours can be theory delivered at a distance. The rest is practical work done in person. The rule caps distance hours at a maximum of 500 out of the 1,000 hour cosmetology operator course, and the allowance is for theory hours. The remaining hours are practical and are earned in person.

“Schools offering distance education may not designate more than 50% of the total hours in each course as theory hours delivered via distance education.”

16 Tex. Admin. Code § 83.202 , read 2026-08-31. Texas school rankings

#2

New York

1,000 hours required · 80 licensed schools

50%

may be online theory

Up to 500 of the 1,000 hours can be theory delivered at a distance. The rest is practical work done in person. The cap appears on the curriculum application's hours table, which a school completes only when applying to run a hybrid or distance course. New York requires such courses to carry the word HYBRID or ONLINE in the title, so a reader can tell from the course name what they are buying.

“No more than 50% can be online.”

NYSED BPSS-30 Cosmetology curriculum application, revised 2025-04-01 , read 2026-08-31. New York school rankings

#3

North Carolina

1,500 hours required · 144 licensed schools

30%

may be online theory

Up to 450 of the 1,500 hours can be theory delivered at a distance. The rest is practical work done in person. A school adding online hours must separately document how it complies with 21 NCAC 14T .0611. The quote reproduces the board’s own wording, typo included.

“Theory portion of the curriculum maybe assigned online for no more than 450 hours.”

North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, Cosmetology Curriculum (2023-04-01), under 21 NCAC 14T .0611 , read 2026-08-31. North Carolina school rankings

#4

Illinois

1,500 hours required · 225 licensed schools

10%

may be online theory

Up to 150 of the 1,500 hours can be theory delivered at a distance. The rest is practical work done in person. The tightest cap of any state collected here, and it binds per curriculum section rather than across the program, so a school cannot bank the whole allowance against one subject.

“The licensed cosmetology school may provide online hours in theory, but online hours shall not exceed 10% of the hours required in each of subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g).”

68 Ill. Admin. Code § 1175.530 , read 2026-08-31. Illinois school rankings

Which states’ rules do not address online cosmetology hours?

California’s rules do not address online cosmetology hours at all. Its statute sets the hour requirement without naming a delivery method.

California

SB 803 cut the requirement from 1,600 hours to 1,000 with effect from 2022 and says nothing about delivery method. That silence is not permission and not a prohibition, so no percentage is published here. A reader planning around online study in California should ask the board directly.

“A course in cosmetology established by a school shall consist of not less than 1,000 hours of practical and technical instruction in the practice of cosmetology.”

California Business and Professions Code § 7362.5, as amended by SB 803 , read 2026-08-31.

Silence in a statute is not permission and it is not a prohibition, so no percentage is published here. Ask the board before you plan around online study in these states.

Does NACCAS limit how much of a cosmetology program can be online?

NACCAS limits distance education to half of any program, and that ceiling binds separately from any state rule. a NACCAS-accredited school is bound by the accreditor's own cap. It binds independently, so where a state is more permissive than NACCAS, an accredited school in that state still cannot exceed the accreditor's limit.

“Distance education cannot be used as a mode of delivery for more than 50% of any program.”

NACCAS Standards and Criteria, Standard VI, criterion D17 , read 2026-08-31.

What cosmetology training is genuinely available fully online?

Three things in cosmetology are genuinely available fully online, and none of them is a route from nothing to a license.

  • Continuing education for people who already hold a license. Within the accreditor's 50 percent ceiling , most states accept some or all renewal hours online. This is not a route into the field.
  • The theory portion of a hybrid program, within the caps above, at a school licensed by your state board. New York requires such courses to carry the word hybrid or online in the title, so you can tell from the name what you are buying.
  • Training in services your state does not license. Makeup artistry is unregulated in most states, so an online makeup course is legitimate on its own terms. It is not a cosmetology license and it does not let you work as a cosmetologist.

If a school offers to take you from nothing to a license entirely online, check its name against your state board's list before paying anything. Our license records cover six states, including the schools whose licenses have lapsed.

Sources

On this page
  1. Which states allow it
  2. States whose rules are silent
  3. The NACCAS cap
  4. What is fully online
  5. Sources