Best cosmetology programs in Delaware 2026

• #1

  The Salon Professional Academy

  Dagsboro, DE · Cosmetology/Barbering School

  88%

  Share of students who finish

  • Cosmetology
  • Barbering
  • Licensed since 2024
  • Renews 2027-06
  • No recorded discipline
  • $20,250 program cost

  What the record shows

  Based in Dagsboro, The Salon Professional Academy is on the state board register. It has held a license from the board since 2024, 2 years without a lapse. Its license covers cosmetology and barbering. It is the only licensed school the board lists in Dagsboro. 88 percent of the 81 students it enrolls finish. The published cost is $20,250 for the full program. More of its students finish than at most schools on this page, 88 percent against 71, and the price is 23 percent over the $16,510 median. The premium buys better odds of reaching the exam, and the course you do not finish is the one that costs the most. It awarded 97 credentials over the year against a fall headcount of 81, which is what a clock-hour course that turns over more than one cohort a year looks like. The board files it under license M6-0010040; that record, not this one, is what makes your hours count.

  Where it leads

  In Delaware, the median cosmetologist earns $34,350, the bottom tenth $31,200 and the top tenth $75,950. Delaware employs the trade at about 1.3 times the national rate, so the local market is thicker than average.

  Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, read 2026-08-28.

• #2

  Dawn Career Institute LLC

  Newark, DE · Cosmetology/Barbering School

  82%

  Share of students who finish

  • Cosmetology
  • Barbering
  • Licensed since 2017
  • Renews 2027-06
  • No recorded discipline
  • $15,795 program cost

  What the record shows

  Dawn Career Institute LLC operates in Newark under license from the state board. It has held a license from the board since 2017, 9 years without a lapse. That predates 64 percent of the state's currently licensed schools. Its license covers cosmetology and barbering. Across all 355 students at the school, 82 percent finish, which covers cosmetology along with everything else it teaches. That completion rate is 11 points above the 71 percent median, but it is every program on campus, so treat it as a fact about the school and not about the cosmetology floor. The published tuition is $15,795. 39 graduates borrowed, at a median of $7,781 in federal loans. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $82 a month. 65 students completed a credential here in the reporting year. That is roughly 14 percent of everything awarded by federally reporting beauty programs in the state, so it is one of the larger training operations here. The board files it under license M6-0000027; that record, not this one, is what makes your hours count.

  Where it leads

  Around Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, the median cosmetologist earns $37,320, the bottom tenth $28,600 and the top tenth $64,530. The metro median is about 9 percent above the Delaware figure. A 2.3-to-one spread from bottom to top is ordinary for the trade, and here as everywhere the top belongs to a client book. The trade is unusually concentrated around Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, about 1.8 times the national rate, so there are more chairs to compete for and more to be hired into.

  Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, read 2026-08-28.

• #3

  Schilling-Douglas School of Hair Design

  Newark, DE · Cosmetology/Barbering School

  60%

  Share of students who finish

  • Cosmetology
  • Barbering
  • Licensed since 2012
  • Renews 2027-06
  • No recorded discipline
  • $15,642 program cost

  What the record shows

  Schilling-Douglas School of Hair Design is licensed by the state board and trains in Newark. Its license dates back to 2012 and has not lapsed since. That predates 79 percent of the state's currently licensed schools. Its license covers cosmetology and barbering. Of the 152 students in its fall count, 60 percent complete the course they started. Tuition is reported at $15,642 for the full program. 11 points fewer of its students finish than the 71 percent median, priced within 6 percent of the $16,510 median, so you would be paying the going rate for worse odds of getting through. Ask the school what happens to the ones who leave. It awarded 163 credentials over the year against a fall headcount of 152, which is what a clock-hour course that turns over more than one cohort a year looks like. License M6-0000023 is the board's entry for it, and that is the record to confirm is still current before a deposit.

  Where it leads

  Around Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, the median cosmetologist earns $37,320, the bottom tenth $28,600 and the top tenth $64,530. The metro median is about 9 percent above the Delaware figure. The trade is unusually concentrated around Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, about 1.8 times the national rate, so there are more chairs to compete for and more to be hired into.

  Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, read 2026-08-28.

• #4

  Paul Mitchell the School-Delaware

  Newark, DE · Cosmetology/Barbering School

  53%

  Share of students who finish

  • Cosmetology
  • Barbering
  • Licensed since 2006
  • Renews 2027-06
  • No recorded discipline
  • $17,225 program cost

  What the record shows

  Paul Mitchell the School-Delaware trains in Newark, licensed by the state board. It has held a license from the board since 2006, 20 years without a lapse. The schools ranked alongside it average 12 years. No currently licensed school in the state has held its license longer. Its license covers cosmetology and barbering. The school graduates 53 percent, on a fall headcount of 148. It charges $17,225 for the full program, which for a clock-hour course is the whole price rather than a yearly one. The median graduate left with $11,682 in federal loans, across 78 borrowers. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $124 a month. The price is close to the $16,510 median and the completion is not: 53 percent against 71. In a clock-hour course that is the wrong half of the trade, and the reason to ask hard questions before a deposit. It awarded 54 beauty credentials in the reporting year. That is roughly 12 percent of everything awarded by federally reporting beauty programs in the state, so it is one of the larger training operations here. The board files it under license M6-0000016; that record, not this one, is what makes your hours count.

  Where it leads

  Half of cosmetologists around Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington earn under $37,320, with the tenth percentile at $28,600 and the ninetieth at $64,530. Against the state as a whole, the metro runs roughly 9 percent higher on median pay. The ninetieth percentile at $64,530 is 1.7 times the median, so the upside is real but bounded, and the floor sits 23 percent under the median, so the first year is lean but not the cliff it is in some states. The trade is unusually concentrated around Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, about 1.8 times the national rate, so there are more chairs to compete for and more to be hired into.

  Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, read 2026-08-28.

Which other cosmetology schools in Delaware are state licensed?

These Delaware cosmetology schools hold a current license from Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Cosmetology and Barbering but have no published earnings figure, because the ranking above reads federal data that covers only schools taking federal financial aid. Their hours count toward the Delaware exam exactly as the ranked schools' hours do. They are listed by city rather than ordered, since nothing published about them supports an ordering.

How much do cosmetologists make in Delaware in 2026?

Cosmetologists in Delaware earn a median of $34,350 , with the bottom tenth on $31,200 and the top tenth on $75,950 . The related licenses pay differently again, which matters because you pick the license before you start the hours.

Where are the cosmetology schools in Delaware?

The licensed cosmetology schools in Delaware cluster hardest in Newark, which holds 4 of the 14 the board currently lists. That is 29 percent of the state's schools in one city, so outside it the choice narrows quickly.

8 towns have exactly one licensed school, which is worth knowing if you cannot easily move: losing that school means losing the option locally.

Is it better to be a cosmetologist, esthetician or nail tech in Delaware?

In Delaware, estheticians are the best paid of the beauty licenses at a $50,820 median. That is above the $34,350 cosmetologist median, so the longer general license is not automatically the better-paid route here.

The shorter licenses also take fewer hours, so the comparison is not only what the work pays but how long you spend unpaid getting there.

Can you use a cosmetology license from another state in Delaware?

Using a cosmetology license from another state in Delaware means satisfying Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, which decides case by case, and the number it weighs is hours. Against the other South states, Delaware is pay tracks the regional average closely.

Someone who expects to follow work across the region should train to the heavier requirement, because hours are easier to hold than to add later.

Which Delaware cosmetology schools have lapsed or lost their license?

28 Delaware cosmetology schools appear in Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Cosmetology and Barbering's file with a license that is no longer current. Some closed, some let the license lapse, and some had it taken away. They are here because they still appear in commercial school directories, and because a reader holding a brochure from one of them deserves to know.

Showing 25 of 28, most recently recorded first. The rest are in the board's own file .

What does this Delaware cosmetology program ranking not tell you?

This Delaware cosmetology program ranking does not tell you everything you need. This is a completion rate, not a teaching inspection, and a school can lift it by enrolling only students likely to finish just as easily as by teaching well. It is reported for the institution rather than for the cosmetology course alone, which is exact at the beauty schools that teach nothing else and broader at a community college, where cosmetology is one program among many; each card says which kind it is describing. Schools enrolling fewer than 40 students are left out, because a completion rate over a handful of people moves too far on one person's decision to be worth ordering on. It covers only schools that take federal financial aid, a large share of the field but not all of it, so a school missing here takes no federal aid rather than performing badly. Finishing also says nothing about whether a school's hours will count toward your license, which is what the board record on this page is for.

Check a school against the NACCAS accredited school search if federal financial aid matters to you, and against Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Cosmetology and Barbering for the license itself.

Common questions about cosmetology programs in Delaware