Cosmetology Schools in Jacksonville, FL, Ranked (2026)

The 6 Cosmetology Schools in and Near Jacksonville, Ranked on Completion

10 cosmetology programs report to the US Department of Education from inside Jacksonville or within 30 miles of downtown. 6 of them had at least 40 students and a published completion figure, and they are ordered on the share of students who finish within half again the program's normal length. The other 4 had too few students to rank, so the list stops at 6.

Where a school's board record was matched, the card carries it. A school that appears here without one is not unlicensed; it means the board's file and the federal file did not agree on its name, and the Florida page links the board's own lookup.

1. #1

   Parisian Spa Institute

   Jacksonville, FL

   93%

   Share of students who finish

   • 207 graduates a year
   • $4,185 program cost

   What the record shows

   Based in Jacksonville, Parisian Spa Institute is one of the cosmetology programs the federal government tracks. 93 percent of the 61 students it enrolls finish. The published cost is $4,185 for the full program. The median graduate left with $3,167 in federal loans, across 231 borrowers. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $34 a month. That puts it in the rare corner of this table: 21 points more of its students finish than the 72 percent median, and it charges 74 percent less than the $16,200 median to do it. It awarded 207 credentials over the year against a fall headcount of 61, which is what a clock-hour course that turns over more than one cohort a year looks like. The license from the Commission for Independent Education is still the thing to verify before you pay, since that is what decides whether these hours count toward your exam.

   Where it leads

   Around Jacksonville, the median cosmetologist earns $28,900, the bottom tenth $27,500 and the top tenth $54,940. There is little distance between entry pay and the median locally, so the early climb is flatter than in most trades. The work is somewhat more concentrated around Jacksonville than nationally, at roughly 1.3 times the usual rate.

   Source: US Department of Education, College Scorecard.

2. #2

   Paul Mitchell the School-Jacksonville

   Jacksonville, FL

   79%

   Share of students who finish

   • 79% finish
   • 82 graduates a year
   • $18,850 program cost

   What the record shows

   Paul Mitchell the School-Jacksonville teaches cosmetology in Jacksonville, with its results published federally. 79 percent of its students finish, out of 118 enrolled in the fall count. It charges $18,850 for the full program, which for a clock-hour course is the whole price rather than a yearly one. The median graduate left with $12,389 in federal loans, across 365 borrowers. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $131 a month. Paying 16 percent over the $16,200 median buys 7 points of completion over the 72 percent median, and whether that is worth it depends on how sure you are of finishing anywhere. It awarded 82 beauty credentials in the reporting year. The license from the Commission for Independent Education is still the thing to verify before you pay, since that is what decides whether these hours count toward your exam.

   Where it leads

   Half of cosmetologists around Jacksonville earn under $28,900, with the tenth percentile at $27,500 and the ninetieth at $54,940. Local pay is compressed near the bottom, so the first years look much like the middle and progression comes from clientele rather than from a job title. Jacksonville employs the trade at about 1.3 times the national rate, so the local market is thicker than average.

   Source: US Department of Education, College Scorecard.

3. #3

   Shear Finesse Beauty Academy

   Jacksonville, FL

   73%

   Share of students who finish

   • 73% finish
   • 24 graduates a year
   • $16,200 program cost

   What the record shows

   Based in Jacksonville, Shear Finesse Beauty Academy is one of the cosmetology programs the federal government tracks. Of the 49 students in its fall count, 73 percent complete the course they started across two years of students. Tuition is reported at $16,200 for the full program. Completion and price both sit near the page's middle, 73 percent against 72 and $16,200, exactly the median. Nothing federal separates it, so the clinic floor and the board file will. It awarded 24 beauty credentials in the reporting year. Check its license with the Commission for Independent Education before enrolling, because that record and not the federal listing is what makes your clock hours count.

   Where it leads

   Around Jacksonville, the median cosmetologist earns $28,900, the bottom tenth $27,500 and the top tenth $54,940. Wages start near the local middle, so the question here is not surviving the first year but whether you build a book in it. The work is somewhat more concentrated around Jacksonville than nationally, at roughly 1.3 times the usual rate.

   Source: US Department of Education, College Scorecard.

4. #4

   Jones Technical Institute

   Jacksonville, FL

   71%

   Share of students who finish

   • Private nonprofit

   What the record shows

   Jones Technical Institute runs its cosmetology program in Jacksonville and reports to the US Department of Education. 71 percent of students across the school finish, out of 659 enrolled, and cosmetology is one of the programs inside that figure. That 71 percent is ordinary for this page, and it belongs to the whole campus; ask the cosmetology department for the program's own figure. Borrowing here runs to a median of $7,667 in federal loans, measured over 212 graduates. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $81 a month. The school is a private nonprofit, a category covering only a handful of cosmetology providers nationally. Check its license with the Commission for Independent Education before enrolling, because that record and not the federal listing is what makes your clock hours count.

   Where it leads

   Half of cosmetologists around Jacksonville earn under $28,900, with the tenth percentile at $27,500 and the ninetieth at $54,940. The lower end of this market is unusually close to its middle, so what changes a graduate's income here is building a following, not surviving an underpaid stretch. Concentration around Jacksonville runs modestly above the national rate, about 1.3 times, or 1,930 people in the occupation.

   Source: US Department of Education, College Scorecard.

5. #5

   American Academy of Cosmetology

   Orange Park, FL

   67%

   Share of students who finish

   • 96 graduates a year
   • $17,350 program cost

   What the record shows

   Based in Orange Park, American Academy of Cosmetology is one of the cosmetology programs the federal government tracks. 67 percent of the 122 students it enrolls finish. The published cost is $17,350 for the full program. 93 graduates borrowed, at a median of $6,333 in federal loans. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $67 a month. The price is close to the $16,200 median and the completion is not: 67 percent against 72. In a clock-hour course that is the wrong half of the trade, and the reason to ask hard questions before a deposit. The school conferred 96 credentials in the year reported. The license from the Commission for Independent Education is still the thing to verify before you pay, since that is what decides whether these hours count toward your exam.

   Where it leads

   Pay for cosmetologists around Jacksonville runs from $27,500 at the tenth percentile to $54,940 at the ninetieth, with a median of $28,900. A narrow bottom-to-middle gap means the pay you start on is close to the pay most people stay on, unless they build a following. Concentration around Jacksonville runs modestly above the national rate, about 1.3 times, or 1,930 people in the occupation.

   Source: US Department of Education, College Scorecard.

6. #6

   First Coast Barber Academy

   Jacksonville, FL

   58%

   Share of students who finish

   • 58% finish
   • 18 graduates a year
   • $15,685 program cost

   What the record shows

   First Coast Barber Academy runs its barbering program in Jacksonville and reports to the US Department of Education. The license here is a barber license, which means men's cutting, shaving and beard work. It takes a similar hour count to cosmetology and is a narrower ticket, and for someone who already knows they want that end of the trade, the narrowness is the point. The school graduates 58 percent, on a fall headcount of 82. Tuition is reported at $15,685 for the full program. Completion is the one figure that compares across trades, and 58 percent, 14 points under the 72 percent median, is the first thing to ask about. $15,685 is within 4 percent of the $16,200 median for a similar hour count, which is the going rate. The school conferred 18 credentials in the year reported. From 82 enrolled that is slow throughput for a clock-hour course, and it belongs beside the completion figure above. Ask the Commission for Independent Education directly whether the license is in good standing, because a lapse while you are enrolled costs you the hours rather than the school.

   Where it leads

   For barbers around Jacksonville, the range runs $31,390 to $63,350 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles, with a median of $57,860. Against the state as a whole, the metro runs roughly 17 percent higher on median pay. Early pay locally runs well under the median, so budget for a slow first year rather than the headline figure. This is a dense market by national standards, 1.5 times the usual concentration around Jacksonville.

   Source: US Department of Education, College Scorecard.

Florida Requires 1,200 Cosmetology Hours With a Statutory Exit at 1,000

Florida's headline number is 1,200 hours, but the statute contains a door most students never hear about. F.S. 477.019 directs the board to set up a rule under which a school can certify that a person is qualified to sit the required examination after completing a minimum of 1,000 actual school hours. That is 200 hours short of the nominal figure, written into the law itself.

The agencies split cleanly here, and it catches people out. The Board of Cosmetology licenses individuals and salons. It does not license schools. Private cosmetology schools in Jacksonville are licensed under the education code by the Commission for Independent Education at the Florida Department of Education, and public programs run through school districts.

So the license your school holds and the license you will earn come from two different parts of state government, and checking one tells you nothing about the other. The Florida ranking and the Tampa list are built on the same split.

Figures in this section: Commission for Independent Education, Florida Department of Education; BLS OEWS, May 2025; College Scorecard, June 2026.

Six Ranked Jacksonville Schools and a $14,665 Tuition Gap

Parisian Spa Institute leads at 93% of 61 students and it is also the cheapest by a wide margin, $4,185 for the program with a median debt of $3,167. It teaches more than one field, so that completion figure covers the whole institution rather than the cosmetology course alone.

Paul Mitchell the School-Jacksonville is second at 79% of 118 students, nine miles out, at $18,850, the most expensive here. It reports the strongest five-year earnings on the list, $28,477 across 374 graduates, which is also the largest earnings cohort here. Shear Finesse Beauty Academy is third at 73% of 49 students for $16,200, three miles from the center.

Jones Technical Institute is the biggest school on the list at 659 students and the only private nonprofit, finishing 71% across the college with a median debt of $7,667. First Coast Barber Academy is the one school at the city center itself and finished 58% of 82 students at $15,685.

A completion rate says who finished what they started, not how well anyone was taught, and in a clock-hour trade that still matters more than most measures because a license needs the whole hour count. The methodology sets out where the figure stops being useful.

Figures in this section: Commission for Independent Education, Florida Department of Education; BLS OEWS, May 2025; College Scorecard, June 2026.

What the Beauty Trades Pay in the Jacksonville Metro

Jacksonville is its own BLS metro, so these figures describe this city rather than a shared region. It employs 1,930 hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists at a median of $28,900, a little under Florida's $29,530, though the trade is denser here than statewide at 1.28 times the national concentration.

Barbering looks extraordinary and needs a caveat. The metro's barber median is $57,860, nearly twice the hairdresser median and well above Florida's $49,410. It is measured across 110 barbers, few enough that one year's sample moves it, and the tenth percentile sits at $31,390. Barber pay nationally is the steadier comparison.

Skincare is the dependable step up. The metro's 660 skincare specialists earn a median of $49,700 against $43,880 statewide, with a top tenth of $87,790, at 1.84 times the national concentration. Manicurists and pedicurists number 590 at a $38,390 median. What esthetician work involves is worth reading before you commit to a discipline.

Weigh all four against one gap. BLS reaches employers, not the self-employed, so booth renters are absent from every median above, and the barber figure is the one that gap could bend the furthest.

Figures in this section: BLS OEWS, May 2025; College Scorecard, June 2026.

What Cosmetology Careers Pay in Jacksonville

Median annual pay in the Jacksonville, FL metro area, from the May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release. A cosmetologist here earns a median of $28,900 against $29,530 across Florida, with 1,930 employed in the metro. Booth renters and salon owners are self-employed and outside the survey, so these figures describe stylists on a payroll.

Each occupation has its own salary page with the range and every state, and a career page on the work and the license it needs.

Cosmetology Schools in Nearby Cities

• Cosmetology schools in Miami, FL
• Cosmetology schools in Tampa, FL
• All of Florida
• All 50 cities

Common Questions About Cosmetology School in Jacksonville

Answers draw on Commission for Independent Education, Florida Department of Education, the College Scorecard and the May 2025 BLS wage release.