Best Cosmetology Programs
The Des Moines, Iowa skyline

Iowa

Best cosmetology programs in Iowa 2026

Des Moines skyline. Photo by BarbaraLN, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Ranked on the share of students who finish what they started, within half again the program's normal length, as reported per institution to the US Department of Education. In a clock-hour trade this is the outcome that matters most: the license needs the full hour count, so a student who leaves early has paid for hours that will never qualify them.

Ranking on accreditation is impossible in this field, because no cosmetology program is accredited by anyone. NACCAS accredits the school and not the course, so an accredited school can run exactly the same program as an unaccredited one. A student's hours stand or fall on the school's Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing) license instead, and that is the distinction this page is built on.

22

schools currently licensed

17

qualify to be ranked

3

excluded, under 40 enrolled students

Top 10 Iowa cosmetology schools by share of students who finish, from US Department of Education College Scorecard data. Every school shown reports a median computed over at least 40 graduates, and each school's own cohort size is on its card above. The dashed line marks the $19,180 median across the schools listed here.

Which other cosmetology schools in Iowa are state licensed?

These Iowa cosmetology schools hold a current license from Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing) 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 Iowa exam exactly as the ranked schools' hours do. They are listed by city rather than ordered, since nothing published about them supports an ordering.

School City Board record Approved to teach
CTC Barber Academy Ames No. 114225
La' James International College Cedar Rapids No. 000136
Clippernomics Academy Of Hairstyling Des Moines No. 100873
The Nail Tech Institute of Iowa Des Moines No. 079182
La' James International College Fort Dodge No. 00107
American Hair Academy Mount Pleasant No. 078058
Faust Institute of Cosmetology Spirit Lake No. 000128
Capri College Waterloo No. 000139

How do you become a cosmetologist in Iowa in 2026?

To become a cosmetologist in Iowa you need 1,550 clock hours at a school licensed by Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing), then a passing score on the state exam. At the pace most clock-hour schools run, that is roughly 11.9 months full time. That is above what 37 other states require, putting Iowa among the longer programs in the country.

None of those hours count unless Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing) licensed the school at the time you sat them.

How much do cosmetologists make in Iowa in 2026?

Cosmetologists in Iowa earn a median of $35,700 , with the bottom tenth on $26,650 and the top tenth on $56,250 . The related licenses pay differently again, which matters because you pick the license before you start the hours.

Median annual pay by occupation in Iowa, May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.

What is different about cosmetology licensing in Iowa?

Iowa abolished the separate barber license: House File 652 merged the two boards on July 1, 2023 and Iowa Code chapter 157 is now a single "barbering and cosmetology" credential, so one 1,550-hour course of study qualifies a graduate for both trades. Iowa is also the only state here that expresses the requirement in credit hours as an equal alternative (1,550 clock hours OR 51 semester credit hours), and its school license doubles as postsecondary authorization: Iowa Code 157.8(2)(b) requires the license itself to state that the holder "is approved by the department as a provider of postsecondary education," while 481-941.8(6) separately requires proof of registration with the Iowa College Student Aid Commission. Read Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing)'s own rules .

Where do cosmetologists make the most money in Iowa?

Cosmetologists make the most money in Iowa around Omaha, where the median is $36,390, and the least around Sioux City at $30,330. At 20 percent, the spread across Iowa is narrow, and location will not decide your income the way it does in some states.

Against a statewide median of $35,700, roughly half these metros pay above and half below.

Median annual cosmetologist pay by metropolitan area in Iowa, May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.

Where are the cosmetology schools in Iowa?

The licensed cosmetology schools in Iowa cluster hardest in Ames, which holds 2 of the 22 the board currently lists. That is only 9 percent of the state total, so schools are spread more evenly here than in states with a single dominant city.

Another 12 towns hold a single licensed school apiece, so in much of the state the practical choice is one school or a commute.

Cities with the most currently licensed cosmetology schools in Iowa, from Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing) records.

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

In Iowa, barbers are the best paid of the beauty licenses at a $58,900 median. That is above the $35,700 cosmetologist median, so the longer general license is not automatically the better-paid route here.

Picking between them is a trade between scope and speed: the broader license opens more chairs, the narrower one opens sooner.

OccupationMedian payEmployed in state
Barbers$58,900130
Nail technicians$45,420190
Salon managers$38,780770
Estheticians$37,080710

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

Using a cosmetology license from another state in Iowa means satisfying Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing), which decides case by case, and the number it weighs is hours. Against the other Midwest states, Iowa is its 1,550 hour requirement is about the regional norm, and pay tracks the regional average closely.

That matters if you might move, because a license does not travel automatically: the receiving state decides what your hours are worth, and a shorter program can be the harder one to carry across a line.

StateHours requiredMedian pay
Iowa (this state)1,550$35,700
South Dakota1,500$49,800
Minnesota1,550$39,170
Ohio1,500$36,260
Wisconsin1,550$36,230
North Dakota1,500$34,850
Michigan1,500$34,820
Nebraska1,800$34,320
Illinois1,500$34,040
Indiana1,500$32,830
Missouri1,500$30,750
Kansas1,500$29,710

What does this Iowa cosmetology program ranking not tell you?

This Iowa 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 Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing) for the license itself.

Common questions about cosmetology programs in Iowa

What makes the best cosmetology programs in Iowa rank highly here?
How many cosmetology programs in Iowa hold a current license?
Should you choose a NACCAS-accredited school in Iowa?
How much does cosmetology school cost in Iowa?
Are the best cosmetology programs in Iowa accredited?

Where does this Iowa cosmetology program data come from?

This Iowa cosmetology program data comes from Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing), read on 2026-08-31, from the board's own license records rather than from any school directory. The cost and debt figures come from the US Department of Education's College Scorecard , which publishes them per institution for cosmetology programs at every school taking federal financial aid. Iowa abolished the separate barber license: House File 652 merged the two boards on July 1, 2023 and Iowa Code chapter 157 is now a single "barbering and cosmetology" credential, so one 1,550-hour course of study qualifies a graduate for both trades. Iowa is also the only state here that expresses the requirement in credit hours as an equal alternative (1,550 clock hours OR 51 semester credit hours), and its school license doubles as postsecondary authorization: Iowa Code 157.8(2)(b) requires the license itself to state that the holder "is approved by the department as a provider of postsecondary education," while 481-941.8(6) separately requires proof of registration with the Iowa College Student Aid Commission.

Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing)

Read 2026-08-31.

On this page
  1. Other licensed schools
  2. How to become one
  3. What it pays
  4. What is different in Iowa
  5. Where do cosmetologists make the most money
  6. Where are the cosmetology schools
  7. Is it better to be a cosmetologist, esthetician or nail tech
  8. Can you use a cosmetology license from another state
  9. What this does not tell you
  10. Common questions
  11. Sources