Cosmetology Schools in New Orleans, LA, Ranked (2026)

The 5 Cosmetology Schools in and Near New Orleans, Ranked on Completion

6 cosmetology programs report to the US Department of Education from inside New Orleans or within 30 miles of downtown. 5 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 1 had too few students to rank, so the list stops at 5.

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 Louisiana page links the board's own lookup.

1. #1

   John Jay Beauty College

   Kenner, LA · Licensed school

   90%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology
   • Esthetics
   • Instructor training
   • Nail technology
   • $11,500 program cost

   What the record shows

   John Jay Beauty College trains in Kenner, licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology. The board lists no other licensed school in Kenner. 90 percent of its students finish, out of 81 enrolled in the fall count. The published cost is $11,500 for the full program. More finish here than at the typical school on this page, 90 percent against 76, and the price is 24 percent under the $15,167 median: the two numbers point the same way. 80 students completed a credential here in the reporting year. From 81 enrolled, that is one of the higher-throughput floors on this page. Ask the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology 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

   Around New Orleans-Metairie, the median cosmetologist earns $26,470, the bottom tenth $22,790 and the top tenth $33,730. The first rung and the middle of this market are close enough that the early years are less about pay than about who comes back. Around New Orleans-Metairie, the gap between esthetics and cosmetology is real: a $39,830 median against one 34 percent lower. Local concentration around New Orleans-Metairie sits near the national average.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology, read 2026-08-31.

2. #2

   My Le's Beauty College

   Gretna, LA · Licensed school

   85%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology
   • Esthetics
   • Instructor training
   • Nail technology
   • $13,650 program cost

   What the record shows

   Based in Gretna, My Le's Beauty College is on the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology register. The board lists no other licensed school in Gretna. Of the 110 students in its fall count, 85 percent complete the course they started. Tuition is reported at $13,650 for the full program. $13,650 is within 10 percent of the $15,167 median, and the completion is not ordinary: 85 percent against 76. That is the better half of the trade. It awarded 79 beauty credentials in the reporting year. Verify the school's standing with the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology before any deposit changes hands, since that record and not this one governs your hours.

   Where it leads

   Half of cosmetologists around New Orleans-Metairie earn under $26,470, with the tenth percentile at $22,790 and the ninetieth at $33,730. Wages start near the local middle, so the question here is not surviving the first year but whether you build a book in it. Around New Orleans-Metairie, the gap between esthetics and cosmetology is real: a $39,830 median against one 34 percent lower. Local concentration around New Orleans-Metairie sits near the national average.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology, read 2026-08-31.

3. #3

   Paul Mitchell the School-New Orleans

   Metairie, LA · Licensed school

   76%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology
   • Esthetics
   • Instructor training
   • Nail technology
   • Natural hair styling
   • $21,658 program cost

   What the record shows

   Paul Mitchell the School-New Orleans is licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology and trains in Metairie. Its license covers cosmetology, esthetics, instructor training, nail technology and natural hair styling. The school graduates 76 percent, on a fall headcount of 185. Tuition is reported at $21,658 for the full program. Paul Mitchell campuses share a debt figure in the federal file, $12,500 in federal loans at the median over 330 borrowers, so read it as the chain's number rather than this floor's. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $133 a month. It charges 43 percent over the $15,167 median and finishes about as many of its students as the typical school here, so the extra price is not buying a better completion rate. 106 students completed a credential here in the reporting year. Verify the school's standing with the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology before any deposit changes hands, since that record and not this one governs your hours.

   Where it leads

   Pay for cosmetologists around New Orleans-Metairie runs from $22,790 at the tenth percentile to $33,730 at the ninetieth, with a median of $26,470. The bottom and the middle sit close together here, which means early pay is predictable and the upside has to be built rather than waited for. Esthetics and cosmetology do not pay alike around New Orleans-Metairie: esthetics carries a $39,830 median, roughly 50 percent above cosmetology. On concentration, New Orleans-Metairie is unremarkable, tracking the national rate closely.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology, read 2026-08-31.

4. #4

   Blue Cliff College-Metairie

   Metairie, LA · Licensed school

   56%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology
   • Esthetics
   • Instructor training
   • Nail technology
   • $16,683 program cost

   What the record shows

   Blue Cliff College-Metairie trains in Metairie, licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology. Of 291 enrolled in the fall count, 56 percent finish. The published cost is $16,683 for the full program. Blue Cliff campuses share a debt figure in the federal file, $9,855 in federal loans at the median over 826 borrowers, so read it as the chain's number rather than this floor's. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $104 a month. The price is close to the $15,167 median and the completion is not: 56 percent against 76. 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 154 beauty credentials in the reporting year. Verify the school's standing with the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology before any deposit changes hands, since that record and not this one governs your hours.

   Where it leads

   For cosmetologists around New Orleans-Metairie, the range runs $22,790 to $33,730 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles, with a median of $26,470. Starting pay and typical pay are close together in this market, which cuts both ways: less of a lean first year, and less immediate reward for getting quicker. Around New Orleans-Metairie, esthetics pays a $39,830 median, about 50 percent above cosmetology. On concentration, New Orleans-Metairie is unremarkable, tracking the national rate closely.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology, read 2026-08-31.

5. #5

   Delgado Community College

   New Orleans, LA · Licensed school

   24%

   Share of students who finish

   • Cosmetology
   • Esthetics
   • Instructor training
   • Nail technology

   What the record shows

   Delgado Community College is licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology and trains in New Orleans. 24 percent of students across the college finish, out of 11,668 enrolled, and cosmetology is one of the programs inside that figure. Most of the students behind that 24 percent are in other programs, so ask the cosmetology department for its own figure rather than reading this one as the program's. The median graduate left with $14,250 in federal loans, across 61 borrowers. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $151 a month. Its 41 completions a year make cosmetology a small program inside a college of 11,668. It is a public college, so the cosmetology course is priced at in-district tuition rather than at an academy price. Ask the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology 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 cosmetologists around New Orleans-Metairie, the range runs $22,790 to $33,730 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles, with a median of $26,470. The bottom and the middle sit close together here, which means early pay is predictable and the upside has to be built rather than waited for. Around New Orleans-Metairie, esthetics pays a $39,830 median, about 50 percent above cosmetology. The occupation is about as common around New Orleans-Metairie as it is nationally.

   Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology, read 2026-08-31.

Other Licensed Cosmetology Schools in New Orleans

Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology lists 7 currently licensed schools in New Orleans. These 4 appear above, either because the school takes no federal aid and so reports no completion figure, or because its cohort was too small to rank. Being on this list means the board licenses the school, which is the thing that makes your hours count.

Louisiana Wants 1,500 Hours and Nine Months for a Cosmetology License

The Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology licenses the individuals, the salons and the schools, all from one place. The cosmetology curriculum runs at least 1,500 hours, and the statute adds something most states leave out: not less than nine consecutive months. You cannot compress this one by doubling up hours, and that changes how you plan the year.

Louisiana also cuts the trade into more separate licenses than almost anywhere else. Alternative Hair Design covers styling by twisting, wrapping, weaving, extending, locking or braiding, with no dyes and no reactive chemicals, and it is its own license with its own hours. There is a 40-hour shampoo permit, an esthetics refresher course and a blow dry technician license too.

The board's roster is unusually useful because of that. Rather than only naming licensed schools, it prints each school's board-approved clock hours per program across eight columns, so you can see which crafts a school can teach and at what length. Public high school programs are on it as well, carrying 500-hour cosmetology entries rather than 1,500.

Two things the rules do not offer. There is no online share written into the Louisiana curriculum rules, so plan on classroom and clinic hours, and the online hour rules by state show which states did write one. And barbering answers to a separate Louisiana Board of Barber Examiners, so a barber license starts somewhere else.

Figures in this section: Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology.

Five Ranked New Orleans Schools and Seven on the Board Roster

John Jay Beauty College in Kenner sits first at 90 percent completion on 81 students, at $11,500 for the program, ten miles out. My Le's Beauty College in Gretna is second at 85 percent on 110 students for $13,650, and it is the closest private school on the list at four miles.

Paul Mitchell the School-New Orleans, in Metairie, is third at 76 percent on 185 students, and it is the expensive option at $21,658 with $12,500 in median debt. Blue Cliff College-Metairie is fourth at 56 percent on 291 students for $16,683. Both sit seven miles from the city.

Delgado Community College is the only New Orleans address among the five, three miles in, and its 24 percent needs context. That is a whole-college completion figure across 11,668 students rather than the cosmetology course on its own, and the college still conferred 41 cosmetology credentials that year. It is also the one public option here, and it appears in the community college ranking.

The board roster will not order these for you. It shows approved hours per program, not results, so the sequence on this page is the federal completion figure. Three of the seven licensed schools in town are approved for natural hair, which matters if Alternative Hair Design is the license you actually want. The Louisiana ranking covers the rest of the state.

Figures in this section: Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology; BLS OEWS, May 2025; College Scorecard, June 2026.

The New Orleans Metro Has More Manicurists Than Hairdressers

That is not a figure of speech. BLS counts 750 manicurists and pedicurists in the New Orleans-Metairie metro against 670 hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists. Nail work here sits at 1.72 times the national concentration, hair at 0.76. It is the clearest thing about this local market, and it should weigh on which course you pick.

The pay follows, up to a point. Manicurists and pedicurists earn a median of $28,680, with the bottom tenth at $18,120 and the top tenth at $46,690. Hairdressers earn a median of $26,470, and their top tenth stops at $33,730, which lands below the national median of $35,790 for the same job title.

That compressed ceiling on hair is the honest headline here. Louisiana as a whole is not much different, at a $26,030 median and a $33,900 top tenth, so this is a state pattern rather than a city one. Cosmetologist pay across the country puts the gap in proportion.

Skin is the small, better-paid corner. The metro's 110 skincare specialists earn a median of $39,830 with a top tenth of $66,270, the highest ceiling of the three trades measured here. And BLS surveys employers, so booth renters and chair renters are outside all of it. Nail technician pay has the national comparison.

Figures in this section: BLS OEWS, May 2025.

What Cosmetology Careers Pay in New Orleans

Median annual pay in the New Orleans-Metairie, LA metro area, from the May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release. A cosmetologist here earns a median of $26,470 against $26,030 across Louisiana, with 670 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.

Common Questions About Cosmetology School in New Orleans

Answers draw on Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology, the College Scorecard and the May 2025 BLS wage release.