Memphis, Tennessee
Cosmetology Schools in Memphis, TN, Ranked (2026)
Published
Edited by Zoe MacDougall, BS in Psychology
Seven cosmetology schools in Memphis and the ring around it report completion figures to the federal government, and five of the seven have Memphis addresses. The Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners licenses eighteen schools inside the city, so most of what is open to you here sits outside the federal data.
That gap is normal for this trade. Most beauty schools are clock-hour schools that never enter federal reporting, and the Memphis roster leans that way, with nail academies, skin academies and combined barbering and cosmetology schools. One more nearby school was too small to rank, and one ranked school, Delta Technical College-Mississippi, is over the state line.
Figures in this section: Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division); BLS OEWS, May 2025; College Scorecard, June 2026.
The 7 Cosmetology Schools in and Near Memphis, Ranked on Completion
8 cosmetology programs report to the US Department of Education from inside Memphis or within 30 miles of downtown. 7 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 7.
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 Tennessee page links the board's own lookup.
| # | School | Miles | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vibe Barber College | 1 | 89% |
| 2 | Gould's Academy | 15 | 84% |
| 3 | Gould's Academy | 11 | 80% |
| 4 | Delta Technical College-Mississippi | 14 | 71% |
| 5 | Empire Beauty School-E Memphis | 9 | 67% |
| 6 | Paul Mitchell the School-Memphis | 6 | 59% |
| 7 | Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Memphis | 1 | 55% |
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#1
Vibe Barber College
Memphis, TN · Licensed school
89%
Share of students who finish
- $17,800 program cost
What the record shows
Vibe Barber College operates in Memphis under license from the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners. This is a specialist: a barber license, not cosmetology. The work is men's cutting, shaving and beard work, the course is a similar hour count to cosmetology, and it does not license color, chemical services or the full cosmetology scope, so it is a different decision from the full-service schools on this page. With 18 licensed schools in Memphis, this one is competing for students rather than the only option. 89 percent of students see the course through, out of 71 enrolled. Tuition is reported at $17,800 for the full program. Completion is the one figure that compares across trades, and 89 percent, 18 points over the 71 percent median, is a good sign. $17,800 is within 7 percent of the $16,775 median for a similar hour count, which is the going rate. It awarded 21 beauty credentials in the reporting year. From 71 enrolled that is slow throughput for a clock-hour course, and it belongs beside the completion figure above. License 553 is the board's entry for it, and that is the record to confirm is still current before a deposit.
Where it leads
Around Memphis, the median cosmetologist earns $30,980, the bottom tenth $25,370 and the top tenth $48,120. Cosmetologists are the nearest series BLS carries to barbers here. A 1.9-to-one spread from bottom to top is ordinary for cosmetologists, and here as everywhere the top belongs to a client book. Memphis employs cosmetologists at close to the national rate, around 1,000 people.
Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division), read 2026-08-31.
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#2
Gould's Academy
Bartlett, TN · Licensed school
84%
Share of students who finish
- $18,650 program cost
What the record shows
Gould's Academy trains in Bartlett, licensed by the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners. Of 135 enrolled in the fall count, 84 percent finish. Tuition is reported at $18,650 for the full program. Borrowing here runs to a median of $7,677 in federal loans, measured over 353 graduates. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $81 a month. $18,650 is within 12 percent of the $16,775 median, and the completion is not ordinary: 84 percent against 71. That is the better half of the trade. 144 credentials in the year from a fall count of 135: the program cycles more than once a year, so the two figures are different populations rather than a contradiction. Its board record is license 329, and that entry is the one that counts your hours.
Where it leads
Pay for cosmetologists around Memphis runs from $25,370 at the tenth percentile to $48,120 at the ninetieth, with a median of $30,980. The ninetieth percentile at $48,120 is 1.6 times the median, so the upside is real but bounded, and the floor sits 18 percent under the median, so the first year is lean but not the cliff it is in some states. The occupation is about as common around Memphis as it is nationally.
Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division), read 2026-08-31.
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#3
Gould's Academy
Memphis, TN · Licensed school
80%
Share of students who finish
- $11,225 program cost
What the record shows
Gould's Academy trains in Memphis, licensed by the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners. Memphis has 18 licensed schools, so there is a real choice locally. 80 percent of the 148 students it enrolls finish. Tuition is reported at $11,225 for the full program. The median graduate left with $7,677 in federal loans, across 353 borrowers. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $81 a month. 9 points more of its students finish than the 71 percent median, and it charges 33 percent less than the $16,775 median to do it, which is the right direction on both counts. It awarded 132 beauty credentials in the reporting year. Its board record is license 124, and that entry is the one that counts your hours.
Where it leads
Around Memphis, the median cosmetologist earns $30,980, the bottom tenth $25,370 and the top tenth $48,120. A 1.9-to-one spread from bottom to top is ordinary for the trade, and here as everywhere the top belongs to a client book. Local concentration around Memphis sits near the national average.
Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division), read 2026-08-31.
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#4
Delta Technical College-Mississippi
Horn Lake, MS · Licensed school
71%
Share of students who finish
- Cosmetology
- $11,152 program cost
What the record shows
Delta Technical College-Mississippi trains in Horn Lake, licensed by the Mississippi State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering. Its license covers cosmetology. The board lists no other licensed school in Horn Lake. Across all 2,307 students at the college, 71 percent finish, which covers cosmetology along with everything else it teaches. 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. Tuition is reported at $11,152. That price is 34 percent under the $16,775 median. Borrowing here runs to a median of $11,450 in federal loans, measured over 162 graduates. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $121 a month. It awarded 88 beauty credentials in the reporting year. That is roughly 8 percent of everything awarded by federally reporting beauty programs in the state, so it is one of the larger training operations here. Verify the school's standing with the Mississippi State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering before any deposit changes hands, since that record and not this one governs your hours.
Where it leads
Half of cosmetologists around Memphis earn under $30,980, with the tenth percentile at $25,370 and the ninetieth at $48,120. Against the state as a whole, the metro runs roughly 12 percent higher on median pay. The upside is capped near 1.6 times the median and the floor is 18 percent under it, a market where the first year is tight rather than dangerous and the ceiling is earned slowly. Local concentration around Memphis sits near the national average.
Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Mississippi State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, read 2026-08-31.
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#5
Empire Beauty School-E Memphis
Memphis, TN · Licensed school
67%
Share of students who finish
- $17,145 program cost
What the record shows
Empire Beauty School-E Memphis operates in Memphis under license from the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners. Memphis has 18 licensed schools, so there is a real choice locally. 67 percent of its students finish, out of 156 enrolled in the fall count. Tuition is reported at $17,145 for the full program. Borrowing is pooled across Empire Beauty campuses in the federal file, 886 borrowers at a median of $11,743 in federal loans. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $124 a month. Completion and price both sit near the page's middle, 67 percent against 71 and $17,145 against $16,775. Nothing federal separates it, so the clinic floor and the board file will. It awarded 102 beauty credentials in the reporting year. Its board record is license 115, and that entry is the one that counts your hours.
Where it leads
Around Memphis, the median cosmetologist earns $30,980, the bottom tenth $25,370 and the top tenth $48,120. A 1.9-to-one spread from bottom to top is ordinary for the trade, and here as everywhere the top belongs to a client book. Memphis employs the trade at close to the national rate, around 1,000 people.
Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division), read 2026-08-31.
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#6
Paul Mitchell the School-Memphis
Memphis, TN · Licensed school
59%
Share of students who finish
- $16,775 program cost
What the record shows
Paul Mitchell the School-Memphis trains in Memphis, licensed by the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners. With 18 licensed schools in Memphis, this one is competing for students rather than the only option. 59 percent of students see the course through, out of 216 enrolled. Tuition is reported at $16,775 for the full program. Borrowing here runs to a median of $10,612 in federal loans, measured over 146 graduates. On the standard ten-year plan that is about $113 a month. 12 points fewer of its students finish than the 71 percent median, priced exactly at the $16,775 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 112 beauty credentials in the reporting year. License 178 is the board's entry for it, and that is the record to confirm is still current before a deposit.
Where it leads
Pay for cosmetologists around Memphis runs from $25,370 at the tenth percentile to $48,120 at the ninetieth, with a median of $30,980. The upside is capped near 1.6 times the median and the floor is 18 percent under it, a market where the first year is tight rather than dangerous and the ceiling is earned slowly. The occupation is about as common around Memphis as it is nationally.
Sources: US Department of Education, College Scorecard; Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division), read 2026-08-31.
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#7
Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Memphis
Memphis, TN
55%
Share of students who finish
- Public institution
- 62 graduates a year
- $6,537 program cost
What the record shows
Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Memphis runs its cosmetology program in Memphis and reports to the US Department of Education. 55 percent of students across the college finish, out of 1,391 enrolled, and cosmetology is one of the programs inside that figure. That 55 percent is low for this page, but it is the college's rate and the cosmetology program is a small part of it; the cosmetology department's own completions are the check. Tuition is reported at $6,537. That price is 61 percent under the $16,775 median, which is what public pricing looks like and the reason it is a fraction of the academies here. Its 62 completions a year make cosmetology a small program inside a college of 1,391. Its hours count only under a current entry with the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, so search that register by the school's legal name before any deposit.
Where it leads
For cosmetologists around Memphis, the range runs $25,370 to $48,120 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles, with a median of $30,980. A 1.9-to-one spread from bottom to top is ordinary for the trade, and here as everywhere the top belongs to a client book. The occupation is about as common around Memphis as it is nationally.
Other Licensed Cosmetology Schools in Memphis
Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division) lists 18 currently licensed schools in Memphis. These 14 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.
| School | License |
|---|---|
| Dci Academy School of Cosmetology | Licensed school |
| Gould's Academy | Licensed school |
| Institution of Cosmetology & Barbering | Licensed school |
| Lynn's Academy of Barbering and Cosmetology | Licensed school |
| Mid-South Cosmetology and Barber Academy | Licensed school |
| Mid-South Cosmetology and Barber Academy | Licensed school |
| Neisha School of Cosmetology | Licensed school |
| Premiere Nail Academy | Licensed school |
| The Black Pearl Nail Academy | Licensed school |
| The Ivy Institute School of Esthetics | Licensed school |
| The Ivy Institute School of Nail Technology | Licensed school |
| The Memphis Skin Academy | Licensed school |
| The Memphis Skin Academy | Licensed school |
| The Memphis Skin Academy | Licensed school |
The 1,500 Hours Behind a Memphis Cosmetology License
One board runs both trades in Tennessee. The Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, inside the Department of Commerce and Insurance, licenses your school and issues your license whether you train in cosmetology or in barbering. A cosmetologist license takes 1,500 clock hours, apportioned as 300 general, 600 chemical and 600 physical.
Tennessee also states the same requirement as 45 credit hours, which almost no other state bothers to do. The shorter credentials run 750 hours for esthetics, 600 for manicuring, and 300 each for a natural hair stylist, an eyelash specialist or an instructor. Each is its own license with its own hour count.
The apprenticeship rule is the one worth knowing here. A licensed school can build a curriculum where half of your required hours are earned in a salon under the direct supervision of a licensed professional, capped at 50% inside each of the general, chemical and physical subcategories. The salon posts an 8-by-10-inch sign at the door so customers can decline an apprentice.
None of the 1,500 hours can be logged from home. The Tennessee rules carry no provision for delivering student clock hours online, and the only online allowance in the chapter covers instructor-training programs. The states that do allow online hours are a short list, and Tennessee is not on it.
Figures in this section: Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division); BLS OEWS, May 2025; College Scorecard, June 2026.
What the Memphis Ranking Shows Against the Board's Own Roster
Vibe Barber College leads at 89% completion on 71 enrolled, a mile from the center, at $17,800 with a median debt of $9,500. It holds school license 553 with the board. Gould's Academy in Bartlett is second at 84% on 135 enrolled, fifteen miles out, at $18,650. The barber career guide covers where that first license leads.
Gould's runs two campuses on this list and they are not priced alike. The Bartlett campus charges $18,650 and the Memphis campus $11,225, a difference of $7,425 under one name, with completion at 84% and 80%. Both report the same median debt of $7,677, the lowest figure on the list.
Delta Technical College-Mississippi is fourth at 71%, fourteen miles out in Horn Lake, Mississippi. Mississippi sets its own hours and issues its own license, so that drive changes which board you answer to. At the other end, Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Memphis charges $6,537, by far the cheapest here, and reports 55% completion across a 1,391-student institution.
The board's roster is the other half of the picture. Eighteen licensed schools sit inside Memphis and fourteen of them are outside the federal data, including several single-discipline nail and skin academies the ranking cannot see. The methodology sets out what completion covers, and the Tennessee ranking puts Memphis next to Nashville.
Figures in this section: Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division); BLS OEWS, May 2025; College Scorecard, June 2026.
What Memphis Pays Cosmetologists Compared With Tennessee
Memphis is unusual in paying its stylists slightly less than the state does. The metro reports 1,000 hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists at a median of $30,980, against $31,310 across Tennessee on 6,080 employed. The difference is small, about $330, but it runs the wrong way for a city this size.
The ceiling is the bigger story. The metro's top tenth of hairdressers reaches $48,120 against $58,000 statewide, so the best-paid tenth in Memphis earns nearly $10,000 less than the best-paid tenth in Tennessee. The floor is close to level, $25,370 in the metro and $25,700 statewide.
Skin is the exception. Skincare specialists in the metro report a median of $37,010 on 180 employed, about $6,000 above the hairdresser median, with a top tenth of $79,860. Manicurists and pedicurists report $32,280 on 360 employed, and their bottom tenth, $19,180, is the lowest floor on the Memphis table.
Read all of it as employer-reported pay. Booth renters and chair renters file as self-employed and sit outside the BLS survey, and in this trade they are a large share of the people working. Cosmetologist pay carries the national figures next to these metro numbers.
Figures in this section: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
What Cosmetology Careers Pay in Memphis
Median annual pay in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area, from the May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release. A cosmetologist here earns a median of $30,980 against $31,310 across Tennessee, with 1,000 employed in the metro. Booth renters and salon owners are self-employed and outside the survey, so these figures describe stylists on a payroll.
- Estheticians $37,010 $37,010
- Nail technicians $32,280 $32,280
- Cosmetologists $30,980 $30,980
| Occupation | Metro median | Tennessee median |
|---|---|---|
| Estheticians | $37,010 | $36,590 |
| Nail technicians | $32,280 | $34,810 |
| Cosmetologists | $30,980 | $31,310 |
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
Common Questions About Cosmetology School in Memphis
Answers draw on Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division), the College Scorecard and the May 2025 BLS wage release.
How many hours of cosmetology school do you need in Memphis?
Can you earn cosmetology hours in a Memphis salon instead of a classroom?
How many cosmetology schools are licensed in Memphis?
Is any school on the Memphis list outside Tennessee?
What is the cheapest cosmetology school in Memphis?
What do hairdressers make in Memphis?
Sources
- Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners (Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards Division), school license records, read 2026-08-31. Hour requirement for a cosmetologist license: 1,500 clock hours, cited to the rule.
- US Department of Education, College Scorecard, June 2026 release. Completion, enrollment, cost and location for every cosmetology program (CIP 12.04) within 30 miles of downtown Memphis. Each card links its institution's Scorecard page.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Metro-area wages and employment for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR area.