Vermont
Licensed cosmetology programs in Vermont 2026
Burlington waterfront on Lake Champlain. Photo by Tony Webster, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Not ranked. Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession) publishes a roster of licensed schools without outcomes or license history, so nothing here supports ordering one above another.
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 Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession) license instead, and that is the distinction this page is built on.
| School | City | Board record | Approved to teach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Vermont Career Center Salon & Spa | Barre | No. 011.0096109 · to 2027-11 | cosmetology |
| Southwest Vermont Regional Technical School District | Bennington | No. 011.0000022 · to 2027-11 | cosmetology |
| Salon at River Bend Career and Technical Center | Bradford | No. 011.0000018 · to 2027-11 | cosmetology |
| Center For Technology Essex | Essex Junction | No. 011.0000010 · to 2027-11 | cosmetology |
| North Country Union High School | Newport | No. 011.0000021 · to 2027-11 | cosmetology |
| Stafford Technical Center | Rutland | No. 011.0000017 · to 2027-11 | cosmetology |
| Maplerun Unified School District | Saint Albans | No. 011.0000020 · to 2027-11 | cosmetology |
| The Salon at Hartford Area Career and Technology Center | White River Junction | No. 011.0000019 · to 2027-11 | cosmetology |
| O'Briens Aveda Institute | Williston | No. 011.0103995 · to 2027-11 | cosmetology |
How do you become a cosmetologist in Vermont in 2026?
To become a cosmetologist in Vermont you need 1,000 clock hours at a school licensed by Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession), then a passing score on the state exam. At the pace most clock-hour schools run, that is roughly 7.7 months full time. That is the shortest requirement in the country, matched by 6 other states. Nowhere asks less, and the longest states ask 2,000, which is twice the training for the same job title.
The count is only good if the school was licensed by Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession) throughout, so the license is worth confirming before you enroll.
How much do cosmetologists make in Vermont in 2026?
Cosmetologists in Vermont make a median of $48,650 a year, and the distance between the bottom tenth and the top tenth is the part worth planning around.
- Bottom tenth $30,960 $30,960
- Median $48,650 $48,650
- Top tenth $80,530 $80,530
What is different about cosmetology licensing in Vermont?
Vermont has no cosmetology board at all - the profession runs on the Office of Professional Regulation's advisor model under the Secretary of State - and at 1,000 hours it sets one of the lowest cosmetologist requirements in the country, with a 1,500-hour apprenticeship as a full alternative. Rather than prescribing a subject-hour grid, Vermont requires the school itself to be accredited by a USDE-recognized accreditor, outsourcing curriculum quality to federal accreditation. Statute also forbids a school from making a student sign a non-compete as a condition of training, requires textured-hair instruction in every approved program, and exempts regional vocational centers and state correctional facilities from needing a certificate of approval. Read Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession)'s own rules .
Where are the cosmetology schools in Vermont?
The licensed cosmetology schools in Vermont cluster hardest in Barre, which holds 1 of the 9 the board currently lists. At 11 percent of the state total, no single city dominates training in Vermont.
9 towns have exactly one licensed school, which is worth knowing if you cannot easily move: losing that school means losing the option locally.
- Barre 1 1
- Bennington 1 1
- Bradford 1 1
- Essex Junction 1 1
- Newport 1 1
- Rutland 1 1
- Saint Albans 1 1
- White River Junction 1 1
- Williston 1 1
Can you use a cosmetology license from another state in Vermont?
Using a cosmetology license from another state in Vermont means satisfying Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession), which decides case by case, and the number it weighs is hours. Against the other Northeast states, Vermont is it asks 206 fewer hours than the regional average of 1,206, and it pays about 30 percent above the regional average.
Crossing a state line with a license means satisfying the new board, not the one that trained you, and the gap it cares about is hours.
| State | Hours required | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Vermont (this state) | 1,000 | $48,650 |
| Connecticut | 1,500 | $44,620 |
| Maine | 1,500 | $44,000 |
| Massachusetts | 1,000 | $37,290 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,250 | $36,790 |
| New Jersey | 1,200 | $36,150 |
| New York | 1,000 | $35,760 |
| New Hampshire | 1,200 | $34,650 |
| Rhode Island | 1,000 | $31,200 |
Which Vermont cosmetology schools have lapsed or lost their license?
1 Vermont cosmetology school appears in Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession)'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.
| School | City | Board status |
|---|---|---|
| O'Briens Aveda Institute | Burlington | Expired (Expired) |
What does this Vermont cosmetology school list not tell you?
This Vermont cosmetology school list does not tell you everything you need. Any ordering of these schools would be arbitrary, so they are listed rather than ranked. Being on this list means the board licenses the school, which is the thing that makes your clock hours count, and it is the most useful fact available here.
Check a school against the NACCAS accredited school search if federal financial aid matters to you, and against Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession) for the license itself.
Common questions about cosmetology programs in Vermont
How many hours of training do you need for a cosmetology license in Vermont?
Should you choose a NACCAS-accredited school in Vermont?
Why are Vermont cosmetology schools not ranked here?
How many cosmetology programs in Vermont hold a current license?
What do cosmetologists earn in Vermont?
Where does this Vermont cosmetology program data come from?
This Vermont cosmetology program data comes from Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession), read on 2026-08-31, from the board's own license records rather than from any school directory. Vermont has no cosmetology board at all - the profession runs on the Office of Professional Regulation's advisor model under the Secretary of State - and at 1,000 hours it sets one of the lowest cosmetologist requirements in the country, with a 1,500-hour apprenticeship as a full alternative. Rather than prescribing a subject-hour grid, Vermont requires the school itself to be accredited by a USDE-recognized accreditor, outsourcing curriculum quality to federal accreditation. Statute also forbids a school from making a student sign a non-compete as a condition of training, requires textured-hair instruction in every approved program, and exempts regional vocational centers and state correctional facilities from needing a certificate of approval.
Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), Office of the Secretary of State - Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists (advisor profession)Read 2026-08-31.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 , metro and state pay, employment and concentration behind every wage figure on this page
- US Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study CIP 12.04 , full program cost, median federal debt and the monthly cost of that debt, per institution