Beauty School Resources
Beauty Schools Accreditation
The most important factor to notice before narrowing down your search on beauty schools, is to find if the beauty school you are interested in is accredited or not. For starters, you need to understand what is meant by accreditation for beauty schools. This means that the schools meet certain academic and institutional requirements set by the accrediting organizations. These requirements revolve around the school curriculum, quality of education, facilities provided by the beauty school, faculty and admission policies.
The main organization responsible for accrediting beauty schools is the National Accrediting Commission for Cosmetology Arts & Sciences (NACCAS). NACCAS is recognized by the US Department of Education and accredits over 1000 institutions serving 100,000 students. All of these schools offer more than twenty courses and programs that fall under the NACCAS' scope of accreditation.
Other accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S Department of Education include ACCSCT (Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology), ACCET (Accrediting Council for Continued Education & Training), and SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools).
The main benefit of applying in an accredited school is that such a school offers financial aid to students. The organizations accrediting beauty schools usually grant aids to students enrolled in accredited beauty schools. For example, the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS), the Cosmetology Advancement Foundation (CAF), and the Beauty and Barber Supply Institute (BBSI), all sponsor ACE Grants which encourage highly motivated and qualified individuals to join the world of cosmetology. Apart from such grants, students studying in accredited beauty schools are also eligible for federal and government scholarship programs.
However, there are still plenty of beauty schools that are not accredited but offer great cosmetology programs. In order to know about the accredited beauty schools around you, contact your state's licensing board or the accrediting agency.
