Iowa barbers now earn as they learn; Illinois forces $38k in costs
Iowa just cut cosmetology and barber training red tape, allowing students to learn on the job, get paid and finish debt free. Illinois should do the same, offering apprenticeships in licensed occupations rather than forcing aspiring workers to take on big debt.
Iowa lawmakers just cut the barriers to working as a barber or hairstylist, making the training to get a license easier and less expensive – something Illinois should do, too.
House File 711, signed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on June 6, lets future barbers and hairstylists obtain licenses while working as apprentices, removing the requirement to complete beauty or barber school. It means students can earn wages while learning the trade, skipping the state’s average $20,000 cosmetology school debt and going nine to 18 months without income.
The costs in Illinois are over $38,000 when tuition and lost wages are added. Illinois licensing forces people to take on that debt just so they can work for an average salary of about $27,000.
Iowa had some of the most burdensome cosmetology licensing rules in the country. It barred students from receiving pay for salon services – even low-risk ones – until they graduated from a state-approved trade school and obtained a license.
Under the new law, Iowa salon owners can run an in-house “establishment training program,” paying apprentices for hands-on work experience in services such as shampooing, cutting and styling. Apprentices must complete 2,000 hours of on-the-job practice, as well as two hours of sanitation and state law training. Upon program completion, apprentices are eligible for full licensure.
Participating salons and barbershops register with Iowa’s Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences. They must meet safety and sanitation standards, undergo regular inspections and notify customers when services are provided by apprentices.
Why it matters for Illinois
Illinois should follow Iowa’s example and allow apprenticeships that lead to licenses. Occupational licensing barriers impact about 25% of Illinois’ workforce, or around 1.6 million Illinoisans. They especially hit poor and minority workers. For example, Black workers made up just 9.7% of all licensed cosmetologists nationwide in 2021.
For barbers and hairstylists in Illinois, licensing restrictions are especially onerous – ranked among the nation’s 20 worst in 2022. Illinois requires barbers and cosmetologists to log 1,500 unpaid hours of classroom instruction at an approved trade school before they can start any paid work.
That’s 10 times more training than emergency medical technicians in Illinois need for licensure, even though cosmetologists aren’t handling medical emergencies. Making it harder to style hair than respond to 911 calls limits opportunity and thwarts Illinoisans trying to get ahead through honest work.
It also lays a debt trap, with the average cost of Illinois’ cosmetology school at nearly $18,000. Add in lost wages as a student attends school, and the debt can hit at least $38,658. Asking a low-income person to take on that much debt before they can do a job that pays median annual wages of about $27,000 is unfair and unreasonable.
Some industry organizations, such as the Professional Beauty Association, claim reducing licensing requirements could compromise public health and service quality. But research shows minimal evidence licensing enhances these.
What it does do is create barriers to job growth, innovation and worker mobility across professions and state lines. It also lets licensing boards curb competition, protecting high prices rather than the public.
Conclusion
Illinois should follow Iowa’s example and allow Illinoisans to earn a license through employer-driven apprenticeships. Apprenticeships are a proven, debt-free, work-based training model with many benefits. These include better hiring rates, greater access to industry contacts and resources, improved soft skills and higher wages.
The state has already passed legislation to ease licensing restrictions on counselors, speech language pathology assistants, pharmacy clerks, dentists, landscape architects, real estate brokers and aspiring nurses.
Illinois should adopt Iowa’s apprenticeship model. It should also add reforms such as universally recognizing licenses, adding online options for instruction and ensuring license restrictions are worth the cost.
With those changes, Illinois can expand opportunity and put more people to work.