<p>Both my wife and I are attending Brigham Young University of Idaho. She’s about half way done. She’s decided to finish this semester and grab her associates degree and head over to Paul Mitchell’s beauty school. 2009-2010 is the first year she’s received FAFSA over at BYU Idaho. I searched FAFSA and found the school code in their list.</p>
<p>HAIR ACDMY PAUL MITCHELL PARTNER SC
557 MARIAH AVENUE
REXBURG
Federal School Code: 041445</p>
<p>I have a few questions I’m hoping that someone may be able to answer. Since she’s going to receive her associates, would Beauty School be considered a secondary degree? Would it be smarter not to get her associates to qualify as her first degree? Since the school is on the FAFSA list I would assume they offer it for the school right? She’s receiving $5,000 a year right now and it’s extraordinarily helpful. Would she receive the same amount? Beauty school is pretty expensive. Beauty school offers multiple options including hair programs, nail programs, esthetics etc… What would it actually cover? Each program ranges from $6,000 to $10,000 each.</p>
<p>Are you talking about a secondary degree in terms of federal aid eligibility, ie. Pell? No, an associate’s degree alone should not jeapordize her eligibility.</p>
<p>There’s no community college near us that will work out. This school is actually right around the corner from us. It’s also a well known company and should provide an excellent background.</p>
<p>Also, to sk8rmom yeah that’s what I meant. That’s great news! </p>
<p>I really appreciate the responses! It helps a ton!</p>
<p>The $5,000 is a pell grant so it’s loan free. Your average hair cut place pays around $10/hour, but she plans to work in a salon and build a clientel. We’re really not sure where we’ll end up. It depends on where I can grab a job. She was going to be a Math teacher, but it’s better that she does something she enjoys. When looking online she’ll make around $30,000/year as a beautician which is better than what Idaho pays teachers. $26,000/year.</p>
<p>In the end beauty schools usually mean lots of loans. These loans are typically hard to pay back while building a base. As someone above suggested–take a hard look at what jobs grads get. There are many, many unemployed beauty school grads.</p>
<p>When looking online she’ll make around $30,000/year as a beautician which is better than what Idaho pays teachers. $26,000/year.</p>
<p>Somehow I am skeptical that a beautician in Idaho makes more than what the federal govt reports that hairstylists earn, including tips and commissions.</p>
<p>The median income is about $23,000- working full time.</p>
<p>For the East Central Idaho region the entry level- midpoint, and median annual salary for elementary school teachers was $36,108, $44,443 and $ 43, 432 in 2009 respectively.</p>
<p>Hourly salary for Cosmetologists- hairdressers and hairstylists, was $7.33 for entry level, $8.08 for midpoint and $8.38 for median as reported on state website.</p>
<p>( which is even lower than national average- as $8 an hour would only mean about $16,000 annual salary working full time.- )</p>
<p>If she is on a path to become a teacher, would she be happy being a teacher of something other than math? Would she be interested in becoming a technology (computer) teacher? Comparing the compensation of teachers and beauticians is difficult to do. Beauticians are often self-employed and it may take years to build up a clientele. They also have few if any benefits. That said, if she’s a very good business person, she could earn good $ (especially if she employs other people)-- but I would guess that top salon earners are in big cities (LA, NY) and have $ to open their own salon someday. A public school teacher usually has health benefits, disability benefits, pension, job stability and shorter at work hours than most full-time jobs. (Depending on the type of teacher, they may have many hours of uncompensated labor doing paperwork but this is more substantial for a humanities/ special ed teacher than a computer teacher.) Another career that may interest her (if she likes math/science and working with people) is speech pathology. It requires a grad degree but there is high demand and usually involves working 1-on-1 with patients. </p>
<p>By the way, I have relatives who have gone into both professions. I even have one relative who went from being a beautician (a good one in a ritzy salon in a big city) to a business teacher. She does much better financially as a teacher.</p>
<p>Well that’s a huge bummer. The school teachers actually make a lot more than I had researched. We’ve talked to a few teachers and they don’t make as much as the standards. Sounds like beauticians really don’t make much. She really wants to do something she likes, but her associates in math & science could probably get her a better paying job.</p>
<p>The short answer to your question about Pell is yes, she would be eligible at a beauty school. A “prior degree” refers to a prior BACHELORS degree. Her beauty school program is probably considered a first degree program (possibly certificate), but definitely not second degree as that implies an earned bachelors as first degree. I know for a fact that beauty schools award Pell & undergrad loans, as I often deal with transfer students who have attended beauty school.</p>