How Much Does Barber School Cost?

For many people with an interest in barbering, it’s a dream of theirs to attend barber school. Graduating from barbering school and obtaining your license to practice opens many doors for students. Whether you open your own barber shop, work alongside other barbers at an already established shop, teach, or become an influencer, there are many career paths available to you after barbering school.

Even so, many prospective students are nervous about attending school to earn their barbering license because they fear it will cost too much money. Going into debt in this economy can be stressful, so prospective students should understand how much barber school costs and the different ways they can pay for it before they enroll.

To make things more understandable for prospective students, let’s go into more detail about how much it costs to attend school, and how you can pay for your education. We’ll go over a few different ways you can finance your degree, and depending on your situation, one of these options can surely work for you.

How Much Does Barbering School Cost?

Of course, barbering school varies in price depending on where you receive your education and how many scholarships and grants you earn. At Premier Barber Institute, we are committed to keeping tuition prices as low as possible so that our education can be accessible to people from all backgrounds.

Many of our students qualify for grants and scholarships. These awards are given based on either income or merit. In terms of grants, the most common grant is the Pell Grant, which the United States government issues to students depending on their income or parents’ income. Scholarships, on the other hand, are often distributed based on talent, and there are many different local, national, and international scholarships that could help fund your education.

Let’s dive deeper into how you can pay for school.

How Can I Finance My Degree?

In this previous blog post, we talked in great detail about a few different ways you can fund your education. To refresh your memory about all the ways you can finance your degree, let’s go over some of these methods again. Specifically, we’ll walk through some information about how to use a 529 plan to pay for your degree because it is an underrated way to pay for your license that more students should know about.

Here are some ways you can pay for your barbering school experience:

Use Financial Aid Distributed by the Government

You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to qualify for government-provided loans and grants. All you have to do is fill out the FAFSA form. Upon filing the FAFSA, you’ll find out whether you’re eligible for loans (either subsidized or unsubsidized) or grants (which you don’t have to pay back).

We should note that there have been some changes to the FAFSA form this year. So, if you’ve already filled out the FAFSA or been to college in the past, your experience will be a little bit different for the 2024-2025 school year and beyond. For more information about the new changes to the FAFSA, visit this website.

Scholarships

As we’ve mentioned, it’s possible to pay for your tuition through different scholarships. We recommend that you get creative with scholarships—try to search the internet for unique scholarships no matter how much they pay. Every dollar counts! Apply to as many scholarships as possible, and always apply to scholarships that align with your talents and interests. There are barber-related scholarships and scholarships for other niches or backgrounds you might have.

Pay for School Out of Pocket

Many students self-finance their barbering school tuition. This, as you might expect, is one of the most difficult ways to pay for school, but if you’re committed to working hard and managing a job alongside school, you can succeed in paying for your education out of pocket.

For many students, it is hard to pay the entire tuition payment out of pocket, so in this case, a good number of students combine out-of-pocket pay with other payment options—like loans, scholarships, or grants. Be sure to manage your mental health if you’re working while going to school, as having that much on your plate can be draining.

Using a 529 to Pay for School

When many parents decide to have children, they begin to think about how to plan for their child’s future. Oftentimes, parents who expect their child to attend school will invest in a 529 savings plan. Essentially, a 529 plan is an investment account that parents contribute to during their child’s lifetime, and when it comes time to pay for school, students can utilize these funds to pay for a school of their choice. There is a common misconception, however, that barbering schools cannot accept 529 plans—but this is not the case.

Although not all schools accept 529 plans, Premier Barber Institute can accept 529 plans. According to the IRS, 529 plans can only be utilized for certain expenses, such as tuition, book costs, fees, and supplies. Because barber school students incur these expenses, they are eligible to use their 529 plans here. This is a great choice for many students because using a 529 plan helps prospective students avoid going into debt to become a barber.

To be clear, we should say that 529 plans are subject to different penalties if you violate any rules regarding withdrawal. So, if you have questions, be sure to ask a tax professional before withdrawing from your 529. However, in most instances, it’s simple to withdraw from a 529: all you have to do is withdraw however much you need to spend on qualified education expenses.

Ready to Use Your 529 Plan? Attend Premier Barber Institute

If you’re deciding what to do with the rest of your life, and you are interested in becoming a barber, we encourage you to attend Premier Barber Institute. Not only can you use a 529 plan to pay for school, but there are also many other financing options available, too. For more information about 529 plans, paying for school, and our school experience and curriculum, contact us.