A $21,000 Cosmetology School Debt, and a $9-an-Hour Job

[workinclasszero]

By Meredith Kolodner and Sarah Butrymowicz Dec. 26, 2018

When she was in cosmetology school, Tracy Lozano had a love-hate relationship with weekday mornings. Those predawn moments were the only time she saw her infant daughter awake, and she savored them. When the time came to hand the baby to her own mother, she said in a recent interview, she would stifle her tears, letting them roll only when she had closed the door behind her.

She would put on her game face when she pulled into the parking lot of the Iowa School of Beauty, just outside Des Moines. From what Ms. Lozano could tell, a cosmetology license was a realistic way to ensure a better life, and she was willing to make sacrifices. While also working nights at a Pizza Hut, she borrowed $21,000 to cover tuition and salon supplies and put in eight-hour days at the school for the better part of a year.

The amount of time Ms. Lozano spent learning to give haircuts, manicures and facials was enormous, but the requirement was set by the state, and she didn’t much question it. She was determined to earn enough money to move out of her mother’s house. Only a few weeks after getting her cosmetology license in 2005, she was hired at a local Great Clips.

The job, though, paid just $9 an hour, which meant that her days double-shifting at Pizza Hut weren’t over. Even with tips, Ms. Lozano didn’t earn more than $25,000 in any of her first few years as a cosmetologist. For years, she relied on food stamps and health insurance from the state. She couldn’t cover living expenses and keep chipping away at her loan payments. Thirteen years after graduating, she still owes more than $8,000.

What Ms. Lozano didn’t know was that the state-regulated school system she had put her faith in relies on a business model in which the drive for revenue often trumps students’ educational needs. For-profit schools dominate the cosmetology training world and reap money from taxpayers, students and salon customers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/business/cosmetology-school-debt-iowa.html

[MichMan]

1. I have sympathy for the people who incurred all the debt

…. but any amount of research at all would have shown what wages would be expected and that borrowing $23K was not a good investment.

The licensing requirements do seem ludicrous. In most cases, the people that oppose any reductions in licensing requirements are those who are already licensed as they had to do it and don't want any more competition by making it easier

[Shemp Howard]

2. It should have been a free high school course.

Cosmetology, carpentry, etc. should all be offered in the high schools - for free, of course. Then people could learn a trade without incurring ruinous debt.

And at one time the trades were offered in most high schools. But they were all killed of by standardized tests like No Child Left Behind. Now administrators live and die by test scores. And NCLB doesn't test for the trades. So goodbye trades.

[MineralMan]

4. Community colleges also offer work-related training in most places.

I don't know if cosmetology is one of those that are offered.

Where I am, health care training is commonly offered at local community colleges, at several levels. However, the lower levels of those jobs pay minimum wage or a little more, so they're not a great path to self-sufficiency.

[MineralMan]

3. It's a trap a lot of people fall into.

Sadly, the opportunities available for employment don't pay well enough for the equation to balance out. In some other fields, though, they can. For example, plumbers, HVAC technicians and many other jobs can balance that equation.

I don't know the Des Moines area, but I wonder if there are other jobs for her that pay better. Great Clips is a budget-priced place for customers. If Tracy Lozano is very good at her job, she might be able to find a better paying position. However, most individually-owned salons operate on a chair rental basis, and take a percentage of the service fees on top of that. That can reduce the actual income down to her current pay. Also, building a regular clientele takes time.

She's been working now for 13 years after finishing that school. I would assume that she has gotten very good at what she does. Maybe it's time for her to start exploring alternative places to work.

[Codeine]

5. Our community college system has a cosmetology program

at what I’m quite certain is a more reasonable price, and our prevailing wage would probably be higher. Of course, such gains might be offset by the higher cost of living in Southern California.

Sadly, cosmetology is often viewed as a sideline for young moms, more a hobby than a living, and thus workers in that field are poorly treated and underpaid.

[Delmette2.0]

6. +1 and +1

I agree this should be part of community colleges AND should be earning a higher wage. For some people it is hazardous duty. I know two women who were so adversely affected by the exposure to chemical that they had to quit their careers.