Esthetics (Basic) is a Certificate program (Hybrid) offered by AVI Career Training in Vienna, VA. The program takes 19 weeks full-time (approx.) to complete, with a total tuition of $11,700.
Program Overview
AVI’s basic esthetics programme is 600 clock hours and prepares students to become professional estheticians — competent across the treatment of skin, client care, business theory and ethics, and both manual and machine facial techniques.
Graduates are prepared to pass the Virginia State Board examination and obtain their licence. The programme is one of AVI’s licensure-track courses approved by DPOR’s Board for Barbers & Cosmetology.
What sets this Program apart
Admission Requirements and Process
Entry is governed by the AVI Student Catalog 2025–2026. The requirements and the application steps are listed below.
General Requirements
- A completed AVI application and a $100.00 non-refundable application and registration fee, charged per programme.
- Applicants must meet the entrance requirements of the Virginia regulating board for the licence the programme leads to, where the programme is licensure-track.
- A lab coat, required and worn while in attendance, at $35.00.
- Textbooks and supplies, once distributed, are not refundable.
Application Process
- 1Contact admissionsBook an appointment with AVI through its website to discuss the programme, schedule and start dates.
- 2Apply and pay the registration feeComplete the application and pay the $100.00 non-refundable application and registration fee. It is charged once per programme.
- 3Apply for financial aid if you are using itAVI is authorised to participate in federal Title IV aid by the U.S. Department of Education. File the FAFSA and speak to the Financial Aid Office about eligibility for your programme.
- 4Arrange paymentStudents paying out of pocket may apply for a payment plan by completing a payment-plan agreement with the school.
School Information
Location
Why Accreditation Is Important
Attending an accredited institution means your education has met independently reviewed quality standards designed to protect students.
This program: AVI Career Training is accredited by the Council on Occupational Education (COE). It is separately provisionally certified to operate as a Vocational Non-College Degree School by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) — state certification, not accreditation.
- A reliable indicator of educational quality
- Eligible for federal Title IV financial aid
- Approved for GI Bill® veterans education benefits
- WIOA approved for workforce funding
Accreditations
Program Schedule
The programme is 600 clock hours. The catalog splits that into 390 hours of theory and 210 hours of practical work. Start dates and class schedules are published on AVI’s Class Schedules page.
The catalog sets minimum logged clinical work as well as hours: 35 consultations, cleansings and analyses; 65 manual facials and treatments; 15 tinting services; 50 machine or electrical facials; 10 body and back treatments; 30 makeup services; and 30 hair-removal services.
Curriculum
The subject-and-hours breakdown below is the curriculum table printed in the AVI Student Catalog 2025–2026. Its hours sum to exactly 600 — the programme’s full clock-hour requirement, and the catalog’s own TOTAL row.
Required Courses
| Name | Lecture | Lab | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orientation & Safety, Health & Fire Prevention | 25 | 0 | 25 |
| Laws & Regulations | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| General Sciences | 65 | 15 | 80 |
| Applied Sciences | 75 | 20 | 95 |
| Skin Care | 150 | 105 | 255 |
| Makeup | 35 | 30 | 65 |
| Body & Other Treatments | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Hair Removal | 20 | 30 | 50 |
| Totals | 390 | 210 | 600 |
Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid Information
The figures below are AVI’s own Tuition & Fees schedule from the 2025–2026 catalog. The school states its Total column includes tuition, textbook, supplies and the $100 registration fee, and these add to it exactly.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Tuition | $11,700.00 |
| Books | $495.00 |
| Supplies | $495.00 |
| Registration fee (non-refundable) | $100.00 |
| Total | $12,790.00 |
Two charges sit outside that total: a required lab coat at $35.00, and unexcused make-up time at $28.00 per hour. Records, transcript and certificate reprint fees apply as described in the catalog’s Student Records section.
AVI is authorised by the U.S. Department of Education to participate in federal Title IV financial aid, and this programme is Title IV eligible. The school is WIOA approved and approved by the Virginia State Approving Agency for GI Bill® benefits, and offers payment plans to students paying out of pocket. AVI publishes a Net Price Calculator on its website.
Tuition $11,700.00; AVI's published total, including books, supplies and the $100 registration fee, is $12,790.00.
Career Outcomes
The catalog lists these settings for graduates of this programme:
Resorts, local salons, the leisure and entertainment industries, dermatology offices, and licensed instructor.
AVI states that it provides education through traditional classrooms and clinical or internship experience, and that job opportunities for its graduates arise in private practice, spas, hotels, health clubs, medical spas, physician offices and clinics. The school runs job-placement and employment-assistance support, described on its own site.
What to expect as an AVI Career Training student
AVI has trained in Vienna, Virginia since 1992 and runs from a single location with no branch campuses, so expect small cohorts and personalised instruction rather than a large campus. Programmes combine theory with supervised hands-on practice and competency-based evaluation.
Expect the clock hour to be the unit of everything here: length, progress and price are all quoted in hours, and graduation requires completing all of them. Expect a lab coat to be required and worn while in attendance, and expect make-up time for unexcused absence to be charged by the hour — the catalog is explicit about both.
Frequently Asked Questions
School Information
Location
Why Accreditation Is Important
Attending an accredited institution means your education has met independently reviewed quality standards designed to protect students.
This program: AVI Career Training is accredited by the Council on Occupational Education (COE). It is separately provisionally certified to operate as a Vocational Non-College Degree School by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) — state certification, not accreditation.
- A reliable indicator of educational quality
- Eligible for federal Title IV financial aid
- Approved for GI Bill® veterans education benefits
- WIOA approved for workforce funding