Barber-Stylist

Admission is governed by the school’s published catalog, revised November 2024.

The Barber-Stylist course is 1,500 clock hours — 40 weeks full time.

School hours: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; Thursday and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; closed Saturday and Sunday.

Academic year. The school defines an academic year for this course as not less than 900 hours over at least 26 academic weeks full time, or 900 hours over at least 30 academic weeks part time.

Phases. A Barber-Stylist student is a freshman for the first 225 hours and a senior from 226 to 1,500.

Grading. A 75 per cent average or higher is required in each phase of training to graduate; a phase completed below that must be repeated. The state board licensing pass mark is also 75 per cent. Students are graded on points earned against points possible, converted to a percentage: 90–100 an A, 75–89 a B, 74 or below a fail. Work is graded in class, in theory and on the clinic floor, on attendance, the clinic-floor worksheet grid and testing. Practical work is graded one mistake an A, two a B, three or more failing.

Hours may not be made up during the normal contract time — a policy worth understanding before you choose a schedule.

The published Total Costs for the Barber-Stylist course are $20,150.00, itemised by the school as a $50 application fee (non-refundable), a $550 registration fee (non-refundable), a $2,500.00 books and kit fee (non-refundable), $150.00 in taxes on books and supplies (non-refundable) and $16,900.00 tuition. Those five lines add to the printed total exactly.

Five payment options, published in the catalog:

• Pay the entire tuition and fees before starting classes.
• Finance directly through the school: all fees paid before the first day of class, then 12 payments of $500 with the first paid on the first day of school, and a final balloon payment due before you receive the 1,500 hours required to graduate.
• Borrow from a bank or credit union and pay them.
• Federal student aid — Pell Grants, Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans.
• Veterans’ education benefits.

The school describes itself as a private pay school and accepts cash, cheque, money order, credit card, non-federal funds or Federal Student Aid. Payment must be made in full within two weeks of the first start of class or a student may be dropped from the class until payment is received. Other arrangements can be considered by the Financial Aid Director and the CEO.

Scholarships carry a condition worth reading twice. Any scholarship the school gives is applied to the final tuition payment and is rescinded if the programme is not finished. A student who withdraws pays the percentage of full tuition without the scholarship applied — so the scholarship is effectively a completion bonus, not a discount you carry from day one.

Transfer and re-entry students pay by the hour: $10.56 for every hour needed to complete the programme. Note that this flat rate does not equal any programme’s tuition divided by its hours — $10.56 × 1,500 would be $15,840.00 against published tuition of $16,900.00 — so it is a distinct re-entry rate rather than a restatement of the price, and it is recorded as such. A student must earn a minimum of 200 hours at Boise Barber College to graduate from it.

Other charges: a $150.00 re-admittance fee for a student returning 30 days or more after termination, plus all regular fees. Refunds follow a published policy: any money due an applicant or student is refunded within 45 days of official cancellation or withdrawal, and the policy applies to all terminations for any reason by either party — student decision, course or programme cancellation, or school closure.

$20,150.00 Total Costs: $16,900.00 tuition plus a $50 application fee, a $550 registration fee, a $2,500.00 books and kit fee and $150.00 in taxes.

The catalog names the career choices open to graduates of this course:

• Barber-Stylist
• Barber
• Platform artist
• Educational consultant
• Shop/salon manager
• Shop/salon owner
• Product representative

Graduates receive a diploma and are prepared to sit the Idaho State Board examination for the Idaho barber-stylist licence. The state board pass mark is 75 per cent — the same standard the school requires in each phase of training.

The school states its goal plainly: to teach, develop and graduate students to be professional in the art and science of barbering and to prepare them to pass the Idaho State Board examination.

Placement support. The school provides students with lists of local barber shops and salons. It makes no placement guarantee, and none is implied here.

A clinic floor with real clients. Classes are lectures, theory and practical work on models and mannequins, then clinical instruction on clients including mini classes. Work is graded in class, in theory and on the clinic floor.

The facility is in the Boise Spectrum Center at the corner of Overland and Cole, which the school describes as designed with state-of-the-art equipment to be both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional.

Grading is specific. 75 per cent or higher in each phase to graduate; fall below and you repeat the phase. On practical work, one mistake is an A, two a B, and three or more a fail.

Hours may not be made up during the normal contract time. That makes the choice between full-time and part-time schedules a real decision rather than a preference.

No substitute instructors. The school keeps a staff large enough to cover absences internally; instructors cover for one another, and in an emergency a member of management holding an instructor licence fills in rather than an outside substitute.

Two-week payment rule. Payment must be complete within two weeks of the start of class or you may be dropped from the class until it is received — worth settling before day one.