Esthetics is a Certificate program (Hybrid) offered by Coba Academy in Anaheim, CA. Tuition is $11,100 total.
Program Overview
Esthetics is 600 clock hours — California’s requirement — completable in approximately five months of full-time attendance. CIP 12.0409, SOC 39-5094.
Facials are 350 of the 600 hours, more than half the programme, with 180 required operation hours on manual, electrical and chemical facials alone. Health and safety takes 200 and hair removal and makeup 50.
$13,710 in total institutional charges — $11,100 of tuition at a published $18.50 an hour, plus the $125 application fee, $515 of books, a $1,610 kit and an optional $360 iPad.
Note the hourly rate. At $18.50 this is the academy’s most expensive programme per hour — $2.50 an hour above cosmetology and barbering — which is what the equipment-heavy treatment rooms cost to run.
Two schedules, one programme. Daytime, Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., 30 hours a week — an hour shorter than the other two programmes — or the evening hybrid at 25 hours a week.
What sets this Program apart
- Two dedicated treatment rooms of facial beds, each with an ultrasonic skin scrubber, high frequency and microdermabrasion machine, or a hard and soft wax machine.
- 180 required operation hours on facials alone, inside a 350-hour facials block that is more than half the programme.
- Tuition is $18.50 an hour and the catalog says so. 600 × $18.50 = the $11,100 tuition line exactly.
- Named modalities, not 'advanced techniques' — alpha hydroxy, beta hydroxy and enzymes; ultrasonic skin scrubber, LED light therapy, steamer and vacuum; sanitary maintenance area preparation.
- Five months full time, the academy's shortest programme.
- A 30-hour day week rather than 35 — an hour a day less than cosmetology and barbering.
- Milady MindTap 24/7 plus an on-site library, and monthly class starts.
- But it is the priciest programme per hour the academy runs, and the distance-education warning about out-of-state licensure applies here too.
Admission Requirements and Process
Coba Academy admits as regular students applicants who are at least 17 years of age and submit a high school diploma or GED, a government photo ID or birth certificate, and a Social Security Card. All applicants complete an admissions application, and enrollment must be completed by the deadline for each start date.
General Requirements
- Minimum Age 17Applicants must be at least 17 years of age.
- High School Diploma or GEDHigh school graduates with a valid diploma or official transcripts stating High School Graduation date, or a GED certificate, a homeschooling completion credential, a…
- Photo ID or Birth CertificateA current government-issued photo identification or birth certificate.
- Social Security CardA Social Security Card.
- Foreign Diploma EvaluationIf the high school diploma is from a foreign school, the applicant must obtain, at the student's expense, a foreign credential evaluation completed by a NACES, AACRAO, or…
- Criminal Conviction DisclosureIf an applicant discloses a conviction or plea of no contest, the Academy will provide Form C-01 to submit to the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. Once the applicant receives a…
- Enrollment DeadlineEnrollment must be completed by the deadline for your start date.
Application Process
- 1Request an Admissions AdvisorRequest for an admissions advisor to contact you, or call Coba Academy at (714) 533-1400.
- 2Complete the Admissions ApplicationAll applicants are required to complete an admissions application for the Academy with questions regarding the student's background information. Contact our admissions team to get started.
- 3Enrollment InterviewMeet with the Administrator for your Enrollment Interview, where school policies and information are given and payment schedules are discussed. You are encouraged to review the catalog and School Performance Fact Sheet prior to signing an enrollment agreement.
- 4Apply for Financial Aid (FAFSA)Obtain a checklist of items to bring to a scheduled in-person appointment through Zoom with a Financial Aid Administrator, then complete the FAFSA on the studentaid.gov website. The Academy will issue a Financial Aid Estimate and an Offer Letter upon final evaluation and confirmed enrollment.FAFSA Code for Anaheim: 035773Fill Out the FAFSA
- 5Complete Enrollment by the DeadlineEnrollment must be completed by the deadline for your chosen start date. Submit your diploma or equivalent, photo ID or birth certificate, and Social Security Card.
Program Schedule
600 clock hours, completable in approximately five months of full-time attendance.
| Schedule | Days and times | Hours per week |
|---|---|---|
| Daytime, full time | Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. | 30 |
| Evening hybrid, full time | Monday–Friday, 5:30–10:30 p.m. (Mon & Fri by Zoom, Tue–Thu in person) | 25 |
The esthetics day is an hour shorter than the cosmetology and barbering day, which is why the same full-time label means 30 hours a week here and 35 there. A 30-minute lunch is mandatory when daily attendance exceeds five hours.
Classes start once a month for both morning and evening sessions.
The hybrid delivery is real distance education, and it carries a warning the academy prints itself. Monday and Friday evenings are delivered by real-time Zoom; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings are in person. Only the theory portion is delivered at a distance.
The rules around it are specific. Cameras must be on for the entire lesson, and instructors validate attendance and interaction as clock hours. Every assessment used to calculate your grade must be taken physically on campus. You must take part in learning activities in person at least once every fifth business day, for a full scheduled class day of five clock hours. And all transcripts and Proofs of Training — official and unofficial — identify the distance education component.
That last point has a consequence the academy states in one sentence: “Academic achievement earned via distance education may not be accepted for reciprocity or eligible licensure in other states.” If there is any chance you will license outside California, ask the destination board about hybrid hours before you choose the evening schedule.
Location
Why Accreditation Is Important
Coba Academy is accredited by the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts & Sciences (NACCAS). The academy is approved to operate by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. Programme minimums are set and monitored by the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, which is also the body that licenses graduates. The academy is approved for veterans’ educational benefits, facility code 25-1932-05.
- Accredited by NACCAS, recognised by the U.S. Department of Education
- Approved to operate by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, Education Code 94890(a)(1)
- Programme minimums set and monitored by the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology
- Approved for veterans' educational benefits — facility code 25-1932-05
- Federal Pell Grant, FSEOG and Federal Direct Loans for those who qualify
- Prospective students receive the School Performance Fact Sheet and NACCAS statistics before signing
Accreditations
Student Demographics
These are demographics for all students at the Anaheim Campus (IPEDS, 2024).
Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid Information
$13,710.00 in total institutional charges. The academy’s own fee table:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition (at $18.50 per hour × 600 hours) | $11,100.00 |
| Application fee (non-refundable) | $125.00 |
| Book (non-refundable) | $515.00 |
| Kit (non-refundable) | $1,610.00 |
| iPad — optional (non-refundable) | $360.00 |
| STRF fee (non-refundable) | $0.00 |
| Total institutional charges | $13,710.00 |
Tuition is charged by the hour, and the arithmetic is checkable. The catalog states the rate is $18.50 per hour; 600 hours at that rate is exactly the tuition line. That is a rare thing to be able to verify from a school’s own numbers.
The iPad is optional but is inside the published total. The $360 iPad line is marked Optional in the academy’s own fee table and is nonetheless counted in TOTAL INSTITUTIONAL CHARGES. Decline it and the figure falls by $360. It is recorded as a cost item here, labelled optional, because that is how the academy totals it.
The kit, book and iPad are non-refundable after the cancellation period — the catalog’s reason is health and sanitation — and the $1,610.00 kit covers all required equipment, supplies, books and materials for the programme. Coba T-shirts and aprons are included; personal clothing and uniforms are not.
The Student Tuition Recovery Fund line is $0.00, and that is correct. California requires the STRF charge to be disclosed; as of 1 April 2024 the rate is $0 per $1,000 of institutional charges. It is shown as a line in the catalog and is not recorded as a cost item here, because a $0.00 item adds nothing true.
The academy’s own payment plan, in its own figures: a 25% down payment of $3,396.25 against a plan total of $13,585.00 — which is the institutional charges less the $125 application fee, already paid — then equal installments of $2,037.75 over five months on the daytime schedule or $1,698.12 over six months on the evening/hybrid schedule. Weekly, bi-monthly and monthly schedules are available.
Payment methods: cash, Visa or Mastercard only, money order, cheque, and Title IV disbursements and loans. The final outstanding balance may be paid only by cash or credit card — no personal cheques.
Federal aid. Federal Pell Grants, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) and Federal Direct Loans are available to those who qualify, and the academy is approved for veterans’ educational benefits (facility code 25-1932-05). The catalog notes that the Veterans Information Bulletin supersedes the application fee, tuition, refund and satisfactory-progress sections for VA students — so if you are using VA benefits, that bulletin is the document that governs, not this page.
What happens if you do not pay, stated plainly by the academy: balances are the student’s responsibility; delinquent accounts are assigned to collection agencies; collection costs are added to the balance; and Proof of Training — which the state board requires before you can apply to sit the licensing examination — is only issued after all balances are paid. An unpaid balance does not merely withhold a certificate here; it withholds your route to a licence.
$13,710 total institutional charges — $11,100 tuition at $18.50 an hour, a $125 application fee, $515 of books, the kit, and an optional $360 iPad the academy counts inside the total.
Curriculum
600 clock hours against the California minimums, published as technical instruction and practical operations — and the two columns add to exactly the programme total. Technical instruction sums to 240 hours and practical operations to 360; together, 600. Every category subtotal checks too.
One small disagreement worth naming. The catalog says in prose that approximately 245 hours are technical instruction, while its own table sums to 240. The prose says “approximately”, the table is the document that has to satisfy the state, and the table is what reconciles to 600 — so 240 is what is recorded. It is a five-hour discrepancy in the school's own catalog; ask about it.
These are minimums set by the State of California, not the academy’s own allocation — the catalog labels every row “Minimum Hours Required” and “Minimum Operation Hours Required”. Rows marked N/A carry no operation requirement: they are taught and examined rather than practised on clients.
Teaching methods, as the academy lists them: discussion, demonstration, question and answer, cooperative learning, problem solving, interactive lecture, individualised instruction, student and classroom presentations, labs and student salon activities.
Grading. Students are examined weekly or bi-weekly in theory and practical work. Written examinations run A 90–100, B 80–89, C 75–79, D 60–74, F 0–59; practical operations are scored out of 8 with 6 of 8 (75%) the pass mark. Graduation requires the programme hours, the theory hours and the practical operations, a C (75%) GPA, 75% attendance and all financial obligations settled.
The required courses below are from Coba Academy's published catalog.
Required Courses
| Name | Lecture | Lab | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
Required Courses
| Name |
|---|
Career Outcomes
The programme prepares students for the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology esthetician examination (CIP 12.0409, SOC 39-5094).
The content behind the licence is specific. The catalog names manual, electrical and chemical facials; the differences between alpha hydroxy, beta hydroxy and enzymes; ultrasonic skin scrubbers, LED light therapy, steamers and vacuums; sanitary maintenance area preparation; and — under “Preparation” — preparing for a career in esthetics, career opportunities, life skills, communicating for success, professional image, ethics and the history of esthetics.
The academy does not guarantee placement and says so twice. It provides limited job placement assistance by referral, a Job Listing bulletin board and consultations with the Director of Education. No rate is quoted in its catalog, and none is claimed here.
There is a California document that does carry the numbers, and you should ask for it by name. The catalog records that every student, before signing the enrolment agreement, received the School Performance Fact Sheet, NACCAS statistics, the California licensing requirements and U.S. Department of Labor statistics. The Fact Sheet is California’s own mandated disclosure of completion, placement, licensure and salary data for each programme. It is not in the catalog — ask for it.
The licence is the job requirement. The catalog states the minimum prerequisite for employment as a practising esthetician, cosmetologist or barber in California is a valid state licence in the respective field. On graduation Coba issues a certificate and Proof of Training; you then apply to the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology to sit the examination, and the Board sets the dates and issues the licence.
What to expect as a Coba Academy student
Five months and 360 practical hours. The treatment rooms are two practical classrooms of facial beds with their own machines, separate from the clinic floors the cosmetology and barbering students use.
One campus, and the catalog inventories it. Coba Academy is at 663 North Euclid Street, Anaheim, on the corner of Euclid and Crescent in Euclid Plaza near Freeway 91 and Interstate 5, with lit shopping-centre parking including accessible spaces. The campus is more than 7,570 square feet and accommodates approximately 100 students at one time.
Inside: five classrooms with big-screen monitors and computers, five offices, three clinic floors, a colour lab, a laundry room and a lunch area. The clinic floor carries manicure stations, a pedicure throne, a makeup station with vanity lighting, hair styling stations and barber stations, with designated areas for hot tools. The Esthetics treatment rooms are two practical classrooms of facial beds, each with a facial machine — ultrasonic skin scrubber, high frequency and microdermabrasion — or a hard and soft wax machine.
Five restrooms: one wheelchair accessible, one for women and two gender-neutral. The campus is CASp certified and the catalog describes the interior as ADA compliant.
The library is real and so is the online component. Books, DVDs and periodicals on site, borrowable overnight with administrator approval, plus a school account with Milady MindTap by Cengage giving every student 24/7 access to videos, activities, vocabulary and mock exams from any WiFi-capable device.
Instructors are licensed and experienced. The catalog names nine instructors across the three programmes, all licensed by the California State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology with at least three years of training and industry experience, and notes that instructors may substitute between the day and evening shifts.
Fifty years of one thing. The academy says it has been training students in the beauty field for over 50 years.
Grading is weekly or bi-weekly, in theory and practical separately. Written examinations run A 90–100, B 80–89, C 75–79, D 60–74, F 0–59. Practical operations are graded out of 8 points: 6 of 8 (75%) is the pass mark and 5 of 8 (63%) fails. Graduation needs the programme hours, the theory hours and the practical operations, with a C (75%) GPA and 75% attendance.
Teaching methods are named: discussion, demonstration, question and answer, cooperative learning, problem solving, interactive lecture, individualised instruction, student and classroom presentations, labs and student salon activities.
Housing is not provided and the academy says it cannot help. It has no dormitories, states it is not equipped to assist in finding housing, and — unusually — publishes a figure: approximately $2,500 a month for a one-bedroom in the immediate area, sourced to apartmentguide.com. That is a useful number and most schools do not print one.
Placement assistance is limited and the academy says so in those words. It does not guarantee placement; it offers referrals, a Job Listing bulletin board, and appointments with the Director of Education or administrative staff. Career, academic and individual counselling is offered to all students on a regular schedule and on request. The catalog states the minimum prerequisite for practising in California is a valid state licence in the field.
Transferability is at the receiving institution’s discretion, entirely. The academy publishes the standard California notice: whether anyone accepts your credits or your certificate is their decision, you may have to repeat coursework, and you should contact the institution you might transfer to before attending here.
The bankruptcy statement is clean. The catalog states the academy has no pending bankruptcy petition, is not operating as a debtor in possession, and has neither filed nor had filed against it a petition in the preceding five years. California requires that disclosure; it is worth reading when you see it.