Nail Technology is a Diploma program offered by The Avenue Academy, A Cosmetology Institute in Albuquerque, NM. Tuition is $9,900 total.
Program Overview
Nail Technology is priced at $9,900 plus the $100 enrolment fee — $10,000 all in — and the academy publishes no hour count for it. That is the first thing to know about this programme, and it is unusual: the tuition page gives “1600 hours” for Cosmetology, “600 hours” for Esthiology and “500 hours” for Educator Certification, and for this one gives only the price.
No hour figure is recorded here as a result. New Mexico sets an hour requirement for a manicurist licence, but writing the state’s number against this programme would be recording the regulation rather than the school.
The programme page carries no description either — a heading and nothing beneath it. What the academy does publish elsewhere is that its Cosmetology programme covers nail services as one of its three phases, and that over-contract hours on this programme cost $12 each.
The Cost of Attendance PDF prices it at $8,030 — $1,870 below the tuition page. See the cost section.
What sets this Program apart
- $10,000 all in, with books, kit(s) and tax included in the tuition figure per the academy's own note.
- A dedicated nail programme at a school whose cosmetology licence already covers nails — so the instructors teach it at 1,600-hour depth as well as standalone.
- A student salon open to the public, with guest services and gift cards.
- Federal School Code 042716, published in the site's own navigation, and in-house and non-credit-based financing alongside federal aid.
- Accredited by NACCAS — confirmed on the accreditor's own directory.
- But the academy publishes NO hour count for this programme, where it publishes one for three of its other four. On a clock-hour credential that is the number that decides whether you can sit the state examination — ask for it in writing.
- And no description. The programme page is a heading with nothing under it.
- And two different prices. $9,900 on the tuition page, $8,030 in the academy's own Cost of Attendance PDF.
Admission Requirements and Process
The Avenue Academy admits as regular students those who are high school graduates, holders of high school equivalency diplomas. After a prospect has completed the enrollment application process, the enrollment team and director reviews each applicant and his or her required admissions materials including the written entrance essay and personal interview to determine acceptance.
General Requirements
- High School Diploma or EquivalentCopies of a standard high school diploma, high school transcripts, an academic transcript of a student who has successfully completed at least a two-year program that is…
- Foreign or Homeschool DiplomasA foreign diploma or transcript MUST be equivalent to a Standard U.S. high school diploma and must be translated into English by a certified translator and evaluated by a…
- IdentificationCopies of a passport, a government-issued identification, a driver’s license, or a birth certificate are required (provide only one).
- Application FeeAction will not be taken on admission or any student loan application until an application fee of $100.00 is received. This fee is not included in the cost of tuition.
- Two PhotosThe photos must be a recent 2x2 head and shoulder shot with a white background.
- Entrance EssayThe essay should include the applicant’s accomplishments and career goals.
- Personal InterviewApplicant must complete a personal interview with the admission’s team prior to registration.
Application Process
- 1Schedule a TourSchedule a tour of The Avenue Academy to see the school and learn about our programs.
- 2Complete an Application FormContact admissions to complete and submit the application form to the school prior to registration.
- 3Submit the Application FeeSubmit the $100.00 application fee in the form of cash, card, check or money order, payable to The Avenue Academy. Action will not be taken on admission or any student loan application until the fee is received.
- 4Submit Photos and Entrance EssaySubmit two recent 2x2 head and shoulder photos with a white background, and an entrance essay that includes your accomplishments and career goals.
- 5Complete a Personal InterviewComplete a personal interview with the admissions team prior to registration.
- 6Provide Verification DocumentsProvide one form of identification (passport, government-issued identification, driver’s license, or birth certificate) and one proof of education (standard high school diploma, high school transcripts, or High School Equivalency diploma).
- 7Apply for Financial Aid (FAFSA)Create your FSA ID and fill out the FAFSA to apply for federal student aid.FAFSA Code for Albuquerque: 042716Fill Out the FAFSA
- 8Receive Your Acceptance DecisionThe enrollment team and director review each applicant and his or her required admissions materials, including the written entrance essay and personal interview, to determine acceptance. The applicant receives written notification of acceptance or denial.
Program Schedule
The academy publishes no hour count, no week count, no class hours and no term calendar for this programme. Its tuition page gives the price and nothing else, and its programme page is a heading with no text beneath it.
Its enrolment form offers month-by-month start selections for Cosmetology and Esthiology only — Nail Technology is not among them — so even the monthly-start inference available for those two does not apply here.
Nothing has been substituted from the New Mexico regulation.
Over-contract hours are $12 each past your contracted graduation date — which is a charge against a duration the academy has not published.
Location
Why Accreditation Is Important
The Avenue Academy, A Cosmetology Institute is accredited by the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts & Sciences (NACCAS). The academy’s own website never says so. The word NACCAS does not appear on it, and neither does any other accreditation claim. The accreditor named here comes from the accreditor’s directory and the federal database, not from the school. Licensing and examination fees are paid to the New Mexico Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists and to the examination providers, and the academy will not complete the forms enabling you to sit the state board examination until all academic and financial obligations are met.
- Accredited by NACCAS — confirmed on NACCAS's own public directory
- Listed under NACCAS in the U.S. Department of Education's DAPIP database, active
- Title IV eligible — Federal School Code 042716, published in the site's own navigation
- Publishes Annual Security Reports, a HEERF fund report, retention rates and a Student Right to Know disclosure
- Licensure runs through the New Mexico Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists
Accreditations
Student Demographics
These are demographics for all students at the Albuquerque Campus (IPEDS, 2024).
Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid Information
$10,000 in total — tuition $9,900.00, which the academy marks as including books, kit(s) and tax, plus the $100 enrolment fee.
The academy publishes two different prices for every programme, in two of its own documents, and this page records both.
Its tuition page gives one figure per programme, marked “books and kit(s), tax included”, plus a $100 enrolment fee. Its Cost of Attendance PDF — filed under School Policies, uploaded December 2024 — gives a tuition / kit / tax breakdown adding to a different “TOTAL TUITION COSTS” for the same programmes.
| Programme | Tuition page | Cost of Attendance PDF | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetology | $19,900.00 | $19,200.00 | page is $700 higher |
| Esthiology | $12,990.00 | $11,150.00 | page is $1,840 higher |
| Nail Technology | $9,900.00 | $8,030.00 | page is $1,870 higher |
| Educator Certification / Instructor’s Course | $5,200.00 | $10,100.00 | PDF is $4,900 higher |
Three of the four move one way and the fourth moves the other, which is why this cannot simply be a price rise. A December 2024 document undercutting the current page by $700 to $1,870 on three programmes is exactly what inflation looks like. The instructor course going the other way — the PDF double the current page — is not. Either the two documents describe different things, or one of them is stale.
The figure recorded against this programme is the tuition page’s, because that is the live page an applicant reads and the academy’s own PDF opens by reserving the right to change its figures “with or without notice”. Get the price in writing on your enrolment agreement before you sign.
Over-contract hours are charged by the hour, and the rate differs by programme: Cosmetology $11, Esthiology $16, Instructor’s Course $10, Nail Technology $12 and Barber $11 per hour past your contracted graduation date. Those are from the Cost of Attendance PDF, and they are the same document’s figures as the disputed tuition above — treat them as indicative and confirm on your agreement.
State board fees are extra and are not paid to the academy. The PDF sets them out per programme: for Cosmetology, Esthiology, Nail Technology and Barber, a $73 practical examination fee, a $130 written examination fee and a $50 licence fee — $253 in total. For the Instructor’s Course there is no practical examination, so it is $180. All licensing fees go to the New Mexico Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists and examination fees to the examination providers, and the academy notes they are subject to change at the Board’s discretion.
Federal aid. The academy publishes its Federal School Code 042716 in its own site navigation — more prominent than most schools manage — and states that financial aid received on a student’s behalf is applied to tuition first.
Other ways to pay. The academy publishes in-house financing and payment options, non-credit-based financing, and a third-party student loan application with a promo code. At the academy you may pay by cash, cheque, money order or cashier’s cheque; where an agreement permits payment after course completion, through TFC by electronic cheque, debit or credit. Any payment plan requires a signed promissory note disclosing the terms.
Falling behind has teeth. The academy states that delinquency in paying tuition “will be cause for interruption of training”; that a student may not receive a diploma unless paid in full or a satisfactory agreement is in place; and that no forms will be completed by the academy enabling a student to take the state board examinations until all academic and financial obligations have been fulfilled. That last one is the sharpest: an unpaid balance does not just withhold a certificate, it withholds your route to a licence.
The academy also publishes Annual Security Reports, an ADA policies and procedures document, an admissions policy, withdrawal and termination policies, voter registration information, a CECU HEERF fund report, retention rates and a Student Right to Know disclosure — all from its School Policies page.
$10,000 in total — $9,900 tuition, which the academy says includes books, kit(s) and tax, plus a $100 enrolment fee. Its own Cost of Attendance PDF gives a different figure; see the cost section.
Curriculum
The academy publishes nothing about this programme’s content. Its programme page carries the heading “Nail Technology” and no text; its tuition page gives a price with no hour count. There is no description, no hour breakdown and no unit list anywhere on the site.
No subject-by-subject curriculum is published for this programme, and none is invented here. The academy gives the hour requirement and a description; it publishes no unit list, no hour allocation and no course codes anywhere on its site. Building a table from the New Mexico regulation would store the state’s curriculum as this school’s, so no course rows are stored.
What can fairly be said is that the academy’s 1,600-hour Cosmetology programme covers nail services as one of its three phases — hair, skin and nails — so the school teaches the subject. What this standalone programme contains, and how long it runs, is a question for admissions.
Career Outcomes
The programme leads toward a New Mexico nail technician credential, licensed by the New Mexico Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists. The academy’s Cost of Attendance document lists the state fees for the Nail Technology programme as $253 — $73 practical examination, $130 written examination and a $50 licence fee — the same as for its cosmetology and esthiology programmes.
That fee schedule is the clearest evidence the programme leads to state licensure, since the academy publishes no description of the programme itself. It is also worth asking the Board directly what hour count it requires, because the academy does not publish one.
The academy publishes no outcome figures for this programme. Each programme page carries the sentence “Click here for the Gainful Employment Disclosure” — but on every one of them it is plain text with no link behind it, so there is nothing to click and no disclosure to read. Its School Policies page links a Retention Rates document and a Student Right to Know disclosure as Word files. No graduation, licensure or placement rate appears anywhere on the site, and none is claimed here. Ask for all three.
What to expect as an Avenue Academy student
This is the least-documented programme the academy sells, and it is not cheap. $10,000 with no published hour count, no published description and no published schedule. Everything on this page that is specific comes from the tuition page and the Cost of Attendance PDF; get the rest in writing before you enrol.
One campus, at 1512 Eubank Blvd NE in Albuquerque. The academy runs a student salon and, for the esthiology programme, a facial room that is open to the public for real appointments — its own description of how students prepare for the work.
It also runs guest services and sells gift cards, which is the same thing from the customer’s side: the clinic floor is a working salon that the public books into.
The academy does not publish class hours, a timetable or a term calendar on its site. Its enrolment form offers month-by-month start selections for Cosmetology and Esthiology, which implies monthly intakes for those two, but no schedule is stated and none is inferred here.
The site never names its accreditor, and the accreditor is NACCAS. Nowhere on theavenueacademy.com does the word appear, nor any accreditation claim at all. NACCAS’s own public directory lists The Avenue Academy, A Cosmetology Institute, Albuquerque, with a status of Accredited, and the U.S. Department of Education’s database lists it under NACCAS as active. That is where the accreditor on this page comes from — not from a claim on the site.
No curriculum is published for any programme. The academy gives an hour count for three of its five programmes and a paragraph of description; there is no subject-by-subject breakdown anywhere on the site, so no course rows are stored. Building one from the New Mexico regulation would be the state’s curriculum, not this school’s. Ask for the outline.
No graduation, licensure or placement rate is published either. The School Policies page links a “Retention Rates” document and a Student Right to Know disclosure, both as Word files rather than web pages; neither figure is quoted on the site itself, and none is claimed here. Ask for both.
Two things on the site point at programmes you cannot currently buy. The Master Makeup Artistry Program is priced at $11,700 on the tuition page but labelled “(Coming Soon)” in the navigation on every page of the site, so it is not recorded as a running programme here. And the Cost of Attendance PDF prices a Barber Program at $14,400 that appears nowhere in the site’s programme list, its navigation or its enquiry dropdown. Neither is ingested; both are worth asking about.