How Salon Success Academy has Adapted to SB 803

At the beginning of this year, a new law was passed in California regarding the beauty school industry. Senate Bill 803 became effective on January 1, 2022 and invoked many changes in the way cosmetology students across California earn their license. Salon Success Academy has taken these changes and are using them to improve their course work. We are committed to being ahead of the curve with our updated course work and in preparing students for their future.

What is SB 803?

Before the bill was passed, there was a requirement for all beauty school students to complete 1600 hours of coursework and barber students to complete 1500 hours before they could earn their cosmetology/barbering license. Legislation was passed for the minimum requirement to now be 1000 hours for both, but schools can still require more hours before graduation if they so choose. The reciprocity law has also changed to allow beauty professionals from out of state to transfer their license to California much easier. If you have a cosmetology license from another state, then you will be able to transfer it directly without needing any additional hours or having to take the California exam.

One of the biggest changes, however, was the removal of a required practical exam to get a cosmetology license. This has sparked controversy as some people believe a practical exam is important to understand certain theories and techniques. Some people believe the removal can allow students to focus on strengthening skills for their future and not just to pass a test. There are many pros and cons to SB 803, but Salon Success Academy has chosen to focus on the positives and adapt to make our school better.

How Have These Changes Affected Our Curriculum?

The change in hour requirements has allowed us to adapt our curriculum into something better and more effective for our students. We were able to customize course information to something we specifically want to teach and feel like our students need. We took this change as an opportunity to take a look at our education and see what our students want from it. For example, students typically want to practice not only hairstyling, but nail technology and skincare as well. Because of this, we were able to revamp our courses and include those concepts more as subjects, rather than just basic understanding.

At Salon Success Academy, we’ve created and adapted many of our courses. Our Manicuring course allows students to focus solely on this field, instead of  covering just a small section in a larger cosmetology course. There’s also a course for esthetics that has become more refined and we’ve added advanced color, advanced hair styling/textures, and clipper cutting to our cosmetology program.

For our barbering program, we removed superfluous information and reduced it to 1000 hours. Though barber students are still required to learn hair coloring, they tend to be less interested in learning this information. The shortened program hours doesn’t require them to spend as much time on concepts they’re not wanting or really needing to learn.

Our Commitment Sets Students Up for Success

Longer program hours allowed a lot of downtime for students. The shortened hours can create a higher skill set because all of their time is utilized well. We decided to be proactive early on and started prepping our courses before the bill even went into effect.

The removal of a state board practical exam switches content we teach from passing an exam to actual salon readiness and real world content. We are able to focus more on being ready for the future instead of just passing an examination, as well as focus more on the written exam which tends to be harder to pass.

We have had positive feedback from students when we implemented the changes. Our entire curriculum was built by licensed professionals who work with us. We use leading educators to build the curriculum and revitalize the cosmetology program.

Many of our courses have become more popular because of how short they are. Students can find more time to enroll and participate in class. The trend for Esthetics and Cosmetology are skyrocketing because they can now be completed much quicker. No longer are there hours of unnecessary downtime–every hour of student coursework is spent on subject matter. Students have more study time for the written exam and can feel more prepared for their future after graduation.

Ready to Start Your Journey?

The shorter course hours and absence of a practical examination have made our programs much more available to prospective students. If you’re looking to enter the beauty industry, there’s truly no better time! We know you may have many questions regarding our changes as well, so contact us today to get started and book a tour! We’re happy to answer questions and start you on your journey!