The purpose of this letter is to highlight a serious issue created by the rollout schedule for the Barber hour reduction, particularly for accredited institutions and the part-time students who are already progressing through their programs. We are urging the Board to revisit its current plan—either by adjusting the transition deadline or by carving out an exemption for accredited schools.
Accredited institutions operate under federal rules that make mid-program changes extremely difficult. Students presently enrolled were awarded Title IV financial aid based on the published program length and curriculum that existed when they signed their enrollment agreements. When required hours are reduced after the fact, the official length of the program is altered, and those same students risk losing Title IV eligibility. Although the Board’s standard response has been that such students should just adopt the new curriculum, that is not an option for institutions bound by federal financial aid regulations and accrediting standards. The only alternative suggested—disenrolling students—is equally unworkable and would place schools out of compliance on several fronts.
The academic ripple effects are equally concerning. Reassigning students to a curriculum different from the one they began undermines instructional sequencing and raises potential misrepresentation issues. Our schools are required to provide accurate, consistent disclosures about program length and structure. A State-mandated change that effectively nullifies the information provided at enrollment creates a direct conflict with federal consumer information rules.
This is not the first time concerns like these have surfaced. When Cosmetology hours were reduced from 1500 to 1000 in 2024, the Board ultimately established an August 31, 2026 transition deadline in order to protect part-time students who were already advancing through the prior program. That decision was appreciated by institutions across the state. Given that history, it is difficult to understand why a parallel approach was not adopted for the Barber hour change.
In light of these issues, we respectfully ask the Board to consider one of the following actions:
Extend the transition timeframe for the Barber program; or
Allow accredited institutions to let currently enrolled students—especially those attending part-time—complete the program in which they originally enrolled, without jeopardizing their financial aid.
At present, the mandated timeline places accredited schools in an unavoidable compliance conflict and exposes students to academic and financial risk. We hope the Board will reconsider and provide a path that keeps all institutions aligned with state, federal, and accrediting requirements.