Phoenix Cosmetology School:
Master Hair, Skin, and Nails
3 in 1 License. 1,500 Hours. Master Every Service.
Arizona’s cosmetology license does more than get you certified. You’ll graduate ready to run a full-service client base, launch your own salon, or build your own business, with the technical skill and business training to actually make it happen.
What Is Cosmetology?
Cosmetology is a full beauty career, one license that covers hair, skin, and nails. Many people think cosmetology is just hair. Many don’t understand that it isn’t, because so many cosmetology programs focus on hair. Unlike other programs that just focus on hair, our program respects your passion for skin and nails.
You Don’t Just Learn to Make Things “Pretty”
Cosmetology requires you to know how chemicals, tools, and techniques interact with hair, skin, and nails. You have to understand how a chemical reaction changes hair structure, how skin layers respond to treatment, and how products like acrylics and gels can damage the nail bed if misapplied, because getting any of it wrong can permanently hurt your client. You are a hair, skin, and nail chemist.
What is a Cosmetologist?
A Cosmetologist or a “Cosmo” is an expert in the chemistry and anatomy of the hair, skin, and nails. They use this knowledge to create any kind of style their client wants. Rather than being limited to only one area of expertise, a cosmetologist combines these skills to create a uniform look across a client’s entire appearance. A cosmetologist can work in theatres, in movies, in morgues, in a salon – they have ultimate freedom to decide where their career leads.
The Power of a Professional License
A licensed Cosmetologist in Arizona has the ability to open any kind of salon. Rather than being limited to one kind of license, a cosmetologist can personally offer hair, nail, and esthetic services. Open a full-service salon with just a hairstyling, nail, or esthetics license, and you’re stuck relying on someone else for the rest. If that employee walks, those services walk with them. Not with a cosmetologist. The license covers it all, so the business doesn’t suffer when one person leaves.
What Does a Cosmetologist Do?
Cosmetologists perform hair, skin, and nail services, all under one license. For hair, you’ll work with color, cuts, and chemical services like perms or relaxers. For skin, think facials and chemical peels. For nails, manicures and nail extensions using “acrylic” or “gel builder.” Clients often combine these, a color and cut with a facial before an event, or a fresh manicure to match a new look. Whether it’s balayage, a facial, or nail art like “French Tips,” it’s all under your license.
Creating A Style
The most successful Cosmetologists create their own unique style. You are an artist, and your work should be immediately identifiable as yours—the same way someone recognizes a piece by Frida Kahlo. While her canvas was her own self-portraits, yours is a client’s hair, skin, and nails. The biggest difference is that your clients wear your art out into the world every single day.
This unique aesthetic is your greatest business asset. We show you how to leverage your signature style to build a high-end digital portfolio, allowing you to attract high-paying clients and start growing your business from day one.
What Do You Learn in a Cosmetology Class?
Our Phoenix based program covers all three pillars of Cosmetology: hairstyling, nail technology, and esthetics. By understanding the chemistry and anatomy of the hair, skin, and nails, you can create almost any style your client asks for. We teach you the science, sanitation, and safety procedures required to professionally perform services across all three, under one single license.
Hairstyling
You will learn cutting, coloring, chemical services, braiding, and extensions. Understanding the biology of the scalp and hair strand lets you cut, color, and style almost any request that walks through the door.
Learn more about our Hairstyling CourseNail Tech
You will learn manicures, pedicures, and nail extensions using “acrylic” or “gel builder.” From French tips to hand drawn nail art, you will learn how to turn the nail plate into its own canvas.
Learn more about our Nail Tech CourseEsthetics
You will learn facials and skin treatments. Understanding skin anatomy and chemistry lets you correct, treat, and care for skin as well as you can cut and color hair.
Learn more about our Esthetics CourseCombining Services
You will often be challenged to combine hair, skin, and nail services together to create a complete work of art. You may be asked to color and cut hair, finish it off with a facial, and send your client out the door with a fresh manicure. Being able to move seamlessly between all three is the entire point of a Cosmetology license, and the best way to gain and retain high value clients.
How Much Does Cosmetology School Cost?
Your $12,500 tuition, $2,500 professional kit, and complete business scaling classes are all included with no additional costs or surprises. We offer flexible options to custom-fit your financial life.
With a Custom Lower Deposit:
You get your textbooks on day one, and your advanced artistry and styling supplies are distributed in phases as you move through the curriculum and make your regular monthly payments.
With a $2,500 Down Payment:
You completely unlock and receive your entire professional cosmetology kit upfront on day one of classes.
What Are My Monthly Payment Options?
We believe everyone should have access to affordable education. We work with people of all different incomes, credit scores, and life situations. We have worked with over 80 students to find a plan that works. For those looking to be completely debt-free and work directly with the school, we offer non-credit monthly payment plans with 100% approval. For those who need third-party financing for smaller monthly payments, we partner with Affirm to offer flexible financing options.
Tier 1: Debt Free
Best Fit For: Knocking out your balance quickly and minimizing post-grad payments.
*Balances are calculated assuming a $2,500 down payment; total numbers and payment timelines will adjust if a lower option is selected.
Do I Need a High School Diploma or GED to Enroll?
Mima's Beauty College does NOT require you to have a diploma or GED to be able to pursue Cosmetology school. Whatever reason you were not able to complete your high school education does not change who you are or your ability to get your Cosmetology license.
Your Fresh Start Starts Here
The reason that many schools require you to have a GED or diploma is not because you legally need one to practice. It is because those schools are required by the Department of Education to have one on file in order to issue student loans, FAFSA, or Pell Grants. We choose to not work with the federal government to give the opportunity to all students looking to create a career, regardless of past education.
Not having a diploma does not change whether you can be successful as a Cosmetologist. The only things that matter are that you are passionate, motivated, and want to learn how to be a business owner.
How Do I Become a Licensed Cosmetologist in Arizona?
The process to get a Cosmetology license in Arizona is really straightforward and simple. The first step is to complete a 1500-hour course with a state-licensed program like Mima's Beauty College. After you complete your hours, you will take a Theory and Practical exam proctored by Professional Credential Services. When you score a minimum of a 75%, you will have passed your tests and can officially apply for your license. After you apply for your license, it will take the State Board 2–4 weeks to process your application.
The Path Forward:
Do I Need to Get a License to Be a Cosmetologist in Arizona?
Realistically speaking, yes, you do need a license. While you can do makeup and dry hairstyling services without one, an official Arizona cosmetology license requires you to complete your esthetics, nail, and advanced hair styling (color, perms, cutting) training. Operating without that credential means you are legally restricted in the services you can offer. If you are a makeup or bridal stylist, you are fine to continue your services as is. But you can elevate your business and expand your income by adding waxing, facials, hair color, or acrylic nails to your menu, and a cosmetology license is what gets you there since it covers hair, skin, and nails all in one.
What Happens If I Practice Without a License in Arizona?
If you are currently performing beauty services that are not "Dry hair" and charging money, transparently, you are breaking the law. Since you are performing services to clients, if they were to report you to the state board, you can face significant consequences. You can face warnings, fines, or being barred from ever getting a Cosmetology license. But, most importantly you leave yourself unprotected. Not being licensed means you do not have professional liability insurance, an LLC, or anything you can use if you hurt someone. If you damage someone's skin or scalp, they could pursue legal action. This stress is not worth it when you can get your license in as little as 9.5 months.
Do You Offer FAFSA for the Cosmetology Program?
At Mima's, we choose to work with students who don't have a high school diploma or GED. Because of that, we don't offer FAFSA or traditional government student loans.
Honestly, we see that as a good thing. Student loan debt can set you back significantly right when you are just trying to build a career and get your life started. Instead, we offer internal institutional scholarships whenever they are available, alongside flexible payment plans and installment financing options. Our goal is to make school a realistic path for all income levels, without forcing you to take on a mountain of debt.
Skills for Independence
A large part of any art career is understanding the business side of the industry. If you only learn how to do the services that a Cosmetologist performs, you are limiting your potential income. You are an entrepreneur from day one—you invested in a career, so learn to be a business owner. Don't rely on a salon owner to give you your clients. You'll learn how to build your client book from scratch with just a portfolio.
Why Is Investing In This Level of Training Better For Your Future?
The best thing you can do for your career is make sure that the investment you make with your tuition leads you to the best possible outcome.
Traditional Cosmetology schools in Phoenix focus on teaching you the trade so you can pass the state exam, which is important, but they usually stop there.
They just don't teach the legal, business, tax, or marketing side of things. Leaving those skills out is what ends up costing you more money in the long run.
Right now, the average wage of a Cosmetologist in Arizona is around $45k a year, which is low for a technical trade. But as a Cosmetologist, you can make up to $150k a year.
Hitting that top-end income means having top-end skills—and the skills that actually make you $150k are the business skills. Learning the trade is only a small part of what will make you successful.
If your school only teaches you the trade skills, you will make less money over the course of your career.
We include all of it because we want you to actually reach that full earning potential.
How We Invest In Your Potential
About 20% of businesses fail in their first year. By year five, that number jumps to 50%. With stats like that, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the average Cosmetologist only lasts about five years in this industry before throwing in the towel.
Why does that happen? Simply put, most schools just teach you how to do a job, when they should be preparing you for a career.
Instead of making you start from zero and trying to figure out how to build a business all by yourself, we help you learn from our mistakes. We pass our business expertise down to you so you don’t have to stress about how to be successful—you just have to show up and put in the work.
We guide you step-by-step on how to create your own LLC so you can pay yourself properly, all while teaching you the exact techniques you need to build and scale your own clientele.
Legal & Financial Security
We don't just teach you how to work behind the chair or in the spa; we teach you how to open your own legal LLC. Anyone can finish a beauty program, but we give you the tools to build a permanent, legal business that protects your family and can never be taken away from you.
If you are looking to work for a salon or spa first, we teach you how to read and understand employment contracts. We help you understand the difference between a W2 and a 1099 employee, and we help you understand your legal rights as a worker in the state of Arizona. We cover everything from what to ask for in your contract, to who legally owns your clients' information when working for a salon. No matter what path you choose, you should know how to advocate for yourself.
Generational Wealth & Legacy
You are not going to school just because it will be fun, you are going to school because you have goals. You and your family are choosing to make sacrifices so that you can have a better future—to leave a business, wealth, security, and comfort for your loved ones. It all starts with a single step.
The owner of Mima's Beauty College, Maggie Serrano, got her cosmetology license at 42. She built something for her three kids, but she also built a school that values your sacrifices, so that everyone who walks into our school has a family supporting them. We're here to help you create your own legacy. Maggie values her community and wants to give everyone the skills necessary to succeed.
No one succeeds alone—it takes a team. By being part of your team, we can help all of our communities. You're not just another student or enrollment number, you're a business owner, and we treat you like one from day one.
Treat yourself like the owner you are. Create your schedule, control your income, and build something real and long-lasting for yourself and your family.
Your 1,500 Hour Cosmetology Schedule
Our comprehensive 1,500 hour cosmetology program delivers the ultimate master-level beauty education, cleanly blending hair design, skin therapies, and nail technology tracks. Running Tuesday through Saturday in Phoenix, we offer flexible tracks designed for working adults with convenient monthly class start dates throughout the year:
(Includes lunch break)
(Includes lunch break)
*With new classes launching every month, our structured schedules ensure you can start your training right away and complete your required hours efficiently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a high school diploma or GED to enroll?
No. We intentionally choose to work with students who don't have a diploma or GED. A piece of paper shouldn't stop you from building a career and supporting your family.
Can I keep working my current job while in school?
Yes. We built our flexible schedule tracks specifically for busy people and working adults. You can choose between our Morning Session or our Afternoon Session (both run Tuesday through Friday with full days on Saturdays), making it easy to balance school around your current job and family responsibilities.
What happens if I miss a class or get sick?
Life happens, especially when you have a family or a job. You get 10 absence days throughout the program to handle emergencies. However, because the state requires you to hit exactly 1,500 hours to graduate, you still have to make up any time you miss. We will work with you to get those hours made up so you stay on track to graduate in 13 months.
Are there any hidden fees for kits, books, or materials?
None at all. We don't do hidden fees or surprises. The total cost includes your tuition, your premium professional cosmetology kit, and your business classes. Your $2,500 upfront down payment ensures you get your entire layout kit on day one. If anything, when we have a scholarship available, you'll pay less!
Is the State Board exam fee included in the tuition?
No. The state board exam and licensing fees are paid directly to the State of Arizona when you apply to take your test. Your tuition covers everything else—your classes, your extensive kit, and making sure you are 100% prepared to pass that test the first time. You will pay $177 for your two state board tests (you do have to pay this again if you need to retake it, but 87% of our students pass on their first attempt). You will also pay $63 for your licensing fees, which you renew every two years on your birthday.
Can I take my state licensing exam if I still owe a balance to the school?
Yes, you can still sit for your state board exam. However, when you actually get your physical license from the state depends on the payment track you choose. Tier 1 releases your license right away. Tier 2 is pending on your Affirm approval. Tier 3 holds the license until your post-graduation plan is fully paid off.
Your Next Step Starts Here
You’ve seen the schedule, you know how the pricing works, and you know we are here to help you build a real, long-lasting business. Now, the choice is yours.
We don’t do high-pressure sales pitches or aggressive corporate recruiting lines. Instead, we invite you to come see the space, meet our team, and see if Mima's feels like the right home for your future.
Become a Licensed Cosmetologist:
- Fill out the form: Take 2 minutes to complete our quick enrollment questionnaire.
- Tour the school: We’ll reach out to schedule a relaxed, zero-pressure tour of our space so you can check out the environment yourself.
- Lock in your spot: Pick your payment track, set your schedule, and start building your career.
