You must be at least 18 years old to enter into this contract.
The fact is that you enter into a legal contract with federal and provincial governments when you access student loans. This is why at minimum you have to be 18 years old, depending on the status you are applying as.
There are 3 status options: Dependent, Independent, Special Independent.
Dependent refers to the applicant being dependent on their parents. In other words, they still live at home and are not financially responsible for household operations. Dependent students must be 18 years of age to be eligible for student loans.
Independent status is reserved for applicants who have a dependent child or are married or in a common law relationship. Independent students must be 23 years of age to be eligible for student loans.
Special independent status is granted to applicants who live at home with their parents and would normally be considered ‘dependent’, but they meet some special consideration. Examples of special consideration include a breakdown in the relationship with the family, when a student is financially responsible of another person, or when a student in in government care.
What is the average cost of beauty school diploma?
Diploma programs are comprised of a series of courses related to a particular subject. You will see shorter diploma programs in hairstyling and esthetics than you do in Massage Therapy. On average, hairstyling programs range from mid 30 to 60 weeks, and cost around $16,000. Esthetics diplomas typically range between 30- 40 weeks and cost on average $14,000.
Other options that lead to less debt.
Beauty school definitely has its pros and is the only option for some students. Diploma programs often offer student loans which are an attractive method of paying for your studies. Learn now, pay later.
However, other options exist that do not lead to debt. Those interested in hairstyling should learn more about the apprenticeship pathway. As for people interested in becoming estheticians, you can take smaller courses and proceed at your own pace. In other words, master one skill at a time. Take the money you earned from that skill, and invest in training for another. 🙂
EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP is a Beauty Industry Resource Centre offering business, career, and employment services to Albertans. Contact us to speak with our Career and Employment Consultant who can help you develop a career path that is right for you.
Over the years government branches, such as Alberta Education, change their names and their program names to encompass changes within their organizational missions and goals.
Student aid has been known as student finance in the past, but within this umbrella term of “student aid” falls multiple methods of financial assistance for students such as loans and grants.
Government assistance to pay for your beauty studies
In Canada, both provincial and federal governments work together to help people access post high school education. Beauty studies is one of the many fields supported by government student aid. However, relatively few training providers offer student loans. The reason for this ultimately comes down to esthetics not being a regulated industry in Alberta.
Is regulation a good thing?
This depends on who you ask. Not being regulated means that there is no governing body to guide us as a whole. It means freedom, but can there be too much freedom?
On the other hand, cosmetology is a regulated industry in Alberta. They have a governing body that oversees all hairstylists, salons, and training providers in Alberta. If you’re looking for student loans to pay for cosmetology school, you’re in luck! Because cosmetology is regulated, many training providers in Alberta will be regulated. This often means that they will be able to offer government loans to students in full time and part time programs. It also means that there won’t be too many trainers to choose from, because becoming a cosmetology trainer is a long process due to regulation.
Unlike cosmetology, esthetics training providers do not have rules to follow. As a result, it’s very easy to become an esthetics trainer and the selection becomes overwhelming. In cosmetology, a governing body determines you have met the requirements to call yourself a trainer. In esthetics, the trainer themselves determines that they have met any requirements to call themselves a trainer.
Loans, grants, and repayment
As mentioned earlier, if hairstyling is your dream career, there is definitely government student aid available to you. However, if you want to learn an esthetics skill, such as skincare or microblading, student financial aid will be hard to come by. Federal government assistance is available for full time esthetics programs only, while provincial funds are available for some part time studies. You must be at least 18 years of age to be eligible.
Loans
Loans are available for programs that will result in a certificate at participating beauty educators. Loans must be paid back after completion. If you do not finish your studies you’re still responsible for paying the loan you accepted thus far.
Grants
Grants are often given as a supplement to the loan to students that meet certain criteria, amongst them, low income students or students with disabilities. Usually grants do not have to be repaid. However, you should be advised that grants are repayable if you drop out of your program or if your eligibility changes in the middle of the training program. So don’t be a beauty school dropout!
Can hair and esthetics students access government loans?
In short, yes, hair and esthetics students can access government loans. However, not every program/course available to students offers the option.
So many courses to choose from!
If you haven’t noticed, there is a plethora of beauty industry courses to choose from. Whatever your final destination is in the beauty industry, you have multiple paths you can take to get there. For example, you can start slow and take one course at a time. Technical training usually last from one to four days. It is common for trainers to share the theory component with students one to two weeks before the technical training takes place.
Not all beauty courses offer a technical component. Covid brought a rise of online beauty courses that persist today.
Learn at your pace
While hair is a regulated industry in Alberta, esthetics is not. Therefore, short courses can kickstart a career in personal care services. After acquiring a clientele, you can take other courses to add to your service menu. Before you know it, you have become a fully licensed esthetician, and you did it at your own pace 😉
Learn on the job
Learning on the job is another option for both, hair and esthetics. Learning on the job for hair students is called an apprenticeship. Because hairstylists are regulated in Alberta, apprenticeships are monitored closely to maintain industry standards. While you still have to attend technical training at some point of your apprenticeship, it is a sliver of time and costs a fraction of attending a full time program.
Learn full/part time in school
This last option is the only option that offers the capacity for student loans. However, not every trainer that offers full and part time programs offers government student loans in Alberta. Fortunately though, people looking for full time studies have a few options for trainers in Alberta that offer government student loans.
If accessing government loans is the only option for you to pay for schooling, keep in mind that you yourself have to be eligible for student loans.
