Michigan Stylists Are Over-licensed—and It’s About to Get Worse

Cutting hair, doing nails and working in skin care is about to get a lot more difficult in Michigan. A newly signed state law massively increases mandatory training hours for those going into these fields.

Cosmetology instructors are currently required to have 500 hours of training — this will increase by 20% to 600 hours. Manicurists now do 400 hours — this will increase by 50% to 600 hours. And estheticians will go from 400 hours of mandatory training to 750 hours; a nearly 90% increase.

The big lobbyists for this law were operators of the schools that aspiring stylists are required to attend for their training. They will see massive financial benefits from the new law as prospective hair, skin and nail stylists will need to go to school for longer and pay more to do so.

Lawmakers say a new U.S. Department of Education rule is the reason for the law. That rule stipulates that any institution seeking federal financial aid must align its training hours with the minimum number required by state law. Right now, some of the schools require their students to do more hours than state law, so they could lose their eligibility. Instead of calling their bluff, and surely watching the schools drop their hours, lawmakers caved and required more hours from potential workers.

Right now, stylist workers are saddled with debt and making low salaries. Michigan’s current licensing requirements are too high and too arbitrary. Nearly half of states, including neighboring Ohio and Wisconsin, require far fewer hours for manicurists, according to the Institute for Justice.

Instead of evaluating our current licensing laws to see if they make sense, lawmakers are requiring more hours and more money from potential workers. This is bad for them and for consumers who will now have fewer options in hair, nail and skin care.

Originally published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Republished with permission.

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