NEW FEDERAL & STATE CHANGES FOR BEAUTY SCHOOLS IN 2026

There are very big changes to beauty schools in Virginia for 2026. This will affect more than half of beauty schools across the United States choosing to stay open going into 2027 from loss of financial aid provider eligibility and/or revokation of school licensure for non-compliance during random DPOR inspections. Nail Schools are different for 2026 because of these new updates.

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• In 2026, DPOR required all beauty schools to report that they will only teach specific DPOR approved theory & practical study. Their course curriculmn was resubmitted in late 2025 for re-approval to be licensed to teach beauty courses in 2026. Additional Nail Technician training must now be pre-approved by DPOR with added hours to the 150 hour minimum course study. 

• DPOR now has strict random inspection verifiable attendance hours that must be completed inside a 2026 DPOR re-approved school (under the supervision of a licensed instructor) to complete specific service training requirements in a reported timeline.

• A new 2025 Federal Law has now made 2026 changes to federal policies for beauty school education across the US.

• Virginia's 150 hours for Nail Education programs will have federal and state specific length and completion times in 2027 that requires nail education to be completed in only 8-15 weeks.

• A reinstated mandate from the US Department of Education is reviewing beauty school's records for reporting graduate employment outcomes with debt-to-income to avoid loss of future federal approved eligibility

• 2027 will change beauty schools to focus on students that can work well after graduation so be prepared for very strict completion requirements to pass beauty courses after 2026. Beauty schools will be very concerned with only graduating responsible students to avoid them losing future financial aid eligibility.