Cosmetology Apprenticeship in Michigan: Permit, Training, Exam

A cosmetology apprenticeship in Michigan is a two-year, 1,500-hour training program you complete inside a licensed full-service salon, under a state-issued apprentice permit, before sitting for the same licensing exam that cosmetology school graduates take.¹ You earn while you learn, but the compliance rules are detailed, and the penalties for getting them wrong reach $10,000.

Who Can Start an Apprenticeship

You need to be at least 17 years old and have completed the equivalent of a ninth-grade education.¹ Michigan also applies a “good moral character” standard, which it uses across its regulated occupations.

The salon you train in has to be a licensed cosmetology establishment that offers hair care, skin care, and manicuring services.¹ If the shop only does one or two of those, it cannot host a full cosmetology apprenticeship, because the curriculum requires training across all three. That rules out some highly specialized salons, so confirm the establishment’s license before you commit.

The Apprentice Permit and Fees

Before you begin, you apply through LARA (the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs) for a cosmetology apprentice permit. This is the preliminary license that lets you perform services under supervision while you train. The initial application fee is $25.²

Renewal costs $15. Miss the deadline and the fee jumps to $100.³ Set a calendar reminder a month out; the late fee is one of the easiest mistakes to avoid.

You’ll submit documents through LARA’s MiPLUS online portal, and you’ll use LARA’s monthly time reporting sheet throughout the apprenticeship. There’s also a termination form if the arrangement ends early, and LARA publishes an Apprenticeship Licensing Guide that walks through the application step by step.⁴

What You’ll Train On Over Two Years

The apprenticeship covers 1,500 hours of instruction, the same curriculum used in cosmetology schools.⁵ The difference is pacing. School students can finish in roughly nine months of full-time study. Apprentices stretch the same material across at least two years of salon work, capped at 40 hours of training per week.

The 1,500 hours break down into 425 hours of theory, 965 hours of practical training, and 110 unassigned hours that your establishment allocates based on what you need.⁵ The required subjects and their approximate hour allocations:

Hairdressing — 525 hours, including cutting, styling, curling, pressing, finger waving, and natural hair cultivation, with at least 300 practical applications
Hair coloring — 210 hours covering temporary, semi-permanent, and permanent color, bleaching, dimensional coloring, and color mixing, with at least 80 practical applications
Chemical restructuring — 220 hours on permanent waving, straightening, and relaxing, with at least 80 practical applications
Sanitation and safety — 130 hours on patron protection, laws and rules, personal hygiene, salon management, and equipment safety
Skin care and facials — 115 hours covering skin analysis, massage, electricity, hair removal by wax or tweezers, makeup, and eyebrow arching
Manicuring and pedicuring — 70 hours, including 35 practical applications
Anatomy and physiology — 45 hours on skin, hair, nails, and scalp
Chemistry and occupational safety — 30 hours on salon-related chemical safety
Scalp treatments — 25 hours, with at least 30 practical applications
Artificial nails — 20 hours, with at least 5 practical applications

One rule trips up new apprentices: you cannot work on members of the public until you’ve completed at least 350 hours of instruction. Until then, you practice on mannequins and in classroom-style work. Your sponsoring salon is responsible for tracking that milestone before putting you in a chair with a paying client.

What Your Sponsoring Salon Has to Do

The establishment carries real compliance weight. It must be a licensed full-service cosmetology salon and has to provide structured training aligned with the state curriculum. Handing you a broom doesn’t count. The curriculum has specific subjects and minimum practical application counts that have to be documented.

Both you and the sponsor must keep daily attendance records.⁶ LARA’s monthly time sheet is the standard form. These records can be inspected, and missing or sloppy paperwork is the single most common compliance failure. If hours can’t be verified, you don’t get credit for them, and you’ll have to make them up.

Training is capped at 40 hours per week.⁶ That cap holds even if you’re in the salon longer doing non-training duties. Logging more than 40 training hours in a week is a flag during an audit.

The Licensing Exam

Once you’ve finished the two years and the full curriculum, you’re eligible for the state cosmetology licensing exam. Michigan uses PSI Services as its testing vendor. The exam has two parts, and you have to pass the practical before you can schedule the theory.

The practical runs three hours and 10 minutes, is scored out of 136 points, and requires a 75% to pass. The theory is 100 multiple-choice questions in two hours, closed book, with a passing score of 70%.⁷

Fees are $161 for both portions together, $91 for just the practical, or $91 for the theory on its own if you need to retake one part.⁷ Two deadlines matter. Your exam fee is forfeited if you don’t test within one year of payment, and you must pass both portions within one year of passing the practical. Miss either and you start the exam process over.

Apprenticeship candidates need LARA to complete the apprenticeship verification section of the exam application before scheduling. That step confirms your hours and curriculum completion with the state. Build in processing time; don’t leave it to the last week.

Penalties If Something Goes Wrong

Michigan treats licensing violations seriously, and the penalties apply to apprentices, sponsors, and establishments. Under the Occupational Code, a violation can result in any combination of the following:⁸

An administrative fine of up to $10,000
License suspension or revocation
Denial of a license or renewal
Limitations placed on an existing license
Censure or probation
Restitution to anyone harmed

Practicing cosmetology without a valid license is a separate criminal offense. A first violation is a misdemeanor carrying up to a $500 fine or 90 days in jail. Subsequent violations go up to a $1,000 fine or up to a year in jail.⁹ This covers apprentices who perform services without a valid permit, and salons that let unlicensed people work on clients.

Most enforcement doesn’t come from dramatic violations. It comes from recordkeeping lapses: missing time sheets, unverified hours, or letting an apprentice take clients before the 350-hour mark. Clean documentation from day one is the simplest protection.

If LARA Denies or Disciplines You

If LARA denies your license, questions your training hours, or takes disciplinary action, you can challenge the decision. Licensing matters fall under the Michigan Administrative Procedures Act, which guarantees an evidentiary hearing in any “contested case,” and licensing disputes are specifically included.¹⁰

At the hearing, you can present evidence and both oral and written arguments.¹¹ If the agency’s final decision goes against you, you can appeal it to circuit court. The same process is available to sponsors and establishments facing enforcement.

Apprenticeship or Cosmetology School?

Both paths lead to the same licensing exam and the same cosmetologist license. The choice is really about how you learn and what you can afford. School delivers the 1,500 hours in as little as nine to twelve months of full-time attendance, but tuition can be substantial.⁵ An apprenticeship covers the same curriculum but stretches across at least two years in a working salon.¹

Apprenticeship lets you earn as you learn and start building a client base before you’re licensed. The tradeoff is time: two years is the floor, and it can run longer if your salon’s schedule limits your training hours. School is faster and more expensive, and you’ll have less real-salon experience on day one. The state board exam doesn’t distinguish between the two paths, so pick the one that fits your situation and work the compliance details carefully from the start.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 339.1207 – Cosmetologist License
2
CareerOneStop. Cosmetologist Apprentice License Information
3
State of Michigan. License and Registration Renewals
4
State of Michigan. Cosmetology
5
Cornell Law Institute. Michigan Admin Code R 338.2161 – Cosmetology Curriculum
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 339.1205a – Cosmetology Schools and Apprenticeships
7
PSI Services. Michigan Board of Cosmetology Candidate Information Bulletin
8
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 339.602 – Penalties for Violations
9
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 339.601 – Occupational Code Violations
10
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 24.201 – Administrative Procedures Act of 1969
11
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 24.271-24.275a – Administrative Procedures Act of 1969