Curriculum Policies
Curriculum Requirements & Consumer Protection
Curriculum requirements covered by the Barber, Cosmetology, Esthetics, Hair Braiding, and Nail Technology Act of 1985, 225 ILCS 410, and applicable administrative rules, 68 Ill. Adm. Cd. 1175, address both the fundamental education of students as well as related protections for consumers.
New Refresher/Remedial Course Option Available to Students
In addition to pre-graduation testing legislation (click here), a 278 page update to the Illinois Administrative Rules was implemented for the cosmetology and barber industry in the latter half of 2018 (click here for a PDF download, pages 15159 - 15436).
One of the changes made provides a more flexible option to students who fail the state exam when seeking their license. If a barber or cosmetology student fails the state exam after three attempts, past administrative rules authorized only a 250-hour refresher course requirement. With recent rule changes, this 250-hour refresher course is also now subject to specific curriculum categories and is applicable to license applicants from another country and individuals looking to restore their license in Illinois after a lapsed period. The newly authorized 100-hour refresher course for students who fail the state exam three times explicitly provides that "the school and/or teacher shall have the discretion to structure the course to the individual needs of the student to better prepare the student for again taking the examination," see 68 Ill. Adm. Cd. 1175.331(c) for barber refresher course rule and 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1753.531(c) for cosmetology refresher course rule.
IACS has requested clarification from IDFPR regarding the communications students receive if they fail the state exam three times to confirm that appropriate refresher/remedial course options are being made available to students. Please let us know of any issues you may have with the implementation of this new rule (click here for IACS executive director Mike Lane and click here for IACS lobbyist Brian Wojcicki).
Refresher Course Technical Background
(cosmetology citations below similar to barber administrative rule sections)68 Ill.Adm.Cd. 1175.410(c)(1) indicates that a “cosmetology applicant who fails to pass a third examination must submit an official transcript…showing successful completion of a 100-hour refresher course, or the 250-hour cosmetology refresher course…as set forth in Section 1175.531.” Comment: the 250-hour course had been in the administrative rules, but the 100-hour course was recently added
68 Ill.Adm.Cd. 1175.531(c) indicates that “The 100-hour cosmetology refresher course set forth in Section 1175.410 shall be similar to the refresher course in subsection (a) [of Section 1175.531], except that the school and/or teacher shall have the discretion to structure the course to the individual needs of the student to better prepare the student for again taking the examination.”
Although it is not abundantly clear by the new administrative rules, this 100-hour refresher course rule was the result of discussion IACS had with IDFPR about how students going through school right before taking the state exam are different than someone coming into Illinois with a license from another state or country (68 Ill.Adm.Cd. 1175.420) or someone in Illinois looking to restore their license after being out of practice for awhile (68 Ill.Adm.Cd. 1175.430), which are the other two situations subject to a refresher course (68 Ill.Adm.Cd. 1175.531).
