Empire Beauty School-Pottsville
About
Empire Beauty School is a chain of for-profit cosmetology schools in the United States. Headquartered in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, it is the largest system of cosmetology schools in the country. Founded in 1946, it currently has 76 schools nationwide. It trains students as cosmetologists, estheticians, electrologists, hair stylists and colorists, makeup artists, manicurists and nail technicians.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 24.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 1 Title IV programs, 0 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 1 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing0 · 0.0%
- No Data1 · 100.0%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
Action history · 8
- Apr 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramNational Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
- Jul 2024Grant Substantive Change: ProgramNational Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
- Jun 2024Grant Substantive Change: ProgramNational Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
- May 2024Grant Substantive Change: ProgramNational Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
- Sep 2023Grant Substantive Change: ProgramNational Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 1,388 students received $6.9M in Pell grants, alongside $7.2M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 854 borrowers who entered repayment, 38 (4.4%) defaulted within three years — above the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Empire
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Empire vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Empire selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectEmpire Beauty School-Pottsville | 60% | — | 74 | $17,399 | — |
Academy of Hair Technology | — | — | 58 | — | — |
Academy of Massage and Bodywork | — | — | 81 | — | — |
Altoona Beauty School Inc | — | — | 70 | $28,134 | — |
BJ's Beauty & Barber College | — | — | 40 | — | — |
Broken Arrow Beauty College | — | — | 71 | $12,052 | — |
Charles and Sues School of Hair Design | — | — | 69 | $21,791 | — |
Charleston School of Beauty Culture | — | — | 46 | $11,801 | — |
Clarksburg Beauty Academy and School of Massage Therapy | — | — | 47 | $10,663 | — |
Cosmetology Academy of Texarkana | — | — | 28 | $15,206 | — |
Empire Beauty School-Midlothian | — | — | 125 | $16,821 | — |
Empire Beauty School-Newport News | — | — | 92 | $14,963 | — |
Empire Beauty School-Winston-Salem | — | — | 80 | $15,478 | — |
Estes Institute of Cosmetology Arts and Science | — | — | 41 | $12,990 | — |
Hawaii Institute of Hair Design | — | — | 85 | $13,238 | — |
IBS School of Cosmetology and Massage | — | — | 47 | $7,688 | — |
Los Angeles College of Aesthetics | — | — | 117 | $22,239 | — |
Mei Barber School | — | — | 91 | $4,706 | — |
Modern Beauty Academy | — | — | 90 | $11,582 | — |
Ms Roberts Academy of Beauty Culture | — | — | 52 | $9,152 | — |
Ohio State School of Cosmetology-Heath | — | — | 86 | $14,660 | — |
Premier Barber Institute | — | — | 50 | $19,904 | — |
San Bernardino Beauty College | — | — | 82 | $21,011 | — |
Spa Tech Institute-North Andover | — | — | 118 | $27,248 | — |
The Salon Professional Academy of Holland | — | — | 82 | $13,858 | — |
The Hair Academy | — | — | 65 | $15,739 | — |
The Professional Hair Design Academy | — | — | 60 | $20,720 | — |
The Salon Professional Academy | — | — | 80 | $15,357 | — |
The Salon Professional Academy-Ft Myers | — | — | 112 | $20,140 | — |
Vogue College of Cosmetology-Santa Fe | — | — | 55 | $23,227 | — |
Wade Gordon Hairdressing Academy-Lubbock | — | — | 96 | $25,243 | — |
| Peer group median | 60% | — | 74 | $15,418 |
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Frequently asked questions about Empire Beauty School-Pottsville
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Empire.
What is the graduation rate at Empire Beauty School-Pottsville?
How many students attend Empire Beauty School-Pottsville?
What is the average net price at Empire Beauty School-Pottsville?
Where is Empire Beauty School-Pottsville located?
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