Paul Mitchell the School-Costa Mesa
About
Paul Mitchell the School-Costa Mesa is part of a nationwide network of 105 beauty schools located across the United States, with its first international location in Slovenia. The institution focuses on training students in areas such as cosmetology, barbering, skin care, and nail technology, graduating approximately 14,000 new professionals each year.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Pell recipients graduate at a higher rate than non-Pell students here — unusual and worth investigating.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 2 Title IV programs, 0 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 2 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing0 · 0.0%
- No Data2 · 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.
National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
Action history · 11
- Apr 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramNational Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
- May 2023Grant Substantive Change: ProgramNational Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
- Mar 2023Grant Substantive Change: OtherNational Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
- Mar 2023Grant Substantive Change: OtherNational Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, Inc.
- Sep 2022Grant 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, 881 students received $4.2M in Pell grants, alongside $4.3M 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 899 borrowers who entered repayment, 31 (3.4%) 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 Paulmitchell
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.
Paulmitchell vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Paulmitchell 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectPaul Mitchell the School-Costa Mesa | 82% | — | 395 | $12,063 | — |
Asian-American International Beauty College | — | — | 442 | — | — |
Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute-San Antonio | — | — | 250 | $24,217 | — |
Aveda Institute-Denver | — | — | 280 | $21,495 | — |
Casal Institute of Nevada | — | 79.0% | 271 | $14,037 | — |
Creative Images Institute of Cosmetology-North Dayton | — | — | 210 | $13,528 | — |
Empire Beauty School-Manhattan | — | — | 388 | $19,553 | — |
Futura Career Institute | — | — | 404 | $22,298 | — |
G Skin & Beauty Institute | — | — | 490 | $21,142 | — |
Georgia Institute of Cosmetology | — | — | 200 | $13,000 | — |
Grabber School of Hair Design | — | — | 182 | $12,981 | — |
Hollywood Institute of Beauty Careers-Casselberry | — | — | 273 | $17,903 | — |
Lu Ross Academy | — | — | 229 | $15,711 | — |
Medspa Academies | — | — | 241 | $16,881 | — |
Milan Institute-Bakersfield | — | — | 582 | $29,198 | — |
Ogle School Hair Skin Nails-Ft Worth | — | — | 500 | $19,659 | — |
Ogle School Hair Skin Nails-San Antonio | — | — | 466 | $20,159 | — |
Ogle School Hair Skin Nails-Stafford | — | — | 550 | $20,472 | — |
Parisian Beauty School | — | — | 441 | $21,316 | — |
Paul Mitchell the School-Atlanta | — | — | 249 | $17,887 | — |
Paul Mitchell the School-Fresno | — | — | 223 | $20,048 | — |
Paul Mitchell the School-Houston | — | — | 288 | $20,616 | — |
Paul Mitchell the School-Sacramento | — | — | 309 | $19,748 | — |
Paul Mitchell the School-San Diego | — | — | 225 | $25,671 | — |
Penrose Academy | — | 100.0% | 403 | $23,650 | — |
Praxis Institute | — | — | 422 | $8,661 | — |
South Hills Beauty Academy | — | — | 183 | $5,948 | — |
Tennessee School of Beauty of Knoxville Inc | — | — | 323 | $11,492 | — |
Tricoci University of Beauty Culture-Highland | — | — | 319 | $19,194 | — |
Tricoci University of Beauty Culture-Indianapolis | — | — | 346 | $19,046 | — |
| Peer group median | 82% | 89.5% | 314 | $19,553 |
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Grants & funding (1)
Federal grant awards and open funding opportunities awarded to this institution.
Frequently asked questions about Paul Mitchell the School-Costa Mesa
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Paulmitchell.
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