Beauty school moms caught in accreditation crossfire as Trump administration weighs consequential decision
The Trump administration is weighing the future of an accreditor overseeing roughly 1,300 beauty and cosmetology schools and more than 120,000 students, in a decision that could test how the president’s push to overhaul higher education accreditation is applied beyond the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) battles that have dominated the issue.
President Donald Trump promised during the 2024 campaign to "fire the radical left accreditors" and called accreditation his "secret weapon" against colleges and universities he argued had been captured by the political left.
But the case now before the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is different.
Rather than allegations involving DEI requirements, it centers on whether the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences, or NACCAS, has complied with federal requirements and what consequences should follow if it has not.
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That distinction matters to students because recognition by a DOE-approved accreditor is generally necessary for schools to participate in federal student aid programs. NACCAS says it accredits approximately 1,300 institutions serving more than 120,000 students in cosmetology, beauty and related career programs.
DOE staff identified deficiencies with NACCAS but recommended continuing its federal recognition with restrictions, additional reporting and monitoring while it works to come into compliance.
The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, or NACIQI, took a harder line at its July meeting, voting 9-3 to recommend that the department deny NACCAS renewed recognition.
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The DOE has not made a final decision.
The Department of Education told Fox News Digital that accreditor recognition is reviewed every five years through a three-step process: DOE staff makes a recommendation; the independent bipartisan NACIQI makes its own recommendation; a senior department official makes the final judgment based on both.
"We will not comment on details as the process is ongoing," the DOE said.
For some students, the federal process has raised concerns about a source of funding they say they could not have attended beauty school without.
Aliyah Fernandez, a recent Hollywood Institute cosmetology graduate and mother who now works as an assistant in a salon, said federal aid made her education possible.
"I could not have afforded beauty school without federal financial aid," Fernandez told Fox News Digital. "It was because of that that I could attend at all."
Fernandez said she chose cosmetology in part because she wanted a career that would allow her to earn a living while remaining present in her daughter's life.
"I knew that if I worked full-time 9 to 5, I wouldn't barely have any time to see her grow up," Fernandez said. "I really just wanted to be there for her.
"I wanted an opportunity to financially support her and be present in her life at the same time," she added. "I wanted to have both."
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Blythe Fields, an expectant mother who is studying cosmetology while working in salons, said she previously paid for esthetician school herself and spent roughly two years saving her tips to continue her education.
"I paid out of pocket for esthetician school, and it made me go broke," Fields told Fox News Digital.
Fields said she now works during the day and attends school at night, describing her schedule as "literally 12-hour days."
She said federal financial aid allowed her to continue her education and that the flexibility of cosmetology will become even more important when her baby arrives.
"The first year is so important, and I need to be able to have that flexibility to raise a child," she said.
Fernandez and Fields both said they helped start a petition asking the DOE not to adopt NACIQI's recommendation outright. The petition calls instead for a monitored improvement period that would allow NACCAS to address the government's findings while maintaining recognition.
Fernandez said she understood why federal officials raised concerns about NACCAS but believed denying recognition would go too far.
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"Having done the research myself, I can completely understand, you know, the side of the board," Fernandez said. "However, I do not think a full termination of accreditation is reasonable considering how many people rely on this."
Fields was more pointed when asked what she would tell Trump before his administration makes the final decision.
"I would ask him who cuts and colors his hair and how did they get there?" Fields said.
The disagreement over NACCAS centers on whether the deficiencies identified during its federal review warrant continued oversight or denial of recognition.
Education Department staff recommended that NACCAS be prohibited from accrediting additional institutions until it demonstrates compliance, complete corrective action within 12 months and submits additional reports to the department.
NACIQI instead recommended denial.
Zakiya Smith Ellis, a former Obama administration DOE official who serves on the advisory committee, made the motion to deny NACCAS renewed recognition.
Michael Poliakoff seconded the motion, which passed 9-3.
Smith Ellis argued during the July meeting that NACCAS had been given opportunities to address compliance problems and questioned whether giving it additional time would be sufficient. She also raised concerns about debt and earnings among students at NACCAS-accredited institutions.
Three committee members voted against denial, including Robert Eitel, who served in the DOE during Trump's first term.
Eitel argued that NACCAS should be required to correct its deficiencies rather than lose recognition and raised concerns about the potential consequences for the schools and students it oversees.
The proceeding also creates an unusual contrast with the accreditation practices Trump highlighted in his April executive order.
The order directed the DOE to investigate whether accreditors require schools to engage in unlawful discrimination, including through DEI-related standards. The federal findings at issue in the NACCAS proceeding concern compliance and oversight rather than an allegation that NACCAS imposes DEI requirements.
Smith Ellis, meanwhile, has publicly defended DEI policies and previously served as a senior DOE official during the Obama administration.
Fox News Digital asked Smith Ellis why she favored denying recognition rather than the corrective measures recommended by DOE staff and what she would say to students concerned about the potential consequences. Smith Ellis did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fields told Fox News Digital she believes beauty careers can be overlooked in ways that other skilled trades are not. Asked whether she thought the same fight would be playing out around traditionally male-dominated trades such as plumbing or welding, she said she did not.
"I think it's because they're like male fields, like mainly men are involved in," Fields said. "They don't think about that. They just think, ‘Oh, they went to hair school. It's easy.’"
For Fields, however, the training will give her the career she hopes will allow her to earn a living while raising her child.
The White House, NACCAS, and the Hollywood Institute of Beauty did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.