Recent developments, including concerns about college debt, the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on traditional white-collar careers, and questions about the value of a college education, have reshaped the conversation about choosing between college and a career.

Pivot Point and BeautyCast Network (BCN) conducted research at the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Annual Conference. This research report includes both quantitative research of attendees as well as qualitative insights from conversations with attendees to provide a holistic overview of attitudes and perceptions about career education, with specific emphasis on the beauty industry.

It focuses on a nationwide group of high school career counselors, aiming to understand their level of interest in beauty careers and the information they need to effectively promote careers in beauty.

In the fast-paced world of beauty education, compliance challenges are a constant concern for schools striving to meet regulatory standards. This groundbreaking research benchmarks the compliance practices, attitudes, and needs of both single-campus and multi-campus beauty schools, providing a valuable point of reference for educators, directors, and owners alike.

By collecting anonymous survey responses from a national audience of private schools representing diverse program offerings, this study achieved a 95% confidence interval with a 10% margin of error. Join us as we explore the key findings and actionable insights to support beauty schools in navigating the complex landscape of compliance.

Proposed gainful employment standards could lead to approximately half of the private beauty schools in the United States (U.S.) shutting down over the next few years. To better understand the impact of potential school closures. Pivot Point used data provided by the Department of Education to create the following visualizations:

• An interactive map showing the availability of public and private beauty school education within U.S. zip codes.
• A graph displaying the total number of beauty schools in each state, categorized as public or private.

The data highlights that if the new gainful employment standards are implemented “beauty deserts” would emerge, mean large areas of the country would be without access to beauty school education. The beauty industry, which is already facing staffing shortages, would struggle to meet customer demand. Consequently, many salons and barbershops might have to reduce services or even close.

Pivot Point hopes that these visualizations will serve as a valuable tool to inform rule makers about the consequences whether intended or unintended of implementing the current proposal for gainful employment standards.