How to Become a Barber: Training, Licensing, and First Steps

Learning how to become a barber comes down to four things: training hours at a licensed school, a written exam, a practical exam, and a state license application. No degree is required. Illinois and Indiana both require 1,500 hours, which is at the higher end nationally, where programs run from roughly 900 to 1,800 hours depending on the state.

One change is coming that anyone starting in Illinois should know about. A new state law takes effect January 1, 2027 and adds a paid apprenticeship route to licensure for the first time in more than forty years. More on that below.

How to Get a Barber License in Illinois and Indiana

The sequence is the same in both states. Only the testing vendor and the agency change.

1. Enroll at a state-licensed barber school. The school must be approved by the state agency. An unapproved program produces hours that will not count toward licensure.
2. Complete your required hours. Theory and practical training are both included in the total.
3. Apply to sit the exam. Each state uses a different testing vendor, and you apply to the vendor rather than the agency.
4. Pass the written and practical portions. Both are required. The practical is judged on sanitation as closely as on technique.
5. Submit your license application. Illinois requires a criminal history record check with the application. Apply only after you have your official results letter.

Illinois uses Continental Testing Services rather than PSI or the National-Interstate Council, which most other states use, so exam prep material written for a national audience will not match the Illinois application process. Indiana uses PSI.

At Tricoci University of Beauty Culture, the barber program meets the 1,500-hour requirement and runs about 12 months full time at 37.5 hours a week, or about 20 months part time on an evening schedule. Those are the numbers to plan around, and they are the same in Illinois and Indiana.

Barber Apprenticeship and the New Illinois Law

A barber apprenticeship trains you in a working shop instead of a classroom, and you earn a wage while you learn. Until now, Illinois did not allow it. That changes on January 1, 2027.

Governor Pritzker signed House Bill 3460 on June 26, 2026. It amends the Barber, Cosmetology, Esthetics, Hair Braiding, and Nail Technology Act of 1985 to create a registered apprenticeship pathway for barbers, cosmetologists, estheticians, nail technicians, and hair braiders. Illinois had offered no apprenticeship route for any of those professions for more than forty years, so this is a first for every one of them, not an expansion of something cosmetology already had.

• What it allows. Salons and shops may hire apprentices and train them in the same state curriculum under the supervision of licensed professionals, with the apprentice earning a wage throughout.
• Reported hours. Coverage of the passed bill describes a 3,000-hour apprenticeship plus 180 hours of supplemental instruction as the barber and cosmetology equivalent of the 1,500-hour school path. Earlier committee-stage reporting described 1,500 hours, so treat the figure as unsettled until IDFPR publishes rules.
• What is not decided yet. The law hands rulemaking to regulators. Program standards, registration, and the final hour requirements are still being written ahead of the effective date, and how workable the pathway turns out to be depends on those rules.
• Exam timing also changes. The law removes the requirement that applicants complete a set number of hours before sitting the licensure exam.

Two things follow for anyone deciding right now. If you want to be licensed before 2027, school remains the only route in Illinois. And if you are weighing the apprenticeship once it opens, compare the totals honestly: 3,000 hours of shop training against 1,500 hours of school is roughly double the time to the same license, in exchange for earning during it and paying no tuition. Which is the better trade depends on whether you can afford the year and how much structured instruction you want.

Indiana has not made the same change. It offers no traditional apprenticeship for barbers, though it does accept documentation from a United States Department of Labor registered apprenticeship program if you completed one.

What Barber School Covers

Curricula follow the state exam, so the content is consistent across licensed schools. Expect roughly this breakdown:

• Hair care services, including cutting, clipper work, tapers, and styling, which carries the largest share of exam content
• Scientific concepts covering anatomy, chemistry, and infection control
• Facial hair services, including straight razor shaving, beard grooming, and trimming
• Skin care and basic facial services
• Chemical services such as color, bleaching, and relaxing, where state scope permits
• State law, rules, and sanitation standards

Textured hair work sits inside the cutting and styling category and is worth asking about specifically when you compare schools, since depth of instruction varies. More on that in this look at men’s textured hair training. For how long the whole program takes, see how long barber school is, and for comparing programs, see this guide to choosing a barber training program.

Passing the State Board Exam

Both states require a written and a practical exam, and the two are scored separately. The written portion tests theory, sanitation, and state-specific law. Indiana’s written exam runs 100 general questions, 10 state-specific questions, and 10 unscored experimental questions that do not count toward your result.

The practical exam is scored on more than the finished cut. Examiners watch setup, tool handling, station sanitation, and breakdown throughout, so a technically strong haircut performed with a contaminated implement can still cost you. State board preparation runs through the barber program at each Tricoci University campus, and your instructors will help prepare you for the practical at your campus.

One thing worth knowing before you choose a state to train in: the license travels, but not automatically. Most states grant licensure by endorsement to barbers already licensed elsewhere, provided the original training was substantially equivalent to their own requirement. Because barber programs nationally range from roughly 900 to 1,800 hours, someone trained in a 1,500-hour state clears most bars, while someone trained in a 1,000-hour state may be asked to make up hours before a higher-hour state will license them. If you expect to move, train for the state with the higher requirement rather than the nearer school.

Barber or Cosmetology

If you are still deciding, the split is scope. Barber centers on cutting, clipper work, razor shaving, and facial hair. Cosmetology covers hair, skin, and nails across a broader menu. In Illinois and Indiana both require 1,500 hours, so the choice is about the work you want rather than the time it takes.

Two comparisons worth reading are barber vs cosmetology in Illinois and hair stylist vs barber. If you are weighing whether the career itself fits, start with is barbering a good career.

Start Your Barber Training

The path is short, the credential is portable, and the work is in steady demand. The barber program at Tricoci University of Beauty Culture runs at two campuses: Chicago NW, and Bridgeview. It covers the full 1,500 hours, hands-on shop floor practice, and state board preparation, on full-time and part-time evening schedules. Talk to an admissions advisor about start dates at the campus nearest you.