Barber Schools and License Requirements in Minnesota

Written by Barber-License.com Editorial Staff, Last Updated: November 13, 2026

The Minnesota Board of Barber Examiners registers barbers, barber instructors, barbershops, and barber schools. It’s a stand-alone board of four barbers and one public member, separate from the Board of Cosmetology Examiners. The law is Minnesota Statutes chapter 154, and the board’s rules are in Minnesota Rules chapter 2100. Minnesota calls the credential a “certificate of registration,” and a licensed barber is a “registered barber.”

If you read an older guide, throw out what it says about apprentice barbers. Minnesota repealed the registered apprentice stage in 2016, and a 2026 law that took effect August 1, 2026 rewrote the exam and fee rules again. Today it’s one school, one comprehensive exam, and one registration. If you’re comparing Minnesota with its neighbors, see how each state licenses barbers. Here’s the Minnesota path as of November 2026.

To become a barber in Minnesota, follow these steps:

1. Complete 1,500 Hours at a Board-Approved Barber School
2. Apply for the Registered Barber Exam
3. Pass the Written and Practical Exam and Register
4. Renew Your Registration Every Year
5. Open Your Own Barbershop

Step 1. Complete 1,500 Hours at a Board-Approved Barber School

To qualify for registration, you must be at least 17, complete 1,500 hours of study in a board-approved barber school (281 classroom hours and 1,219 practical hours), and pass the comprehensive exam (Minn. Stat. 154.05). Schools can’t schedule more than 10 hours of instruction in one day, so even a full-time program takes the better part of a year. The board had 8 registered barber schools as of June 30, 2026, and its website keeps the current list.

State law sets what the course has to cover (Minn. Stat. 154.07):

• Science: Scientific fundamentals for barbering, hygiene, and the practical study of the hair, skin, muscles, and nerves.
• Anatomy: The structure of the head, face, and neck, plus diseases of the skin, hair, and glands.
• Infection control: Elementary chemistry relating to sanitation, disinfection, sterilization, and antiseptics.
• Cutting and shaving: Haircutting, shaving, and trimming the beard.
• Chemical and facial work: Bleaching, tinting, and dyeing hair, chemical waving and straightening, and massaging the muscles of the face and neck.

When you enroll, the school applies to the board for your student permit. The student permit fee is $45, and a renewal is $25 (Minn. Stat. 154.003). When you finish, the school files an affidavit with the board listing your completed hours, and you must complete the full 1,500-hour curriculum to sit for the exam.

Already a Licensed Cosmetologist?

You can be credited with up to 1,000 of the 1,500 hours if the board finds your cosmetology hours substantially similar to barber training, you hold an active cosmetology license verified by the issuing state, or you have foreign cosmetology credentials verified by a board-approved credential evaluator (Minn. Stat. 154.11, subd. 4). You finish the remaining hours in a board-approved barber school and then take the same exam.

Step 2. Apply for the Registered Barber Exam

The board calls it the comprehensive examination, and it has a written portion and a practical portion. Here’s how the application works under Minn. Stat. 154.08 and the board’s 2026 Registered Barber Examination Application:

• The form: You apply to the board (or a board-approved exam provider) on its forms, with proof of your qualifications and identity under oath. The application is notarized.
• Deadline: File by the 20th day of the month before the month of the practical exam.
• Fee: The practical exam fee is $80, paid to the board by check or money order made out to MBBE.
• Exam instructions: After the deadline, the board emails your instructions from [email protected], so add that address to your contacts.
• Language help: Spanish copies of the written exam are available if you ask when you apply. You can also bring a board-approved interpreter from the state court or Department of Health roster, but not a family member or a barber.
• Accommodations: Request them on your application and include documentation, such as a current disability evaluation.

Bring a government-issued photo ID to the exam. If the board uses an outside provider for any part of the exam and that provider charges a fee, you pay it directly to the provider, on top of the board’s fee (Minn. Stat. 154.003).

When the Exams Happen

The board posts current written and practical exam dates on its homepage, and its exam application says dates are scheduled at the board’s final meeting of each year. Its 2026 biennial report says registered barber exams run four times a year, in February, May, August, and November, and recent ones were held at barber schools in the Twin Cities area and St. Cloud. Since August 1, 2026, the law lets the board hold practical exams up to eight times a year, and written exams can be scheduled separately. The board’s homepage listed written exams on November 2 and December 1, 2026, and a practical exam on November 9, 2026.

Step 3. Pass the Written and Practical Exam and Register

Minn. Stat. 154.09 sets the content and the passing scores:

• Written portion: Covers the subjects taught in barber school plus Minnesota’s barber statutes and rules. You need 75% to pass.
• Practical portion: A haircut plus three services the board picks from a shave, a beard trim, a shampoo, a perm wrap, a facial, or a color application. You need a 75 on the haircut and a 75 average on the other services, scored on a 100-point scale.
• Models: The board can change, supply, or reject the model you use for the practical (Minn. R. 2100.3100), so follow the instructions it emails you.
• Retakes: Fail one portion and you can retake just that portion within a year of passing the other. Miss that window and you retake the whole exam.

Once you pass, you pay the $80 initial barber registration fee and the board issues your certificate of registration. Post it near your chair with a passport-style photo of yourself (Minn. Stat. 154.14). As a registered barber, you can only cut in a registered barbershop or barber school unless the board gives you prior permission.

Licensed in Another State?

Minnesota registers out-of-state barbers without an exam if you hold an active barber license from a state the board finds has substantially the same requirements, and you pay the fee (Minn. Stat. 154.11). Without a current, documented license, you may still be eligible to test if the barber school you attended verifies at least 1,500 hours of education, completed within the previous four years, that the board finds substantially the same as Minnesota’s. Applicants who meet neither test go through Minnesota’s standard requirements. Before you test, you must buy and complete the board’s Home Study Course for Barbers, which costs $75 (Minn. Stat. 154.09, subd. 4). Short on hours? Minn. R. 2100.2700 has you make up the difference in a Minnesota barber school, and verified barbering experience under a current license can count as school hours.

Minnesota’s exam draws neighbors too: 4 Wisconsin residents took it in the board’s 2024-2026 reporting period. If you’re weighing a move across the state line, compare Wisconsin’s barber license requirements before you decide where to register. Applicants eligible under Minnesota’s military occupational licensing law (Minn. Stat. 197.4552) can get a temporary barber registration. It costs $85 and is good for one year (Minn. Stat. 154.11, subd. 3).

Step 4. Renew Your Registration Every Year

Minnesota barber registrations run on the calendar year. Here’s what Minn. Stat. 154.15 and the fee schedule require:

• Deadline: Renew on or before December 31 for the following year. A registration not renewed in December expires December 31.
• Fee: $80, through the board’s online services.
• Continuing education: Chapter 154 sets no continuing education requirement for renewal. The board can order it only as a condition in a disciplinary case.
• Lapsed less than 4 years: You can be reinstated without an exam by paying the $95 restoration fee for each year you were lapsed.
• Lapsed 4 years or longer: Contact the board before you apply. Minn. Stat. 154.15 requires a new exam once a registration has lapsed more than four years, while Minn. Stat. 154.09 requires the Home Study Course for Barbers and the comprehensive exam at four or more years, so the two sections word the exact four-year mark differently.

Don’t let it slide while you’re still cutting. An unregistered barber caught on an inspection faces a penalty of up to $500 the first time and up to $1,000 the second, and the shop owner is penalized too (Minn. Stat. 154.162).

Step 5. Open Your Own Barbershop

Every barbershop needs its own shop registration card from the board, and it must be under the direct supervision and management of a registered barber at all times (Minn. Stat. 154.01). Here’s what the law and Minn. R. 2100 add:

• Floor plan: Submit a proposed floor plan for the board’s approval at least 30 days before your opening date (Minn. R. 2100.7100).
• Fees: $85 for the initial shop registration and $85 to renew.
• Renewal: Shop registrations expire June 30 each year, and renewing on time is the owner’s job.
• One address: Each shop is registered to one permanent location (Minn. R. 2100.7000).
• Layout: Barber chairs must sit at least five feet apart, center to center (Minn. R. 2100.7600).
• Changes: File a change of ownership or location within 30 days. The fee is $55.

A shop with a lapsed registration found on inspection can be fined up to $500. The board also inspects for sanitation, and a reinspection costs $100.

Barber Salary and Jobs in Minnesota

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, barbers in Minnesota earned a median annual wage of $53,990 as of May 2025, or $25.96 an hour. That’s well above the national barber median of $38,210. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in Minnesota earned a median of $39,170. These BLS wage estimates include reported tips but leave out self-employed barbers, so they don’t capture what you’d earn renting a chair or owning a shop.

The employment column isn’t a headcount of Minnesota barbers. BLS counted 260 barbers on payrolls, while the board reported 2,322 registered barbers as of June 30, 2026, because BLS leaves out booth renters, shop owners, and other self-employed barbers. Projections Central doesn’t publish a barber projection for Minnesota. For hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in the state, it estimates a 2.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, with an average of 1,900 openings per year. Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects barber employment to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many hours is barber school in Minnesota?

Minnesota requires 1,500 hours at a board-approved barber school: 281 classroom hours and 1,219 practical hours. Schools can’t schedule more than 10 hours in one day. A licensed cosmetologist can be credited with up to 1,000 of those hours.

Does Minnesota still have apprentice barbers?

No. Minnesota repealed the registered apprentice stage in 2016. Today you finish barber school, pass one comprehensive written and practical exam, and register as a barber. Older guides that describe an apprentice exam and a second master exam are out of date.

How much does a Minnesota barber license cost?

The board charges $80 for the practical exam and $80 for your initial registration, and renewal is $80 a year. Your student permit costs $45 while you’re in school. Tuition and tools are extra, and an outside exam provider can charge its own fee.

What exam do Minnesota barbers take?

You take the Board of Barber Examiners’ comprehensive exam. The written portion covers barbering subjects and Minnesota law, with 75% to pass. The practical is a haircut plus three services the board picks, with a 75 needed on the haircut and a 75 average on the rest.

Can a cosmetologist cut hair in a Minnesota barbershop?

Not on a cosmetology license. Minnesota exempts licensed cosmetologists from the barber law only while they provide cosmetology services, and they can’t call themselves barbers or practice in a barbershop. To barber, a cosmetologist completes the remaining barber school hours and passes the barber exam.

• Licensing agency: The Minnesota Board of Barber Examiners, under Minn. Stat. ch. 154 and Minn. R. ch. 2100.
• Training: 1,500 hours at a board-approved barber school, 281 classroom and 1,219 practical, and you must be at least 17 to register.
• Exam: One comprehensive written and practical exam, 75 to pass each part, with no apprentice stage.
• Fees: $80 practical exam, $80 initial registration, $45 student permit, and $85 for a shop registration.
• Renewal: $80 every year by December 31, with no continuing education requirement.

2025 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Barbers and for Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists. Job growth projections (2024-2034) are from the US Department of Labor-sponsored resource, Projections Central. Figures reflect state and national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed November 2026. National job outlook figures (2025-2035) are from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.