Connecticut Barber License Requirements

Connecticut licenses barbers through the Department of Public Health, not through an occupational board of the usual kind. Oversight sits with the Connecticut Examining Board for Barbers, Hairdressers and Cosmeticians, which exists within DPH.

The Licence Is Legally a "Master Barber"

DPH labels its pages "Barber Licensing", but the statute is more specific. Section 20-238 states that no person shall practise the occupation of master barber in this state unless he has first obtained a licence as provided in section 20-236, and Section 20-239 governs the renewal of licences issued to master barbers. There is one barber licence in Connecticut and the law calls it master barber.

The Requirements

Section 20-236 sets out two routes, and both end at the same written examination:

Route A — school

1. Successfully complete the eighth grade;
2. Complete a course of not less than 1,000 hours at a school approved under the chapter, or a school outside Connecticut whose requirements are equivalent; and
3. Pass a written examination satisfactory to the department.

Route B — apprenticeship

1. Successfully complete the eighth grade;
2. Complete an apprenticeship approved by the Labor Department under Sections 31-22m to 31-22u; and
3. Pass the same written examination.

The Eighth Grade Bar Is the Lowest in the Country

Most states ask for a high school diploma, a GED, or at minimum the tenth grade. Connecticut asks for the eighth grade, and it asks for it by affidavit on the application rather than by transcript. Applicants must simply indicate on their notarised application that they have completed the eighth grade or an equivalent level of education.

No Age Requirement, No Practical Exam

Two things Connecticut does not ask for are worth naming. Section 20-236 sets no minimum age, and the qualification for licensure is a written examination only — there is no practical demonstration.

What It Costs

$100. That single figure covers the initial licence, and the same $100 covers renewal and reinstatement. Applications are accepted online only.

Connecticut requires a course of study of not less than 1,000 hours in a school approved by the Connecticut State Board for Barbers, Hairdressers and Cosmeticians.

Out-of-State Schools Count

DPH accepts education completed outside Connecticut provided the school was approved by the appropriate regulatory body of the state in which the school was located. The statute frames it as an equivalence test on the institution: a barber school or college whose requirements are equivalent to those of a Connecticut barber school or college.

The School Reports Your Hours, Not You

An Affidavit of Hours Form must be submitted directly to DPH from the barber school. You cannot hand in your own transcript. The same applies to your examination results, which Prometric submits directly to the department, and to licence verifications from other states, which must be forwarded to DPH from the appropriate authority rather than from you.

The Apprenticeship Route Runs Through the Labor Department

Connecticut's alternative to barber school is a genuine registered apprenticeship: one approved by the Labor Department and conducted in accordance with Sections 31-22m to 31-22u of the General Statutes. That is the state's general apprenticeship framework, not a scheme run by the health department, so an apprentice barber is enrolled with Labor while being licensed by DPH.

Note what the apprenticeship route does not waive: you still need the eighth grade and you still sit the same written examination.

Connecticut's barber examination is a written test administered by Prometric, and there is no practical component.

Available in English and Spanish

DPH states that the examination is offered in both the English and Spanish languages. Prometric publishes a candidate information bulletin covering registration, and scores are submitted directly to the Department after the administration rather than being carried by the candidate.

Barbers Test, Estheticians Do Not

This is worth flagging if you are comparing Connecticut credentials. Connecticut licenses estheticians on an education basis with no state examination at all. Barbers do not get that treatment — the written Prometric examination is a hard requirement under Section 20-236 for both the school route and the apprenticeship route.

What You Must Submit

• A notarised application indicating completion of the eighth grade or equivalent
• An Affidavit of Hours Form sent to DPH directly by the barber school
• Prometric examination results, submitted by Prometric
• A licence verification form from every state in which you are or have ever been licensed as a barber, current or expired, forwarded by that jurisdiction. DPH notes that most jurisdictions charge a fee for verification.
• A complete application with photograph and a $100 fee, submitted online

Two Routes That Skip the Examination Entirely

Section 20-236 provides for licensure without examination in two situations:

• Licensed elsewhere on the basis of education and examination. Anyone holding a barbering licence in another state, the District of Columbia, or a US commonwealth or territory, issued on the basis of successful completion of a programme of education and training in barbering and an examination, is entitled to a licence without examination on payment of $100.
• The forty-year rule. Anyone who has held a barbering licence in another state for a period of not less than forty years is eligible for licensure without examination. Connecticut is one of very few states to write a career-length provision of this kind into statute.

No licence is issued under this section to an applicant against whom professional disciplinary action is pending.

Connecticut master barber licences renew once every two years for $100, through eLicense Connecticut.

One Fee, Three Purposes

Connecticut has settled on a single round number for everything:

• Initial licence — $100
• Renewal — $100
• Reinstatement — $100

There is no discount for renewing on time and no premium for having lapsed. Reinstating a lapsed licence costs the same as renewing one that never expired, which is unusually forgiving — most states charge a penalty.

No Continuing Education

Connecticut requires no continuing education hours to renew a master barber licence.

How the Renewal Fee Got Here

The statutory history in Section 20-239 is a small record of the trade's regulatory drift. Barbers' renewal was $7 before 1969, rising to $10 that year, then $25 in 1971. It ran annually until 2003, when it moved to biennial and the fee doubled from $25 to $50, and it has since reached $100.

Your Licence Goes on the Wall, By Statute

Section 20-238 is specific about where the card lives. DPH furnishes each licensee a card certifying entitlement to practise, and the holder shall post it in a conspicuous place in front of his working chair, where it may readily be seen by all persons whom he may serve. Not by the door and not in the back office — at the chair.

Verifying a Licence

The department keeps a register of all persons to whom licences are issued, open to public inspection at all times, and DPH publishes an online lookup at eLicense.

Section 20-234 defines the practice of barbering by listing what counts when done upon the head, face and neck for cosmetic purposes and done for the public, with or without compensation.

The Statutory List

• Shaving or trimming the beard
• Cutting hair
• Styling or cutting hairpieces and wigs
• Giving facial and scalp massage, or applying oils, creams, lotions or other preparations, either by hand or by mechanical appliances
• Singeing, shampooing or dyeing the hair, or applying hair tonic
• Applying cosmetic preparations, antiseptics, powders, oils, clays or lotions to the scalp, face or neck

"With or Without Compensation"

That phrase is doing real work. Connecticut's definition does not hinge on being paid, unlike most states, whose barbering definitions turn on doing the work "for a fee". In Connecticut, cutting hair for the public without charging still falls within the occupation of barbering.

Wigs and Hairpieces Are Inside the Scope

Connecticut expressly includes styling or cutting hairpieces and wigs, a service several states exclude from barbering. The provision was added in 1969 and broadened in 1980, when the legislature deleted "men's" as a qualifier.

The Medical Boundary

The section closes with a limit: nothing in this chapter shall permit any of the services or acts described to be used for the treatment or cure of any physical or mental disease or ailment. Massage, oils and antiseptics are cosmetic services in Connecticut, and presenting them as treatment steps outside the licence.

Grounds for Losing the Licence

Under Section 20-238 the board may suspend or revoke a licence where the holder is incompetent, is habitually intoxicated or habitually addicted to habit-forming drugs, violates the chapter or its regulations, or is suffering from physical or mental illness, emotional disorder or loss of motor skill, including deterioration through the ageing process. The Commissioner of Public Health may order a licensee to submit to a reasonable physical or mental examination where capacity to practise safely is under investigation. Notice and an opportunity for a hearing are required first.

The Shop Must Be Registered Too

Section 20-240 separately provides for the registration of barber shops, with its own fee and its own grounds for revocation, and Section 20-241 provides for inspection of barber shops and schools. Holding a personal licence does not by itself authorise operating a shop.