Michigan Barber License Requirements

Michigan licenses barbers through the Michigan State Board of Barbers, part of the Bureau of Professional Licensing at LARA. Barbering sits in Article 11 of the Occupational Code, Act 299 of 1980.

The Five Requirements

MCL 339.1108(1) requires the department to issue a barber licence to an individual who fulfils all of the following:

1. Is not less than 17 years of age;
2. Is of good moral character;
3. Completes either a 1,800-hour course of study at a licensed barber college or at least 1,800 hours as an apprentice in a barber apprenticeship programme;
4. Passes an examination approved by the board and the department; and
5. Has completed the tenth grade of school or an equivalent education as determined by the department.

1,800 Hours Either Way

Michigan is one of the few states where the apprenticeship is exactly the same length as barber college. Most states price an apprenticeship at roughly double the school route — Delaware charges 3,000 hours against 1,250, Hawaii 3,000 against 1,500. Michigan charges 1,800 either way.

At 1,800 hours, Michigan also has one of the longest barber courses in the country, ahead of the 1,500 required by Illinois, Georgia, Hawaii and the District of Columbia.

The Apprenticeship Route Has a Higher Education Bar

Read requirement 5 against subsection (4)(e) and an oddity appears. The licence requires the tenth grade. But before a barbershop may accept an apprentice, the owner must obtain proof that the apprentice has a high school education, or the equivalent.

So the apprenticeship route effectively demands a high school education while the college route does not. The exception is a student enrolling in a programme offered as part of the regular curriculum of a public school and approved by the state board of education.

Michigan requires not less than an 1,800-hour course of study at a licensed barber college, or at least 1,800 hours served as an apprentice in a qualifying barber apprenticeship programme.

What Makes an Apprenticeship Programme Count

MCL 339.1108(4) is unusually prescriptive. An apprenticeship does not satisfy the requirement unless the owner of the barber college or barbershop conducting it ensures all of the following:

• A student or apprentice is not required to be in attendance for more than 40 hours per week;
• A system to keep and maintain records is in place;
• A grading system for students or apprentices is established;
• The apprentice must pass an examination before the owner certifies to the department that training is complete; and
• Before training begins, the owner obtains proof of a high school education or equivalent, and submits an application to the department on the apprentice's behalf.

The owner must retain a copy of that education proof and the application until the apprentice applies for examination.

Five Records, Kept Three Years

Subsection (5) requires the owner to keep and maintain, for each apprentice, for at least three years:

1. A daily attendance record;
2. A record of the types of services and practical applications performed during training;
3. The date the apprentice began the programme;
4. A copy of the apprentice's contract; and
5. Evaluation and progress records of the apprentice's work.

If you are considering an apprenticeship, ask the shop whether it actually runs all of this. An apprenticeship that fails any element of subsection (4) does not count toward licensure, however many hours you served.

Out-of-State Training Converts at 3 Months per 100 Hours

An individual whose barbering instruction was received in another state, jurisdiction or country may substitute experience as a barber or barber apprentice for instruction in the ratio of 3 months of experience for 100 hours of instruction. Reaching 1,800 hours entirely by experience would take 54 months — four and a half years.

Two Limits on That Substitution

Where experience was acquired in a country the department considers one from which records are not generally available, two conditions bite:

• You may not substitute experience at all unless you provide a signed and notarised attestation detailing your experience, including your place of employment or apprenticeship; and
• You may not substitute experience for any hours of instruction concerning safety and sanitation, or concerning laws, rules, and regulations.

That second carve-out mirrors Colorado's: states will credit your skill, but not your knowledge of their own safety rules.

MCL 339.1108(1)(d) requires an applicant to pass an examination approved by the board and the department. Michigan names no vendor in the statute, leaving the Michigan State Board of Barbers and LARA to approve the examination jointly.

LARA Publishes Two Guides

Rather than scattering requirements across web pages, the Bureau of Professional Licensing publishes consolidated documents:

• the Barber Licensing Guide and FAQs, and
• the Barber Instructor Licensing Guide and FAQs

alongside resources for barber shops and colleges. Those guides, rather than the web pages, are where the operational detail and current fees live.

Apprentices Are Examined Twice

An apprentice faces an extra hurdle before reaching the state examination. Under subsection (4)(d), the apprenticeship programme must require the apprentice to pass an examination before the owner of the barber college or barbershop certifies to the department that training is complete. Only then can you present yourself for the licensing examination.

Licensure by Endorsement

MCL 339.1108(2) requires the department to issue a barber licence to an individual who has held a barber licence in another state, jurisdiction, or country for 1 out of the 3 years immediately preceding the application, provided that jurisdiction's requirements are substantially equivalent to Michigan's as determined by the department.

The one-in-three-years framing is worth reading carefully: it does not require a currently active licence, only that you held one during the preceding three-year window.

The department may deny or limit such a licence if the applicant has been disciplined, or disciplinary action is pending, in the other jurisdiction.

Michigan barber licences are administered by the Bureau of Professional Licensing at LARA, with renewals handled through the department's online licensing system.

Fees

LARA publishes barber fees inside its Barber Licensing Guide and FAQs rather than on a standing public fee page. We have left the amounts unstated here rather than repeat figures from an unofficial source — check the current guide on the Michigan State Board of Barbers page before applying or renewing.

No Continuing Education

Article 11 of the Occupational Code imposes no continuing education requirement on barber renewal.

A Requirement Michigan Removed

One piece of history worth knowing if you are reading older guidance. MCL 339.1103, which required a certificate of health, was repealed by 1982 Act 360 with effect from 30 March 1983. Michigan barbers have not needed a health certificate for over forty years, though the requirement still turns up in stale summaries.

Barber Shops and Colleges

LARA maintains a separate set of resources for barber shops and barber colleges, which are licensed apart from individual barbers. If you own the premises or run a college, those are governed by their own requirements, and a college conducting an apprenticeship programme also carries the record-keeping duties in MCL 339.1108(5).

Barber Instructors

Michigan licenses barber instructors as a distinct credential, with its own licensing guide and FAQs published by the Bureau.

Barbering in Michigan is regulated under Article 11 of the Occupational Code, Act 299 of 1980, at MCL 339.1101 and following, administered by the Michigan State Board of Barbers within LARA's Bureau of Professional Licensing.

Three Kinds of Licence

• Barber — 1,800 hours by college or apprenticeship, age 17, tenth grade, examination
• Barber instructor — a separate credential with its own licensing guide
• Barber shops and barber colleges — licensed as establishments

Barbershops Can Train Apprentices

Michigan lets an apprenticeship be conducted by either a barber college or a barbershop. MCL 339.1108(4) and (5) place identical duties on the owner of the barber college or barbershop — attendance caps, records systems, grading, a pre-certification examination, proof of high school education, and three years of record retention.

That parity is deliberate: a working shop taking on an apprentice carries the same obligations as a college, and a shop that does not meet them cannot produce a licensable apprentice.

Good Moral Character

MCL 339.1108(1)(b) makes good moral character a statutory licensing requirement in its own right, alongside age, training, examination and education.

Discipline in Other Jurisdictions Follows You

For applicants seeking licensure on the strength of an out-of-state licence, the department may deny or limit the licence if the applicant has been disciplined, or disciplinary action is pending, in that other state, jurisdiction or country. Michigan looks at pending matters, not only concluded ones.

The Repealed Health Certificate

MCL 339.1103 formerly required a certificate of health. It was repealed effective 30 March 1983 and has no application today.