New Hampshire Barber License Requirements

New Hampshire issues two barber licences under RSA chapter 313-A, and the difference between them is nearly double the training.

Barber — 800 Hours

To be issued a barber's licence a person shall:

1. Be of good professional character;
2. Have completed high school or its equivalent;
3. Have received training of a minimum of 800 hours in an approved school of barbering, or a minimum of 1,600 hours distributed over a period of at least 12 months under a licensed barber who has practised barbering in New Hampshire for at least 2 years;
4. Pass an examination; and
5. Pay a fee established by the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification.

At 800 hours, New Hampshire has one of the shortest barber courses in the United States — below Florida and Idaho at 900, and half what Illinois, Georgia and Hawaii require.

Master Barber — 1,500 Hours

The same five conditions apply, but the training requirement rises to a minimum of 1,500 hours in a school of master barbering, or 3,000 hours distributed over a period of at least 18 months under a licensed barber with 2 years' New Hampshire practice.

Choose Deliberately: 800 Hours Buys a Narrow Licence

The short course is short because the scope is narrow. A plain barber in New Hampshire may shave or trim beards, cut hair, give facial or scalp massages, and shampoo, arrange, dress or style the hair — and that is the list. Colour, chemical texture services and bleaching all sit on the master barber side.

If you intend to offer chemical services, the 800-hour licence will not carry you, and you will end up doing the 1,500-hour course anyway.

There Is an Exemption Route

RSA 313-A:10, II allows an applicant not meeting the education or training conditions to petition the Office for exemption. The Office, following criteria in rules adopted under RSA 313-A:8, XII, may grant the exemption. Very few states publish a formal route around the hours requirement.

New Hampshire runs school and apprenticeship routes for both barber tiers, and both apprenticeships are exactly double the school hours with a minimum elapsed period attached.

• Barber — 800 school hours, or 1,600 hours distributed over a period of at least 12 months
• Master barber — 1,500 school hours, or 3,000 hours distributed over a period of at least 18 months
• Cosmetologist — 1,200 school hours, or 3,000 hours over at least 18 months

Your Supervisor Needs Two Years in New Hampshire

Both apprenticeship routes require the training to be under a licensed barber who has engaged in the practice of barbering within the state for at least 2 years. Out-of-state experience does not satisfy that — the two years must have been in New Hampshire.

The Master Barber Course Is Its Own School

Read RSA 313-A:10, III(c)(1) carefully: the 1,500 hours must be in a school of master barbering approved by the Office, not simply a school of barbering. The two credentials are taught in separately approved programmes.

Barbering Costs Less Than Cosmetology, Master Barbering Costs More

The three figures line up in an unusual order. A plain barber trains for 800 hours, a cosmetologist for 1,200, and a master barber for 1,500. New Hampshire treats full-scope barbering as the longest of the three courses, which is the reverse of most states, where cosmetology is the longest.

High School Is Required for Both

Unlike states that set a tenth or eighth grade threshold, New Hampshire requires completion of high school or its equivalent for both the barber and master barber licences — subject to the exemption petition under paragraph II.

RSA 313-A:10 requires an applicant for either licence to pass an examination and pay a fee established by the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification. The statute does not name a testing vendor or fix a fee, leaving both to the Office.

Two Separate Examinations

Because the barber and master barber licences carry different scopes — and are taught in separately approved schools — each has its own examination. Passing the barber examination does not qualify you for the master barber licence.

The Exemption Petition

New Hampshire's most unusual provision sits in paragraph II. An applicant who does not meet the requirements in I(b) through (c) — that is, the high school completion requirement and the training requirement — may petition the Office for exemption.

The Office may grant it, following criteria established in rules adopted under RSA 313-A:8, XII. Note what is not exemptible: paragraph II does not reach I(a) good professional character, I(d) passing the examination, or I(e) paying the fee. You can potentially be excused the schooling; you cannot be excused the test.

The Public Record

The Office maintains a record containing the names and addresses of all licensees and of all salons, barbershops and schools licensed under the chapter, and issues all notices, licences and registration certificates. That record includes the date of issuance, renewal, suspension, or revocation of all licences, and is open to public inspection at all reasonable times.

Disciplinary history in New Hampshire is a matter of public record by statute, not merely by policy.

New Hampshire licences are administered by the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, with oversight from the Board of Barbering, Cosmetology, and Esthetics.

Fees Are Set by the Office

RSA 313-A leaves every fee to be established by the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification rather than fixing amounts in statute. We have left the figures unstated here rather than repeat numbers from an unofficial source — confirm current fees with the OPLC.

No Continuing Education

RSA 313-A imposes no continuing education requirement on renewing a barber or master barber licence.

The Chapter Was Amended Twice Recently

RSA 313-A:10 carries two recent amendments — 2024, 327:19, effective 1 July 2024, and 2025, 141:150 and 151, effective 1 July 2025. New Hampshire has been actively revising this chapter, so material written before mid-2025 should be treated with care.

Shops, Mobile Shops and Salons Are All "Shops"

RSA 313-A:1, XIII-a defines "shop" to mean barbershop, mobile barbershop, and salon, as well as any other business location for barbering, cosmetology, or esthetics in New Hampshire. That catch-all matters: if you are performing regulated services at a business location of any kind, it is a shop for the purposes of the chapter.

Mobile Barbershops Are Defined in Statute

A mobile barbershop is a vehicle or structure, readily mobile, designed, constructed or adapted to serve as a barbershop at multiple sites. New Hampshire licenses mobile barbering explicitly rather than leaving it to interpretation.

RSA 313-A:1 defines barbering and master barbering separately, and reading them side by side shows exactly what the extra 700 hours buy.

Barbering

• Shaving or trimming the beard or cutting the hair
• Giving facial or scalp massages or treatment with oils, creams, lotions or other preparations, by hand or mechanical appliances
• Shampooing, arranging, dressing, or styling the hair

Master Barbering

All of the above, except that "styling" becomes "dyeing the hair or applying hair tonics", plus:

• Applying cosmetic preparations, antiseptics, powders, oils, clays, or lotions to scalp, face, or neck, or removing superfluous hair from the face and neck
• Styling, waving, curling, straightening, or bleaching the hair by mechanical or chemical means

The Line Is Chemistry Plus Skin

Two things separate the tiers. The master barber may perform chemical services — dyeing, waving, curling, straightening, bleaching — and may work on the skin of the face and neck, applying preparations and removing superfluous hair. A plain barber may not do either.

The Board

The board of barbering, cosmetology, and esthetics has 7 members: one licensed barber, one licensed cosmetologist, one licensed esthetician, one licensed manicurist, one owner of a licensed school (or a designee who is a licensee and New Hampshire resident), one owner of a registered tanning facility, and one public member. Each is appointed by the governor with the consent of the council to a 5-year term, and no member may serve more than 2 consecutive terms.

Two Guards Against Conflicts of Interest

• Professional members must have practised their profession within the state for not less than 5 years, and no professional member may be the owner or operator of any school, or be directly or indirectly associated in the manufacture or wholesale distribution of cosmetic or barber appliances or supplies.
• The public member must be someone who is not and never was a member of the professions or the spouse of one, and who has never had a material financial interest in providing those services or in representing the board or the professions for a fee in the 5 years before appointment.

Only the members provided for in that paragraph have the authority to vote in board determinations.

Schools

A school under the chapter includes dedicated programmes within secondary schools teaching barbering, and postsecondary programmes, including those leading to a certificate in barbering.