Pennsylvania Barber License Requirements

Pennsylvania barbers are licensed by the State Board of Barber Examiners, part of the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs at the Department of State. It is a separate board from the Pennsylvania State Board of Cosmetology.

The Requirements in Short

• No degree requirement — but a candidate must have an 8th grade education or equivalent
• 1,250 hours of instruction
• 1 examination, with practical and theoretical sections
• No continuing education requirement
• $173 initial fee, $184 biennial renewal

The 8th Grade Bar Is One of the Lowest in the Country

Pennsylvania asks for an eighth-grade education or equivalent — matching Connecticut and Oklahoma, and well below the high school diploma required by Hawaii, Kentucky, Nebraska and New Hampshire.

You Can Train in a Shop Instead of a School

This is the part worth reading twice. The 1,250 hours may be completed either:

• in a licensed barber school under a licensed barber teacher; or
• in a licensed barber shop under a licensed barber manager or barber teacher.

Both routes are the same length. Pennsylvania does not penalise the shop route by doubling the hours the way Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi and Oklahoma do — 1,250 hours is 1,250 hours whether you serve them in a classroom or behind a chair. In either case the student must be instructed according to the PA state curriculum.

Renewal Costs More Than Getting Licensed

An unusual inversion. The initial fee is $173 and the biennial renewal is $184. In most states the renewal is the cheaper of the two; in Pennsylvania it is $11 more, every cycle, forever.

Pennsylvania requires 1,250 hours of instruction in barbering education, taught according to the PA state curriculum.

Two Equally Weighted Routes

• A licensed barber school, under a licensed barber teacher.
• A licensed barber shop, under a licensed barber manager or barber teacher.

Because both are 1,250 hours, the shop route is a genuine alternative rather than a longer penalty path. What it requires is a supervisor holding the right credential: a barber manager or a barber teacher, not simply a licensed barber.

1,250 Hours in Context

Pennsylvania sits in the middle nationally — above Oregon (746), New Hampshire (800), Florida and Idaho (900) and New Jersey (900), and below Ohio, Michigan and Nebraska (1,800). It matches Delaware's barber licence exactly.

Barber Teachers Have Their Own Requirements

The Board publishes a separate Barber Teacher Requirements Snapshot. The examination for a barber-teacher licence, like the barber examination, includes both practical and theoretical sections, and a passing grade is required in each.

Military and Veteran Routes

The Board points applicants to the Department's Military and Veterans Licensure guidance, and separately publishes Veteran-Owned Business Exemptions for those opening a shop.

Criminal History

Pennsylvania publishes an Act 53 of 2020 Best Practices Guide, which governs how boards consider criminal convictions in licensing decisions. If you have a record, that guide rather than the requirements snapshot is where to start.

Pennsylvania describes it as one examination, but it has two independently graded halves. The examination for licence as a barber and barber-teacher includes both practical (hands-on) and theoretical (written) sections, and a passing grade in practical work and in the written test is required before a licence will be issued.

The Fee Breakdown

The $173 initial licensing fee is made up of:

• $33 application fee
• $63 for the theory examination
• $77 for the practical examination

Notice that the examinations account for $140 of the $173. The Board's own charge for processing your application is a small part of the total.

Three Ways In From Another State

Pennsylvania is unusually explicit about the difference between them:

1. Reciprocity. Available to individuals licensed in those states with which Pennsylvania has an understanding of reciprocity. You must hold a current licence from the state you are applying from. The reciprocity fee is $65.
2. Endorsement examination (theory only). For those currently licensed as a barber in a state with which Pennsylvania does not have an agreement of reciprocity. You submit a certification letter from your state licensing board verifying the current licence, and sit only the theory paper — the practical is waived.
3. Act 41 portability. Act 41 grants all Pennsylvania boards and commissions the authority to endorse licensees from other states, territories or jurisdictions with substantially equivalent licensing requirements, who are active, in good standing and without discipline against their licence or criminal conviction. The fee is also $65.

If None of Those Apply

The Board is direct: if the applicant does not meet the requirements for reciprocity, the Pennsylvania examination (theory and practical) must be successfully completed.

The theory-only endorsement route is the one most out-of-state barbers will want, and it turns on holding a current licence and getting a certification letter sent from your board.

Pennsylvania barber licences renew biennially at $184, through the Department of State's professional licensing services.

The Renewal Costs More Than the Licence Did

It is worth stating plainly because it runs against the usual pattern: $173 to get licensed, $184 to renew. Pennsylvania is one of very few states where the recurring cost exceeds the entry cost.

Part of the explanation is structural — the $173 includes $140 of examination fees that you pay once, so the Board's own $33 application charge is much smaller than its $184 renewal charge.

No Continuing Education

The Board states it flatly: no continuing education requirement for licensure. The $184 biennial fee is the whole cost of keeping the licence active.

Where to Renew

Renewals run through the Department's Apply for or Renew Professional Licensing service, with licence verification through PALS, the Pennsylvania Licensing System. The Board also publishes a Renewal Information page and a Board Resources and Documents library.

Processing Times

The Department publishes licensure processing guides and timelines, including a dedicated barber guide, which is the place to check expected turnaround before chasing an application.

If You Own the Shop

Pennsylvania licenses barber managers as a distinct credential — and it matters beyond shop ownership, because a barber manager is one of the two credentials that can supervise the 1,250-hour in-shop training route.

Pennsylvania describes a barber as an individual who is engaged in the practice of barbering, to shave or trim the beard; to cut, shape, trim or blend the hair with the proper tools or instruments.

A Notably Hair-and-Beard Definition

The Board's summary description is narrower than most states'. Where North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma all write facial massage, tonics, dyeing and cosmetic preparations into the statutory definition, Pennsylvania's snapshot description centres on shaving and trimming the beard and cutting, shaping, trimming or blending the hair — and adds a phrase few states bother with: with the proper tools or instruments.

The Credentials the Board Issues

• Barber
• Barber teacher — with its own requirements snapshot and its own practical and theoretical examination
• Barber manager — which, alongside barber teacher, may supervise in-shop training

Training Can Happen Where the Work Happens

The most distinctive feature of Pennsylvania's scheme is that a licensed barber shop is an approved training venue on equal terms with a licensed barber school, for the same 1,250 hours, provided the supervisor is a licensed barber manager or barber teacher and the instruction follows the PA state curriculum.

For someone who cannot afford to stop working, that is a materially different proposition from states where the apprenticeship route costs double the hours.

Act 41 and Professional Mobility

Act 41 gives every Pennsylvania board the authority to endorse licensees from other states, territories or jurisdictions with substantially equivalent licensing requirements, provided they are active, in good standing and without discipline against their licence or criminal conviction. It sits alongside, rather than replacing, the older reciprocity understandings and the theory-only endorsement examination.

Act 53 and Criminal Records

The Department publishes an Act 53 of 2020 Best Practices Guide covering how criminal convictions are weighed in licensing. Note that Act 41 endorsement expressly requires an absence of criminal conviction, so the two routes treat records differently — worth understanding before choosing which to apply under.