Tennessee Nail Technician License Requirements

Tennessee licenses nail technicians as Manicurists through the Cosmetology and Barber Examiners Board, part of the Department of Commerce & Insurance. Applications and renewals run through CORE at core.tn.gov.

The Board's own definition is refreshingly plain: a manicurist is a person who manicures or pedicures the nails of any person, or performs nail artistry.

1. Be at least sixteen (16) years of age.
2. Complete a course of instruction of not less than 600 hours in the practice and theory of manicuring at a school of cosmetology.
3. Pass the written and practical examinations through PSI.
4. Complete the Initial Manicurist Application online at core.tn.gov and pay the $60 application fee.

The Board publishes a step-by-step visual guide to the Initial Manicurist Application, which is worth opening alongside the form if it is your first time in CORE.

Age 16 Is Unusually Young

Tennessee sets the minimum age at 16 with no stated secondary-education requirement on the manicurist page, which is lower than most states — many require 17, and several require high school completion. For someone starting straight out of school, Tennessee is one of the more accessible states to enter the trade.

Tennessee requires not less than 600 hours in the practice and theory of manicuring at a school of cosmetology. The phrasing matters: the course must cover both the hands-on practice and the underlying theory, which is what the two-part examination then tests.

600 hours puts Tennessee at the higher end nationally — the same figure as Texas, Arizona, Washington, and Michigan's post-2024 standard, and six times what Massachusetts requires.

Training Has to Come From a School of Cosmetology

The requirement names a school of cosmetology specifically. Tennessee licenses a range of individual credentials through the same Board — aesthetician, cosmetologist, cosmetology instructor, natural hair stylist, master barber, barber technician, barber instructor, barber instructor assistant, eyelash specialist, and hair braider — and each has its own training path and application.

If you are weighing manicuring against another Tennessee credential, check each one's page before enrolling; the hours and the school type differ across them.

Tennessee requires both a written and a practical examination. Both are handled by PSI, the Board's testing vendor.

An important practical point: the Board directs all questions about applications, registration, examinations, and fees to PSI rather than to the Board itself. PSI can be reached online at psiexams.com/test-takers or on 855-340-3710.

That division of labour catches people out: the $60 application fee goes to the state through CORE, but examination fees and scheduling are entirely PSI's. If you are trying to work out what the exam costs or when you can sit it, the Board's pages will not tell you — PSI's will.

Order of Operations

Complete the 600 hours, sit both examinations through PSI, then file the Initial Manicurist Application in CORE with the $60 fee.

Tennessee manicurist licenses renew every two years for $60 — the same as the initial application fee. Renewals are filed through CORE at core.tn.gov, and the Department also offers a Renew a License shortcut from its main licensing pages.

No Continuing Education

Tennessee does not require continuing education hours for manicurist renewal. The $60 biennial fee is the whole cost of keeping the license active.

At $30 a year equivalent with no course costs, Tennessee is one of the cheaper states in which to hold a nail license long term.

Verifying a License

Tennessee runs a public verification site at verify.tn.gov, separate from the CORE application portal. Employers, clients, and licensees themselves use it to confirm license status and expiration.

Reciprocity

The Board publishes its reciprocity information alongside renewal on a combined Renewal, Reciprocity & Other Resources page. If you are moving to Tennessee with an existing nail license, that is the page to start from rather than the initial application route.

Tennessee's definition covers three things: a manicurist is a person who manicures or pedicures the nails of any person, or performs nail artistry.

The explicit inclusion of nail artistry is worth noting. Some states' definitions describe only cutting, shaping, and cleansing, leaving decorative work to be inferred. Tennessee names it directly, so nail art sits squarely inside the manicurist scope rather than in a grey area.

Pedicures are also named explicitly, so foot work is inside the license rather than requiring anything additional.

What It Does Not Cover

Tennessee's Cosmetology and Barber Examiners Board licenses a notably long list of separate individual credentials, and a manicurist license covers none of them:

• Aesthetician — skin care
• Eyelash specialist — a distinct Tennessee credential
• Natural hair stylist and hair braider
• Cosmetologist, master barber, and barber technician
• Cosmetology instructor, barber instructor, and barber instructor assistant

Tennessee's decision to license eyelash specialists separately is the one most likely to affect a nail technician in practice — lash services offered alongside nails require that separate credential.

Where to Check the Law

The statutory definitions sit in Tennessee Code Annotated Section 62-4-102, and the Board's rules in Chapter 0440-01. Both are the authority if a scope question arises that the Board's summary pages do not answer.