Texas Barber License Requirements

Texas licenses barbers through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which absorbed the state's separate barbering and cosmetology boards. The entry credential is the Class A Barber licence.

The Requirements

• Complete a Class A Barber course of 1,000 hours at a barbering or cosmetology school licensed in Texas;
• Pass the written exam and the practical exam;
• Be at least 17 years of age; and
• Pay a non-refundable application fee of $50.

Class A Barber licences are valid for two years from the date of issue.

You Can Sit the Written Exam at 900 Hours

Texas lets you start the examination process before you finish. After completing 900 of the 1,000 required hours, your school will notify TDLR of your eligibility to take the written licensing exam.

This is a gentler version of Florida's early-examination rule. Florida lets you test at 600 of 900 hours but bars a retake until you complete all 900 if you fail. Texas simply moves the written exam forward by 100 hours, with the practical still gated behind completing every hour and passing the written.

The Sequence

1. Enrol at a Texas-licensed school and receive a student permit.
2. At 900 hours, the school notifies TDLR of your eligibility for the written exam.
3. TDLR verifies eligibility, and PSI emails you with scheduling instructions.
4. Complete all 1,000 hours and pass the written exam.
5. TDLR notifies you of eligibility for the practical exam.
6. Once both are passed, apply online with the $50 fee.

Trained Outside Texas?

A different route entirely. TDLR directs applicants who did not train in Texas to its Apply for a Cosmetology or Barbering License by Equivalence page rather than this one.

Texas requires a Class A Barber course consisting of 1,000 hours of instruction at a barbering or cosmetology school licensed in Texas.

Barbering and Cosmetology Schools Are Interchangeable

Note the wording: a barbering/cosmetology school licensed in Texas. Since TDLR merged the two regulatory schemes, a single licensed school can deliver either curriculum, and the Class A Barber course can be taken at what you might think of as a cosmetology school.

Students Get a Permit Automatically

Students enrolled in a barbering/cosmetology school licensed in Texas will be issued a student permit while in training. Unlike North Carolina or South Carolina, where you apply for a permit before enrolling, Texas issues it as part of enrolment.

Hours Are Reported Through SHEARS

TDLR runs a system called SHEARS for reporting classroom hours. Your school reports through it, which is also how TDLR receives the notification that you have hit 900 hours and are eligible for the written exam.

1,000 Hours in Context

Texas sits with California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri and Alabama at 1,000 hours — comfortably below the 1,500 that Illinois, Georgia and Tennessee require, and well under the 1,800 in Ohio, Michigan and Nebraska.

The Practical Cannot Be Brought Forward

Worth being clear about, because the 900-hour rule creates an expectation. The early-eligibility provision applies only to the written exam. The practical requires that you have successfully completed all hours of the Class A Barber course and passed the written exam.

Texas uses PSI as its third-party examination vendor, and TDLR controls eligibility at both stages.

Written Exam: Triggered by Your School

The chain runs school → TDLR → PSI → you:

1. After 900 of the 1,000 hours, your school notifies TDLR that you are eligible.
2. TDLR verifies that eligibility.
3. PSI sends you an email confirmation with instructions for scheduling an appointment.

You do not initiate this. If the email has not arrived, the question is whether your school has reported your hours, not whether PSI has a slot.

Practical Exam: Two Conditions

You become eligible after you have successfully completed all hours of the Class A Barber course and passed the written exam. TDLR then notifies you.

Criminal Convictions Are Reviewed Case by Case

TDLR is unusually transparent about this. If you have ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanour other than a minor traffic violation, or pleaded guilty or no contest resulting in a deferred adjudication to any in-state, out-of-state or federal offence, you must submit a completed Criminal History Questionnaire with your application.

The department runs a background check on all applicants. Convictions are reviewed case by case, and licences may be denied based on the nature of the conviction and how long before the application it occurred. Depending on your history, a review can take from one to six weeks.

You Can Ask Before You Apply

This is the provision worth knowing about. Individuals may request TDLR review their criminal background before actually applying for a licence, through a Criminal History Evaluation Letter. TDLR uses the same process for this pre-application evaluation as for a licence application.

If you are weighing whether to spend 1,000 hours and tuition on a course, that letter answers the question first — before the money is spent.

Class A Barber licences are valid for two years from the date of issue, and TDLR handles renewals through its online system.

Applying and Renewing Online

TDLR is direct about its preference: if an online application is available, you are strongly encouraged to apply online, because online applications are immediately sent to the Licensing Division for processing and do not have to go through additional departments for sorting and payment processing.

A printable PDF application is available for postal filing, but TDLR notes that most applicants should apply online for faster service.

Fees

The application fee is $50 and is non-refundable. TDLR publishes renewal fees through its online system rather than on the application page, so we have left the renewal amount unstated here rather than repeat a figure from an unofficial source.

No Continuing Education

TDLR's published Class A Barber application requirements set out no continuing education obligation.

Tools TDLR Publishes

• SHEARS — for reporting classroom hours
• Exam Data Search — for examination information
• Criminal History Evaluation Letter — for a pre-application background review
• Guidelines for License Applicants with Criminal Convictions — describing how TDLR decides whether a conviction makes an applicant unsuitable, or warrants revocation or suspension of a licence already granted

Texas regulates barbering through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which administers barbering and cosmetology together as a single programme. The entry credential is the Class A Barber licence.

One Regulator, Two Trades

The merger runs deeper in Texas than in most states that combined their boards. The training requirement itself refers to a barbering/cosmetology school licensed in Texas — the school licence is unitary, and the Class A Barber course is one of the curricula such a school may deliver.

The Student Permit

Students enrolled at a licensed Texas school are issued a student permit while in training, automatically as part of enrolment rather than by separate application.

Two Distinct Routes In

• Trained in Texas — the Class A Barber course, 1,000 hours, written exam at 900 hours, practical after all hours.
• Trained elsewhere — the Cosmetology or Barbering License by Equivalence route, which is a separate application path with its own requirements.

Background Checks Apply to Everyone

TDLR conducts a criminal history background check on all persons who apply for a licence, not only those who disclose a conviction. The disclosure obligation is broad — any felony or misdemeanour other than a minor traffic violation, anywhere, including deferred adjudications.

The Pre-Application Route Is Worth Using

Because a review can take one to six weeks and licences may be denied on the nature and recency of a conviction, TDLR's offer to evaluate a criminal background before an application is a genuine protection. It uses the same process as a real application, so the answer is meaningful rather than indicative.