Most Diverse Beauty Schools in San Francisco, CA Metro Area
Students at schools with diverse student bodies are more likely to encounter the styles and treatments clients from different backgrounds may request. Non-native English speakers should also note which programs are the most diverse since the top schools in this category may offer instruction in Spanish, Vietnamese, and other languages.
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San Francisco, CA Beauty Schools with the Most Diverse Student Body
#1: Hilltop Beauty School — Daly City
97.0% non-white students
It's no wonder Hilltop Beauty School is the most diverse beauty school in the Bay Area. It offers an entire Spanish-language cosmetology program. Students can even take their licensing exams in Spanish. This gives students who may be limited in their Bay Area college options the opportunity to become hair stylists, makeup artists, or skincare specialists.
#2: International College of Cosmetology — Oakland
96.7% non-white students
International College of Cosmetology has a Spanish-language cosmetology program. It's also the only school on this list to offer Vietnamese-language cosmetology and manicuring programs.
The school's Vietnamese manicuring program is its most-attended and most successful in terms of graduation rate, licensure exam passing rate, and job placement rate. Since diversity is calculated by the percentage of non-white students in a program, it shouldn't be a shock that ICC places second on the list of most diverse schools in the Bay Area.
#3: Moler Barber College — Oakland
93.8% non-white students
Although "barber" is part of its name, the Moler Barber College also offers cosmetology and esthetics programs. Oakland and Hayward are diverse cities, so it follows their beauty schools would have diverse student bodies.
In recent years, Molar Barbering School students who have taken their licensing exams have passed at a rate that's at or near 100%. This indicates that its instruction aligns with state standards, meaning you can expect to take courses in safety and sanitation, state laws, and other theoretical concepts while getting hands-on experience to develop your skills.
#4: Urban Barber College — Concord
90.9% non-white students
Urban Barber College has locations in Concord, San Jose, and Modesto. The school only offers barbering and barbering-crossover programs.
The school emphasizes its hands-on training component, although some of the program takes place in a classroom where students learn theoretical concepts such as hair types and shop management. You'll learn cutting, grooming, and styling techniques at Urban Barber College.
The school's barbering-crossover program is for cosmetologists who want to expand their skill sets and professional offerings by tacking barbering licenses onto their cosmetology credentials. Students who choose this route follow a condensed version of the program that skips some basic topics and techniques.
#5: San Francisco Institute of Esthetics & Cosmetology — San Francisco
74.5% non-white students
San Francisco Institute of Esthetics & Cosmetology is a Paul Mitchell Partner School, meaning students receive specialized training in using and selling Paul Mitchell beauty products.
The school offers cosmetology, esthetics, manicuring, and barbering programs. With such a diverse set of programs and its location in San Francisco's diverse SOMA neighborhood, it's no wonder that the San Francisco Institute of Esthetics & Cosmetology makes the list of the most diverse beauty schools in the Bay Area.
#6: The Salon Professional Academy — San Jose
74.1% non-white students
#7: Paul Mitchell The School East Bay — Pleasant Hill
73.8% non-white students
#8: Cinta Aveda Institute — San Francisco
70.4% non-white students
#9: JD Academy of Salon and Spa — Danville
46.8% non-white students
More San Francisco-Area Beauty School Rankings
Methodology and Editor’s Notes
We compared educational institutions from the Beauty Schools Directory database of beauty programs across the U.S. Those analyzed for these rankings were educational institutions that:
For this ranking, we used each school’s reported student population race/ethnicity data from 2022, the most recent available as of publication time.