Empire Beauty School Student Salon Prices, Services, Fees and Policies

Published prices from official sources

These 4 lines come from published sources and are grouped by what they actually are. Mixing a cancellation fee into a service price list is how misleading "average" figures are produced, so they are separated here.

A price documented for one location does not establish a national rate. Verify at the location you book.

What the same service costs across the U.S. market

Context, not a price list. The point of these numbers is to tell you whether the quote in front of you is standard for the U.S. in 2026.

National planning ranges. A quote outside these bands is not automatically wrong - check what is included before judging it.

What women's haircut costs in your metro tier

Rent and wages flow straight into the menu. Applying published metro cost bands to the $69 national median for women's haircut gives the following planning ranges.

Derived by applying regional cost-of-doing-business multipliers to the $69 national median. Treat as a sanity check on a quote you have been given.

Why your quote differs from the menu

Ask about these when you book, not at checkout. Every one of them is easier to decline over the phone than once you are in the chair.

• Product charge+$10–$30

  Some schools bill product separately from labour.

• Service complexity+$20–$60

  Advanced colour may be restricted to senior students.

• Appointment lengthaffects time, not the menu price

  Student services are supervised and run longer.

• Student versus instructor+$15–$50

  Instructor-led work costs more than a student appointment.

Related cost breakdowns: Student Salon Haircut Cost, Drybar Gift Card Value, Fees and Expiration and Ogle School Student Salon prices and policies.

Seven questions that prevent a surprise bill

Ask these at booking rather than on arrival. Once you are gowned and in the chair, declining an add-on becomes socially much harder — which is precisely why they are offered there.

1. "Are taxes added at checkout, and do you have a card-payment surcharge?"
2. "What add-ons do you normally recommend for this service, and what does each cost?"
3. "Is removal of my existing product included, or is it a separate charge?"
4. "Do you take a deposit, and does it come off the final balance?"
5. "What is the precise price for women's haircut at my hair length and density?"
6. "Is there a first-visit offer or a package rate I should know about?"
7. "Is a shampoo, blow-dry or finish included in that price, or billed separately?"

Finally: get the quote in writing. A text or email costs the salon nothing and removes any argument at checkout.

The sensible total, worked through

Work it forwards once and you will never be caught out again. A $18 service does not cost $18.

Worked at a $18 base with one add-on. Swap in your own quote and the proportions hold.

Plan for the total, not the base. The $15 gap between the two is the part people forget when comparing two salons.

You can calculate your own total rather than doing this by hand.

What women's haircut costs you over annually

A single $69 appointment is easy to justify. Maintained every 10 weeks, women's haircut becomes a $414 annual commitment at the national median — and that is the number worth deciding on.

Gratuity is included at 20% because it is expected rather than optional. Remove it if you prefer to budget separately.

The lever most people reach for - switching salons - is usually the weakest one. Moving from the $69 median to the $28 budget end saves $246 a year, but so does just stretching the interval by a quarter.

Gratuity, converted from percentages into money

Tip on the pre-tax service amount. If a reduction or promotion applied, the convention is to tip on the original value of the work, not the discounted price.

• Card tips may be pooled or delayed to the next pay run. Ask if you want it to reach one person directly.
• On a $69 service, the difference between an 18% and a 20% tip is $1.38. It matters less than whether you tip at all.
• Holiday tipping is a separate convention from per-visit tipping and is usually a one-off larger amount.
• An automatic service charge ought to be disclosed when you book. If you see one at checkout, ask whether it reaches the provider before adding more.

The costly errors, ranked

Ordered by how often they happen rather than dollar impact. The fix in every case is a question at booking.

1. 1Assuming every service is available

   Advanced colour is frequently restricted to senior students.

2. 2Booking a student appointment on a tight schedule

   Supervised services run considerably longer.

If you want the policy detail behind these: How Beauty School Salon Pricing Works and Salon Cancellation Fees.

Worth comparing before you commit

The helpful comparison is like-for-like: same service scope, same provider tier, same market. These pages set the comparisons up that way.

Questions people actually ask

Sources and how we checked them

Brand-specific amounts on this page come from the pages below. A source covering one location is not used as evidence of a national price, and market ranges are labelled on a separate line.

1. Empire Beauty School guest servicesGuest-service program · updated 2026
2. Empire student salon menuPublished service prices · updated 2026

Menus change. If you were quoted something different, let us know and we will re-verify.