Unite with other industry leaders in Washington, D.C. to share your story – your own, your students’, and your graduates'.

Register by midnight tonight for discounted early bird rates ($100 off the regular rate) and receive a complimentary registration to Capitol Hill Day (a $150 value).

That's $250 in savings by registering now. Click here to sign up today!

Passion and Purpose. The Passion and Purpose cosmetology scholarship generously funded by Ratner Companies is accepting applications through Monday, March 12. Four tuition scholarships will be awarded to cosmetology students who demonstrate their passion for cosmetology and why a career in beauty is their purpose. Learn more here.

Mentorship Supporters. Thank you to all of the AACS schools who participated in the BCL Mentorship Competition. We will be revealing the top two fundraising schools and a wildcard winner selected in a random drawing soon. We can’t wait to announce the campuses winning visits from iconic mentors!

In Utah, the Senate Business and Labor Committee reported a Committee Substitute last Friday that stripped House adopted language reducing the apprenticeship hours required for licensure as a barber, cosmetologist, esthetician and nail technician to the same level as the course of instruction in a school. As currently drafted, the measure would: retain current apprenticeships hours; allow direct supervision of up to two nail technician apprentices (the other apprenticeship programs listed above would remain one-to-one); and provide for the establishment of hair designer apprenticeships. HB 323 is currently awaiting consideration on the Senate floor.

Ohio’s House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee conducted a fourth hearing last week on HB 189. The focus was a substitute measure drafted by the bill’s sponsors that: “a) permits pre-graduate testing to help increase licensure rates; b) returns manicuring hours from 100 to 200; c) returns esthetics hours from 300 to 600; d) removes the 5-year experience requirement for instructors; e) removes the language increasing the surety bond from $10,000 to $100,000 for schools; and, f) requires salons and schools of cosmetology to work in partnership to establish the apprenticeship program.” The substitute measure still reduces the course of instruction for cosmetology from 1,500 to 1,000 hours.

Click here for more State Relations updates from Brian Newman.

Compliance with GE
AACS wants to remind you that the clock is ticking on institutional compliance deadline regarding publication of the updated GE Disclosure Template. All institutions with programs subject to the GE regulations have until Friday, April 6, 2018 to collect and publish the updated information required.

U.S. Department of Education Releases Draft Cohort Default Rates
The U.S. Department of Education released last Wednesday the draft Cohort Default rates for all institutions. AACS encourages our community to review this information in order to determine if any appeal of your most recent rates is required.

Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act
As previously noted, in the House, Chairwoman Foxx and the Committee have completed their mark up and published the House Committee Report accompanying H.R. 4508 – The PROSPER Act. Publication of the report provides both majority and minority views of the bill itself, legislative intent, and key information regarding the cost and savings associated with various provisions contained in the proposal.

Chairwoman Foxx plans to bring the bill to the House floor as soon as possible and has already requested floor time from the House Leadership and begun whipping her colleagues for support of the bill. However, there are other major pieces of legislation that could make it hard for her to gain floor time.

First, Congress still needs to complete work on the comprehensive FY18 Omnibus Appropriations bill, providing the spending allocations for all government spending for the fiscal year that began last October 1st. The current deadline for completion of this legislation is by no later than March 23, 2018, giving Congress less than a month.

Aside from this must pass legislation, there is a strong push within the Administration and others on Capitol Hill for consideration of Infrastructure legislation. IF that legislation can be fully drafted and voted out of the Committees with jurisdiction in the next couple of weeks, it could bump HEA on the list of priorities. We will have to wait and see how this plays out, but still have hopes that the House will vote on the bill sometime in March or early April.

Wisdom and Stories to Grown On

Geno has had a profound impact on the beauty industry in many ways. He began his career working behind the chair in a salon and gradually moved up to manage and finally to own a collection of successful salons. He has also owned two beauty academies, where he interacted with and instructed his students. Geno has been a distributor and sales consultant to salons, a major platform artist, and has shared the stage with the world’s greatest artists.
Geno Stampora will feed your soul, fill your heart, and open your mind to new opportunities. His keynote presentations are industry-renowned. He is real. He is funny. He is exciting!
You will leave feeling recharged, you will be recommitted, and you will learn a new way to see life and our beauty industry.

Click here to sign up today!

April 28 – 30 | McCormick Place North, Chicago IL

Who attends:
America’s Beauty Show is ONLY for licensed salon professionals and students, NOT the general public. Some 70,000+ hairdressers, nail technicians, estheticians, salon owners, beauty school instructors and students, plus manufacturer and distributor personnel attend each year.
ABS is produced by the association, Cosmetologists Chicago, a non-for-profit organization with over 15,000+ members and counting. It is easily one of the largest professional events in the global beauty industry today.

What to expect:

•  New product releases from major exhibitors!
•  Shopping! Shopping! Shopping!
•  Education – all different kinds!
•  Stage presentations – View our TWO huge stages – THE RUNWAYS@ABS – CosmoProf and   SalonCentric!
•  Latest fashion trends from the best in the business!
•  Make connections! (Bring your business cards!) Who knows who’ll meet?
•  Meet beauty industry icons and talk to them!
•  Inspiration you can take back to your clients and classes!
•  Don’t miss the Student Conference on Monday morning at 8:30am!
•  FREE admission to our co-located skin care spa show – IECSC – International Esthetics, Cosmetics & Spa Conference Chicago!

Click here for the step by step process to register discounted tickets.

Don’t forget to renew your AACS Membership for 2018! As of January 1, 2018, membership dues have increased. If you have received an invoice, RENEW TODAY to take advantage of your 2017 pricing! You can even renew online for added convenience.

If you have any questions or would like to submit your payment over the phone, please contact Glen Fernandez or call 800.831.1086 for more details.

Certify Your Leadership Team
Boost institutional success with nationally certified leaders. AACS Online Training Center offers your leadership team the opportunity to earn the Certified Higher Education Professional (CHEP) certification.

Learn more about CHEP in Leadership.

Are you providing certification opportunities for your employees? Display recognition seals on your institution's website to let your students know.