Reason #6 to Attend AACS Annual Convention and Expo Sep 27 – 30 | Las Vegas, NV

We are less than two months away from the 2019 Annual Convention & Expo. Each week, we’ve been sharing a top reason why you can’t miss it. This week, reason #6: Hindsight is 20/20. A panel of school owners share best practices of what they wish they knew earlier as a school owner. Check out a presentation from school owners just like you, who will talk about the experiences they’ve had along the way, and share their insights to lessons they have learned in running a successful school.

This year’s AACS Annual Convention & Expo theme is Power of One: Time to Engage.

In addition to updates recent federal and state regulations, you’ll learn best practices in beauty school compliance, and engaging with the media. Learn from other school owners about best practices and tips to streamline your operations. Join us in Las Vegas as we unite to learn, engage, and connect around the Power of One. For a full list of schedule events please click here.

Register Now for the 2019 Annual Convention & Expo 

Hotel: MGM Grand
You have three weeks left to take advantage of the AACS discounted group rate for your hotel room. Deadline to book your room is Tuesday, September 3, 2019. Book Now 

Save the dates!

2020 School Leader Summit & Hill Day
April 6-8, 2020
Washington Hilton Hotel
Washington, D.C. 

CEA & AMP 2020
July 10-13, 2020
The Mirage Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada

Additional registration information will be provided at a later date 

Arrojo Cosmetology School Student’s Story at A Newsstand Near You

Check out Arrojo Cosmetology School student and Sydell and Arnold Miller “Find-A-Way” scholarship winner Jennifer Lord in the current issue of Sophisticate’s Black Hair, now on newsstands. The former high school teacher talks about how a Beauty Changes Lives scholarship is helping her pursue her dream as a natural hair expert and changing her life. You can access Jennifer’s feature story spread here. Encourage your school’s students to follow Jennifer and apply for a scholarship – the Fall 2019 scholarship season opened August 1.

Federal Updates

U.S. Department of Education

Distance Education – Further the Department’s July 29, 2019 Federal Register notice regarding the legal effectiveness of the 2016 state authorization rule for distance education, there have been a number of developments and additional guidance from the Department applicable to schools providing online programs. For the latest client alert issued by Duane Morris on the topic, see Duane Morris Alert –Distance Education – State Authorization

August 7, 2019 – Federal Student Aid released a series of updates to the quarterly application, disbursement, and portfolio reports on its FSA Data Center to include data through March 31, 2019.

August 8, 2019 – Announcement explaining how the 2019-20 supplemental award funds for each of the Campus-Based programs will be distributed and how schools will be notified of supplemental awards.

The Department has officially released the 2020-2021 ISIR Guide.

The Department has published a notice in the Federal Register proposing to extend the currently approved reporting and record-keeping requirements contained in the regulations related to the administrative requirements of the Perkins Loan Program.

August 9, 2019 – On August 18, 2019, IFAP will retire the FSAdownload website. Software and user documentation will be posted on the IFAP website instead. The Financial Partners Portal will be incorporated into the IFAP website as well – see https://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/080919FSAdownloadandFPPTranstoIFAP.html

October 1, 2019 – Deadline for schools to submit 2020–21 FISAP electronically and mail in the required signature page - see https://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/072619FinalFISAPFormInstruDeskRefTechnicalRefDue100119.html

Looking Ahead – 2019 FSA Training Conference. The Federal Student Aid Office has opened registration for the 2019 FSA Training Conference scheduled for December 3 to 6 in Reno, Nevada. The FSA Training Conference is training provided for financial aid professionals by the government for those institutions receiving Title IV funds and is the largest training program in the United States serving the financial aid community. In 2018 more than 2,000 unique schools registered for the conference. Registration is free. 

U.S. Congress – Newly Introduced Legislation of Note 

H.R. 4162- To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend the period under which an election must be made for entitlement to educational assistance under the All-Volunteer Educational Assistance Program of Department of Veterans Affairs, to phase out the use of such program, and for other purposes.

a.       Status: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 8/6/19

b.      Sponsor: Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) 1 Cosponsor

State Updates 

Recap of 2019 State Apprenticeship Bills 

This week’s focus is state apprenticeship bill.  The bills listed below constitute the third section of AACS’ compilation of 2019 state bills of interest to member schools.  In week one, AACS’ state relations team reviewed deregulation bills, which was followed by a review of state hour reduction bills last week.  Next week, we will turn our attention away from occupational licensure reform bills by examining state bill targeting for-profit schools.    

The bills in this report are color coded. Measures in green have been enacted into law and those listed in red are dead for 2019. Bills in blue have been enacted into law without the apprenticeship provisions detailed in this report.  

The text of the bills listed in this report can be found in AACS’ Bill Tracking Portal at: https://www.billtrack50.com/Public/Stakeholder/Jt1rI23hjU2jC1MOSr6KVA/Embedded.   

Please do not hesitate to contact me at bnewman@abingdonstrategies.com or by phone at 202-491-5254 with comments or questions. 

2019 State Apprenticeship Bills   

Arizona SB 1328
The Act, effective this summer, establishes cosmetology apprenticeship programs that include “at least two hundred fifty hours of infection protection and law review instruction.”  

Rules to implement the Act have yet to be published.  

Delaware HB 205
Prior final passage, HB 205 was amended to remove House-passed language that would have permitted licensees to supervise up to three apprentices and permitted a licensed instructor to supervise up to five apprentices. 

Georgia SB 214
The originally drafted bill passed by the Senate would have reduced apprenticeship hours for cosmetologists, hair designers, estheticians, nail technicians, master barber and barber II to the same level as the course of instruction at a school.  

In the closing minutes of Georgia’s 2019 legislative session, both the House and the Senate passed a SB 214 conference report that makes no changes to current barbering/cosmetology law except deleting the phrase “is of good moral character” as a qualification for licensure.  

Maine LD1502
The bill would have established apprenticeships for several licensed professions including cosmetology, barbering, limited barbering, nail technology and aesthetics. 

Missouri SB 204
Passage of SB 204 would have enacted the "Expanded Workforce Access Act of 2019 2019.”  Accordingly, each state licensing authority would be required to license individuals who successfully complete an apprenticeship approved by the appropriate licensing authority or the U.S. Department of Labor and has passed the required licensure examination.  The bill states “the number of working hours required for a competency-based apprenticeship or a hybrid apprenticeship under 29 CFR 29.5 shall not exceed the number of educational hours otherwise required for a non-apprenticeship license for the specific profession.”   

North Dakota HB 1215
The House voted to reject this bill to establish apprenticeships for cosmetology, estheticians, and manicurists.  The measure states that apprenticeship program must provide for no more than 1,800 hours of training, which is the current course of instruction for cosmetology. 

Help Your Students Find Their Path to Success!

PBA’s Beacon is an elite program that provides top beauty industry students with a unique opportunity to gain career insights from leading beauty influencers and network with owners from the most successful salons across the United States. 

AACS schools will receive exclusive discounted entry pricing of $25 off the regular price ($50 for PBA student members and $75 for non-members). Simply share the code "AACS" with your students along with these resources! 

Discover Student Resources!

For more information, please contact Leslie Perry, Education Manager, at leslie@probeauty.org.

Share your story

AACS is working with Plus Communications to better position AACS members to achieve our legislative and regulatory objectives at the federal level, ensuring lawmakers don’t pass misguided legislation that could severely harm our industry.

We need your help to tell the industry’s compelling story and save our industry from the negative consequences of harmful legislation. You can help by donating to help us fund this important public relations campaign, and by sharing stories and testimonials.

To submit a donation, please click here.

To submit a story, please click here.