Apprentice programs are approved courses of study based on a contract between a student and a licensee in a licensed shop.

Apprentice program time requirements are expressed in months rather than hours as outlined below:

Apprentice programs are approved by the department providing the licensee has been a licensed practitioner of the occupation for at least 3 years, and that the shop is an actively licensed cosmetology establishment.

Apprentice programs must following these guidelines:

• train not more than 7 hours a day or not more than 40 hours per week while receiving an average of not less than 80 hours per month in the prescribed curriculum
• send monthly time sheet to the department before the tenth day of the following month
• allow the cosmetology apprentice to perform services for clients of the shop only after completing 350 hours in the cosmetology curriculum and the apprentices training in other curriculum must complete 1/4 of the required training hours. Apprentices shall receive no pay for services rendered, and those services must be under the direct supervision of his or her practitioner
• report examination results to the state board at the end of the course of study