| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Campus-based career school; one program (Administrative Medical Assistant) is taught online |
| Campuses | 19 in 4 states: California 7, Nevada 3, New Mexico 1, Texas 8 (October 2026) |
| Brands | Milan Institute (12 campuses) and Milan Institute of Cosmetology (7 campuses), one institution |
| Credentials | Certificates and diplomas |
| Program length | 24 weeks (Esthetician, Manicurist) to 51 weeks (HVAC-R, Electrician Technician) |
| Accreditation | COE (Milan Institute campuses) or NACCAS (Milan Institute of Cosmetology campuses); Houston, Las Cruces and Sparks are still applying to COE, and Denton, Plano and El Paso West hold provisional NACCAS status |
| Federal aid | Yes, at every campus |
| Owner | Amarillo College of Hairdressing, Inc., a family-owned, for-profit Texas corporation |
| Founded | 1985, according to the school; the owning company traces back to an Amarillo hairdressing school |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
One school, two brands, 19 campuses
Milan Institute is a private, for-profit career school owned by Amarillo College of Hairdressing, Inc., a family-owned Texas corporation; the school describes itself as serving “students, not shareholders”. It teaches mostly licensed beauty trades, and has added medical, dental, massage and, since 2025, skilled-trades programs. Twelve campuses use the Milan Institute name and come under the Council on Occupational Education (COE), though Houston, Las Cruces and Sparks are still applying for accreditation; seven are Milan Institute of Cosmetology campuses under NACCAS, three of them with only provisional status. Both are the same institution.
The school dates itself to 1985 and says it has more than 50,000 graduates. Its own catalogs give a longer history: an Amarillo hairdressing school bought in 1968, taken over by the current owners in 2002 and renamed Milan Institute of Cosmetology in 2005. In 2025 and 2026 it added campuses in Houston, Denton, Plano, El Paso West and Las Cruces, its first in New Mexico.
Programs at Milan’s 19 campuses
Milan’s menu has 12 programs, but no campus teaches all of them, and campus web pages often show the full menu rather than what that campus teaches. The list below follows each campus’s own 2026 catalog. Lengths are the school’s headline figures; hours are given where the school’s California state filings publish them, and other states set their own minimum hours.
| Program | Length | Delivery | Where offered | Prepares for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetology | 34 weeks; 1,000 hours in CA | Campus, day and evening; student salon | 18 campuses in all 4 states (not Sparks) | State cosmetology license |
| Advanced Cosmetology | 44 weeks; 1,300 hours in CA | Campus | 15 campuses in CA and TX | State cosmetology license |
| Barbering | 34 weeks | Campus, evenings at many sites | 15 campuses in CA, NM and TX | State barber license |
| Esthetician | 24 weeks; 600 hours in CA | Campus; student spa | 17 campuses in all 4 states | State esthetician license |
| Advanced Esthetician | 45 weeks; 900 hours in the San Antonio catalog | Campus | 16 campuses in CA, NV and TX | State esthetician license |
| Manicurist & Nail Technology | 24 weeks; 600 hours in CA | Campus | 18 campuses in all 4 states (not Sparks) | State manicurist or nail license |
| Massage Therapy | 34 weeks; 740 hours in CA | Campus; student massage spa | Palm Desert, Visalia, Sparks, Houston, San Antonio (Ingram Rd) | State massage licensure; CA campuses are CAMTC-approved |
| Medical Assisting | 36 weeks; 780 hours in CA | Campus plus off-site externship | Merced, Palm Desert, Visalia, Las Vegas, Sparks, Amarillo, Houston | Entry-level medical assisting; no certification exam named |
| Dental Assistant | 36 weeks; 780 or 845 hours (sources differ) | Campus plus off-site externship | Merced, Palm Desert, Visalia, Sparks, Amarillo | Entry-level dental assisting; no RDA or DANB credential claimed |
| Administrative Medical Assistant | 36 weeks; 780 hours in CA | Online, through 8 campuses | Merced, Palm Desert, Visalia, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Sparks, Amarillo, Houston | Medical front-office work |
| HVAC-R | 51 weeks | Campus labs | Houston only | Entry-level HVAC-R work; no certification named |
| Electrician Technician | 51 weeks | Campus labs | Houston only | Entry-level electrical work; no license or certification named |
| Provisional Instructor / Instructor | Not published | Campus | Las Vegas, Reno, Sparks, Las Cruces | State cosmetology instructor license |
Every beauty program is practiced on paying clients in a student salon or spa, and massage students do an internship in the school’s student massage spa. Medical Assisting and Dental Assistant end with externships in off-site offices that the school arranges. Neither program has programmatic accreditation (such as ABHES, CAAHEP or CODA).
What the main programs cover
Cosmetology and Advanced Cosmetology
The standard program takes 34 weeks and prepares students for the state board cosmetology exam, with practice on clients in the student salon. Advanced Cosmetology, taught in California and Texas only, stretches the program to 44 weeks by adding five 60-hour modules chosen from seven: eyelash extensions, makeup artistry, hair extensions, advanced cutting, color, skin care and nail education. Eyelash extensions, once a separate program, now exists only as one of these modules. Students must be 17 by the time they finish. Most campuses run day and evening classes.
Esthetician and Advanced Esthetician
Esthetician is the shorter, 24-week route to an esthetician license, built around treatments on clients in the student spa. Advanced Esthetician is badged by state (CA, NV or TX), runs 45 weeks and adds medical-esthetics and spa-management content for students aiming at medical spas. In August and September 2026 the school added an Aura 3D skin-analysis scanner across its campuses, which prospective students can also try on a campus tour.
Medical Assisting
Medical Assisting takes about nine months and trains for both the front and back office: anatomy, pharmacology, 12-lead electrocardiography, phlebotomy, medical office procedures and insurance billing and coding. It ends with a clinical externship at an off-site medical facility. Students must be 18 by the time they finish. The current program page names no certification exam, so ask the campus which exam, if any, graduates are prepared for.
Dental Assistant
Dental Assistant runs 36 weeks at five campuses and combines chairside assisting and dental radiography, finishing with an externship at an off-site dental office. CPR and First Aid certification is included. The school’s sources disagree on its length: the program page says 780 hours, while Visalia’s 2025 state filing says 845 clock hours. No state dental board approval or registered dental assistant credential is claimed, which matters in California, where chairside duties are regulated.
Administrative Medical Assistant
This is the only program the school describes as 100% online, with flexible scheduling, but it is sold through eight campuses rather than nationally. The curriculum covers appointment scheduling, HIPAA, Microsoft Office, CPT and ICD coding, insurance types (Medicare, HMO and PPO), basic accounting and computerized billing. Visalia’s California filing treats it as a campus program and federal data recorded no online students at Merced in fall 2023, so the online format appears to be recent; ask how the 780 hours are delivered at your campus.
HVAC-R and Electrician Technician (Houston)
Both programs started at the Houston campus in 2025 and take 51 weeks. HVAC-R moves from trade math, safety and refrigerant handling through soldering, brazing, ductwork and heat pumps to commercial and industrial refrigeration. Electrician Technician starts with circuits, test equipment and the National Electrical Code, then covers residential wiring, conduit bending, motors, lighting, transformers, control systems, load calculations and fire alarms. HVAC-R adds customer-service and leadership modules, and Electrician Technician leadership, systems-management and design modules. Neither page names a certification, such as EPA Section 608, or a license.
Cost and paying for it
Milan does not publish prices on its website. Each 2026 catalog points to a separate tuition schedule that is not posted online. The only published prices are California’s: the school’s 2024 annual reports to California’s Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) put total program charges at $10,700 to $19,300, from Manicurist to Advanced Cosmetology. No price is published for any program in Texas, Nevada or New Mexico.
Federal aid (Pell Grants and federal loans) is available at every campus, and FAFSA school codes differ by campus. In the 2024 California reports, 77% to 84% of students took federal loans, and public money made up 93% of income at the Fresno and Visalia units. Milan lists these scholarships for 2026:
- Alumni Scholarship: $2,000 for programs of 600 hours or more, $1,000 for shorter ones
- Skilled Trades Career Readiness Scholarship: $1,500 (HVAC-R and Electrician Technician, Houston)
- Evening Pathway Scholarship: $1,250
- Allied Health (Future Healthcare Professionals), Milan Commitment (for high school graduates) and First Generation Student scholarships: $1,000 each
- Alumni Referral / Family & Friend Scholarship: $500
- Las Cruces only: a limited $7,000 scholarship for Administrative Medical Assistant
The school says it awarded $1,360,250 across 977 scholarships in 2026. It also offers private payment plans and accepts WIOA and vocational rehabilitation funding, and it is on California’s Eligible Training Provider List. VA education benefits are not available everywhere: the financial-aid page names Fresno, El Paso, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Reno and Sparks, and approval is by program, so check with your campus.
Admissions and schedule
Admission is open to applicants with a high school diploma or equivalent. Applicants without one can pass an approved ability-to-benefit test (Wonderlic Basic Skills Test or ACCUPLACER, or the Texas Success Initiative in Texas) or enroll through an eligible career pathway program. The school says more than 500 students have earned a high school diploma while enrolled, at no extra cost. Students must be 17 by graduation for beauty programs and 18 for health programs.
Enrollment is rolling: the catalogs say students may enroll on any day the admissions office is open, and classes start on a regular schedule. Most campuses run day and evening classes; Merced and Sparks post hours to 10:30 p.m., Monday to Thursday, while Denton and Plano post weekday hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. No campus posts weekend hours.
Accreditation and results
Milan Institute campuses are accredited by COE (Merced since February 2013, Visalia since December 2015, Palm Desert and Amarillo since February 2016). Three are not yet accredited in their own right: Houston, Las Cruces and Sparks each carry a notice that the campus “is applying for accreditation” with COE. The seven Milan Institute of Cosmetology campuses are accredited by NACCAS, with Reno as the main location. Vacaville and San Antonio South hold full additional-location accreditation, but Denton, Plano and El Paso West hold only “Provisional Additional Location Accreditation”. Campuses are also approved by California’s BPPE, the Texas Workforce Commission and TDLR, and New Mexico’s barber and cosmetology board and Higher Education Department. Palm Desert and Visalia are CAMTC-approved massage schools.
All published outcome data is from California. The table shows selected 2024 figures from the school’s BPPE filings: the School Performance Fact Sheets filed in 2025 (Visalia, Bakersfield) and the 2024 annual reports (Vacaville, Fresno unit). On-time completion means finishing within the scheduled program length; placement counts graduates employed in the field out of graduates available for work.
| Campus and program (2024) | On-time completion | Job placement | License pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visalia, Medical Assisting | 41.5% | 74.7% | No license exam |
| Visalia, Dental Assistant | 47.7% | 71.1% | No license exam |
| Visalia, Esthetician | 25.5% | 45.5% | 73.9% |
| Visalia, Advanced Cosmetology | 9.5% | 34.5% | 63.2% |
| Bakersfield, Cosmetology | 19.2% | 26.9% | 81.0% |
| Vacaville, Cosmetology | Not stated | 74.6% | 97.9% |
| Vacaville, Manicurist | Not stated | 90.6% | 100% (29 of 29) |
| Fresno main unit (with Bakersfield and Merced), Esthetician | Not stated | 28.2% | 81.2% |
Across the Fresno main unit and its Bakersfield and Merced branches, completion ran from 11.8% to 44.4% by program in 2024. Federal data give Merced a 46% graduation rate for students who started in 2020-21, and the cohort default rate there was 0.0% (FY2021). The school’s California fact sheets almost all say it could not obtain salary information for employed graduates. No outcome data is published for the Texas, Nevada or New Mexico campuses.
Which campus teaches what
| Campus | Brand and accreditation | Programs (2026 catalog) |
|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield, CA | Milan Institute; COE | Six beauty programs* |
| Fresno (N. Fresno St), CA | Milan Institute; COE; California main campus | Six beauty programs* |
| Fresno (W. Shaw Ave), CA | Milan Institute; COE | Cosmetology, Advanced Cosmetology, Manicurist |
| Merced, CA | Milan Institute; COE | Six beauty programs*, Medical Assisting, Administrative Medical Assistant, Dental Assistant |
| Palm Desert, CA | Milan Institute; COE; CAMTC | All ten core programs |
| Vacaville, CA | Milan Institute of Cosmetology; NACCAS | Six beauty programs* |
| Visalia, CA | Milan Institute; COE; CAMTC | All ten core programs |
| Las Vegas, NV | Milan Institute; COE | Cosmetology, Esthetician, Advanced Esthetician, Nail Technology, Medical Assisting, Administrative Medical Assistant, Provisional Instructor |
| Reno, NV | Milan Institute of Cosmetology; NACCAS main location | Cosmetology, Nail Technology, Provisional Instructor |
| Sparks (Reno area), NV | Milan Institute; applying for COE | Esthetician, Advanced Esthetician, Massage Therapy, Medical Assisting, Administrative Medical Assistant, Dental Assistant, Provisional Instructor |
| Las Cruces, NM | Milan Institute; applying for COE | Cosmetology, Barbering, Esthetician, Manicurist, Instructor, Administrative Medical Assistant |
| Amarillo, TX | Milan Institute; COE | Six beauty programs*, Medical Assisting, Administrative Medical Assistant, Dental Assistant |
| Denton, TX | Milan Institute of Cosmetology; NACCAS provisional | Six beauty programs* |
| El Paso (George Dieter Dr), TX | Milan Institute of Cosmetology; NACCAS | Six beauty programs* |
| El Paso West (Sunland Park Dr), TX | Milan Institute of Cosmetology; NACCAS provisional | Six beauty programs* |
| Houston, TX | Milan Institute; applying for COE | Six beauty programs*, Massage Therapy, Medical Assisting, Administrative Medical Assistant, HVAC-R, Electrician Technician |
| Plano, TX | Milan Institute of Cosmetology; NACCAS provisional | Six beauty programs* |
| San Antonio (Ingram Rd), TX | Milan Institute; COE | Six beauty programs*, Massage Therapy |
| San Antonio (SW Military Dr), TX | Milan Institute of Cosmetology; NACCAS | Six beauty programs* |
*Six beauty programs: Cosmetology, Advanced Cosmetology, Barbering, Esthetician, Advanced Esthetician and Manicurist. The ten core programs are those six plus Massage Therapy, Medical Assisting, Administrative Medical Assistant and Dental Assistant.
Closures and moves
Milan left Idaho when its Boise campus closed; third-party school listings date the closure to 30 March 2023. Its second Bakersfield campus (North Sillect) and its La Quinta, CA campus have also closed, on dates the school does not publish. Several campuses have moved: Fairfield to Vacaville in February 2021, Fresno from West Bullard Avenue (left in 2021) to North Fresno Street, Las Vegas from South Tonopah Drive to Rancho Drive, and Amarillo, from two sites, to Bell Street. Pharmacy Technician, Computer Systems Technician and Administrative Assistant are no longer offered.
Legal record
We found no lawsuit, settlement, state action or federal aid sanction from 2023 to 2026, and California records show the school current with its state fees. We could not check COE or NACCAS action lists.
Before you enroll
- Six of the 19 campuses are not fully accredited: Houston, Las Cruces and Sparks are still applying to COE, and Denton, Plano and El Paso West hold provisional NACCAS status. Ask what happens to your credits and aid if accreditation is not granted.
- Campus web pages often list programs a campus does not teach. Reno, for example, teaches no medical programs, and Sparks teaches no cosmetology. Check the campus’s 2026 catalog.
- In California, most students do not finish on time. On-time completion in the 2024 California filings was as low as 9.5% (Visalia Advanced Cosmetology), and several beauty programs placed fewer than half their graduates in jobs.
- Prices are not published outside California. Get the campus’s tuition schedule (the catalog’s “Insert II”) in writing before you sign.
- The medical and dental programs carry no programmatic accreditation and name no certification exam. Check what employers and your state expect.
Housing and career help
No campus offers housing. The career services team helps with résumés through the E-Hired platform, which also posts job leads, and runs interview coaching, job fairs and guest speakers. It places students in externships and internships and makes employer referrals, and the school says these services continue after graduation. Former students can request transcripts and use the alumni referral scholarships.
What students say
Two of Milan’s Niche pages have 25 or more reviews (checked 6 October 2026): Sparks, rated 4.14 out of 5 from 49 reviews, and Visalia, 4.1 from 28. That covers only two of 19 campuses; Milan’s other Niche pages have 24 reviews or fewer each.
- Praised: supportive, patient instructors who give constructive feedback; hands-on work on the salon and spa floor; day and evening schedules that suit working students.
- Criticized: communication and professionalism in the office; strict attendance rules; unclear financial-aid guidance.
Treat these ratings with some caution. Review dates could not be checked, and the Bakersfield profile, which the school has claimed, rates noticeably higher (4.63 from 24 reviews) than any other campus. Amarillo’s page is the lowest, at 3.71 from 14.
Sources
Checked October 2026: Milan Institute locations · Programs · 2026 campus catalogs · California disclosures (BPPE fact sheets) · NACCAS disclosures · Financial aid and scholarships · College Navigator (Merced) · Niche (Sparks)
Programs & Courses
Hair and nails
- Cosmetology
- Advanced Cosmetology (California and Texas)
- Barbering (California, New Mexico and Texas)
- Manicurist & Nail Technology
Skin care
- Esthetician
- Advanced Esthetician (California, Nevada and Texas)
Massage
- Massage Therapy
Medical and dental
- Medical Assisting
- Administrative Medical Assistant (online)
- Dental Assistant
Skilled trades (Houston)
- HVAC-R
- Electrician Technician
Teaching
- Provisional Instructor (Nevada) / Instructor (New Mexico)
Campus Locations
Bakersfield, CA 2822 F Street, Suite H, Bakersfield, CA 93301
Fresno, CA 7575 N Fresno St, Fresno, CA 93720
Fresno, CA 3117 W. Shaw Ave, Suite 108, Fresno, CA 93711
Merced, CA 780 Loughborough Drive, Merced, CA 95348
Palm Desert, CA 75-030 Gerald Ford Drive, Suite 203, Palm Desert, CA 92211
Vacaville, CA 1679 E Monte Vista Ave, Suite 200, Vacaville, CA 95688
Visalia, CA 6500 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, CA 93277
Las Vegas, NV 2250 Rancho Drive, Suite 205, Las Vegas, NV 89102
Reno, NV 4020 Kietzke Lane, Reno, NV 89502
Reno (Sparks), NV 950 Industrial Way, Sparks, NV 89431
Las Cruces, NM 1440 Missouri Ave, Suite 7, Las Cruces, NM 88001
Amarillo, TX 3440 Bell Street, Suite 212, Amarillo, TX 79109
Dallas-Fort Worth (Denton), TX 2215 S. Loop 288, Suite 418, Denton, TX 76205
El Paso, TX 1580 George Dieter Drive, Suite 207, El Paso, TX 79936
El Paso, TX 750 Sunland Park Drive, Suite E-08B, El Paso, TX 79912
Houston, TX 70 FM 1960 West, Houston, TX 77090
Dallas (Plano), TX 3033 W. Parker Road, Suite 205, Plano, TX 75023
San Antonio, TX 6804 Ingram Road, San Antonio, TX 78238
San Antonio, TX 605 Southwest Military Drive, San Antonio, TX 78221