| Fact | Tricoci University of Beauty Culture |
|---|---|
| Type | Private, for-profit beauty school; campus programs, with no fully online programs |
| Campuses | 15 in 3 states: 10 in Illinois, 4 in Indiana, 1 in Wisconsin |
| Credentials | Certificates in cosmetology, esthetics, barbering (Illinois), manicuring (Indiana) and instructor training |
| Program length | Cosmetology about 10 to 13 months full-time, 17 to 22 months part-time (the school’s pages differ); esthetics about 5 months full-time |
| Accreditation | NACCAS, according to the school’s catalogs |
| Federal aid | Yes; the Illinois nail technology course is not eligible |
| Founded / owner | First campus 2004; all campuses under common private ownership |
| Prices | No tuition published online; federal 2025 figures below |
| Facts checked | 14 October 2026 |
A 15-campus beauty school in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin
Tricoci University of Beauty Culture is a private, for-profit beauty school that opened its first campus in 2004. All of its campuses are under common ownership, and each is a separate unit in federal data. It now has 15 campuses: ten in Illinois, from Chicago and its suburbs to Peoria, Rockford and Urbana; four in Indiana; and one in Janesville, Wisconsin. Cosmetology and esthetics are taught across the group; the full barber program is advertised at two Chicago-area campuses and manicuring at the Indiana campuses. Classes are on campus, with students working on clients in each campus’s salon and spa. The school lists awards such as AACS Golden School “School of the Year” badges (2022 and 2023); these are not accreditation.
Tricoci programs and where each is taught
| Program | Credential and hours | Length | Where | Prepares for | Sample cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetology | Certificate; 1,500 hrs (IL, IN), 1,550 hrs (WI) | About 12 to 13 months full-time; 20 to 22 months part-time | All 15 campuses | State cosmetology license exam | $19,520 (Peoria) to $21,594 (Highland) tuition, plus $3,445 kit (federal, 2025) |
| Esthetics | Certificate; 750 hrs (IL), 750 or 700 (IN), 600 or 450 (WI) | About 5 months full-time; 9 months part-time | All three states | State esthetician license exam | $13,184 tuition for 750 hrs at Peoria, Indianapolis and Highland, plus kit (federal, 2025) |
| Barbering | Certificate; 1,500 hrs, or 500-hr crossover for licensed cosmetologists | About 10 months full-time (Norwood Park); about 17 months part-time (Bridgeview) | Illinois | IDFPR barber exam | Ask the campus |
| Manicuring | Certificate; 600 or 450 hrs | About 6 to 7 months part-time; about 4 months full-time at Highland | Indiana | Indiana manicurist license | $6,900 tuition for 600 hrs at Indianapolis, plus $2,580 kit (federal, 2025) |
| Instructor training | Certificate; IL 500 to 1,000 hrs by program, IN 1,000 hrs | About 7 months full-time; 12 months part-time | Most Illinois and Indiana campuses | State instructor license | $13,500 for 1,000 hrs at Peoria, plus $1,970 kit (federal, 2025) |
Clock hours and campus approvals come from the school’s August 2026 catalogs, including the Illinois catalog for nine of the ten Illinois campuses; Chicago Norwood Park, Indiana and Highland-Janesville have catalogs of their own. Hours differ by state. Cosmetology and esthetics also have approved versions with 10% of the hours by distance education; nothing is taught fully online. Several campuses hold catalog approval for programs they do not advertise, so ask the campus what is actually enrolling.
What the main programs cover
Cosmetology
Cosmetology is the core program at every campus and leads to the “Tricoci University Certificate in Cosmetology”. The school’s flexible-schedule page gives about 29 hours a week for 12 to 13 months full-time, or about 22.5 hours a week for 20 to 22 months part-time, with day, afternoon and evening classes. Some campus pages show shorter estimates of about 10 and 17 months, so ask for the schedule in your enrollment agreement. Students work on clients in the campus salon before taking their state’s board exam.
Esthetics
Esthetics covers skin care, with services practiced on clients in the campus spa. It is 750 clock hours in Illinois; the Indiana catalog has 750- and 700-hour versions, and Janesville’s catalog lists aesthetics at 600 and 450 hours, although the school’s campus list shows only cosmetology there. The school gives about five months full-time or nine months part-time. As with cosmetology, an approved version delivers 10% of the hours by distance education.
Barbering
The full 1,500-hour barber program is advertised at two Illinois campuses: part-time evenings at Bridgeview, about 17 months, and full-time at Chicago Norwood Park, about 10 months. Licensed cosmetologists can take a 500-hour crossover, which credits up to 1,000 of their cosmetology hours. Graduates take the Illinois IDFPR written exam through Continental Testing Services, and students may sit it once they reach 1,200 hours. Barbering is listed for several other campuses on the school’s site, but their catalog entries or campus pages do not back that up.
Manicuring in Indiana
Tricoci markets nail training only in Indiana, where manicuring comes in 600- and 450-hour versions at Indianapolis, Lafayette and Highland, with Bloomington’s approval in the catalog. It runs part-time, at 20 to 23 hours a week for about six to seven months; Highland also offers about four months full-time. Indianapolis runs part-time manicuring by day, 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Graduates take the Indiana manicurist license exam. Six Illinois campuses hold catalog approval for a 350-hour course, but the school’s Chicago-area nail page points students to Highland.
Instructor training
Tricoci trains cosmetology and esthetics instructors, and barber instructors in Illinois. Illinois offers cosmetology and barber teacher programs of 500, 600 or 1,000 hours, depending on the route, and a 750-hour esthetics teacher program; Indiana’s instructor program is 1,000 hours. The school gives about seven months full-time or 12 months part-time. Indianapolis runs instructor classes Monday to Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Graduates apply for their state’s instructor license.
Cost: no published tuition, so federal figures
Tricoci does not publish tuition on its website. Its August 2026 catalogs say prices are in a separate Student Catalog Addendum, and the school says only that tuition “may vary slightly by campus”. Federal (IPEDS) figures labelled 2025, as shown on CollegeTuitionCompare, put cosmetology tuition at $19,520 at Peoria, IL, $20,458 at Indianapolis and $21,594 at Highland, IN, with a $3,445 kit on top. The 750-hour esthetics program is $13,184 at all three, plus a $2,220 to $2,420 kit.
In Wisconsin, the same 2025 federal data give Janesville’s 1,550-hour cosmetology tuition as $20,265 plus the $3,445 kit and its 600-hour esthetics as $7,490 plus $2,220, according to CollegeTuitionCompare’s Janesville page. These are federal figures, not the school’s current price list: ask the campus for the current catalog addendum before you sign.
The school advertises “No hidden fees” and a tuition guarantee. The Bloomington, Indiana campus page says the kit includes an Apple iPad and professional tools. The catalogs list a $100 non-refundable fee to transfer between campuses and $2 for a duplicate transcript. For a personal estimate, use the school’s net price calculator.
Financial aid and veterans’ benefits
Tricoci takes federal student aid, including Pell Grants and Direct Loans, and also offers school scholarships and grants, interest-free payment plans and workforce-development funding. One exception: the school’s Illinois nail technology page says federal aid is not available for that 350-hour course, though it is for Indiana nail students. The Chicago Northwest catalog says VA and federal-aid eligibility is set campus by campus, so veterans should ask the campus they plan to attend.
Admissions and start dates
- A high school diploma or equivalent. Illinois accepts a GED certificate or transcript, and home-school documentation is accepted.
- Applicants must speak, read and write English.
- Illinois: at least 16 by the first day of class. Indiana and Wisconsin: no minimum enrollment age is stated, but students must be 18 by the time they finish to qualify for the licensing exam.
- Admission is open to applicants who meet these requirements.
The school says enrollment begins every six weeks. Day, afternoon and evening classes are offered, with full-time and part-time tracks. Class times vary by campus: at Indianapolis, for example, full-time classes run 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and part-time evening classes 5:30 to 10:00 p.m.
NACCAS accreditation and state licensing
Tricoci’s catalogs and its accreditation page say the school is accredited by the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts & Sciences (NACCAS). Highland and Janesville are listed as main locations in their own right. We could not check NACCAS’s own directory, so confirm the campus’s current standing with NACCAS before you enroll.
Each state licenses the school and its graduates separately: in Illinois the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), in Indiana the Professional Licensing Agency’s State Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, and in Wisconsin the Department of Safety and Professional Services. Our limited October 2026 searches found no lawsuit, settlement, state action, NACCAS action or closure involving Tricoci from 2023 to 2026.
Completion, placement and licensure by campus
Tricoci publishes NACCAS-format rates for each campus in its Student Disclosure and Program Information report for the 2024 cohort, as of 30 November 2025. Across the 15 campuses, completion ranges from 69% to 95%, placement from 64% to 100% and licensure from 70% to 96%. Completion counts students scheduled to graduate in the reporting year who graduated before the deadline; placement counts eligible graduates placed before the deadline; licensure counts graduates who sat every part of the state exam and passed. Check the row for your campus.
Before you enroll
- No prices are posted online. Tuition is in a catalog addendum you have to ask for, and the federal figures on this page are labelled 2025 and may not match current prices.
- The school’s own pages disagree on cosmetology length: about 10 months full-time and 17 part-time on campus pages, 12 to 13 and 20 to 22 months on the schedule page. Get the schedule for your campus in writing.
- Programs differ by campus. The full barber program is advertised only at Bridgeview (part-time) and Chicago Norwood Park, and manicuring is marketed only in Indiana. The school’s campus list shows barbering at some campuses whose catalog or campus page doesn’t back it up.
- Illinois nail technology students can’t use federal aid, and the school sends Chicago-area nail students to Highland, Indiana.
- Outcomes vary widely by campus: licensure rates run from 70% to 96% and placement from 64% to 100%. Look up your campus in the disclosure report.
Tricoci’s 15 campuses
- Chicago (Bridgeview), IL: 7350 West 87th Street, Bridgeview, IL 60455
- Chicago (Norwood Park), IL: 5321 North Harlem Avenue, Chicago, IL 60656
- Chicago (Rogers Park), IL: 6458 North Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60626
- Elgin, IL: 264 South Randall Road, Elgin, IL 60123
- Chicago (Glendale Heights), IL: 530 East North Avenue, Glendale Heights, IL 60139
- Chicago (Libertyville), IL: 751 East Park Avenue, Libertyville, IL 60048
- Bloomington-Normal (Normal), IL: 1503 E College Ave, Suite L, Normal, IL 61761
- Peoria, IL: 602 West Glen Avenue, Peoria, IL 61614
- Rockford, IL: 5485 East State Street, Rockford, IL 61108
- Champaign-Urbana (Urbana), IL: 202 East University Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801
- Bloomington, IN: 1681 N College Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47404
- Indianapolis, IN: 9725 Crosspoint Commons, Indianapolis, IN 46256
- Lafayette, IN: 833 Ferry Street, Lafayette, IN 47901
- Chicago (Highland), IN: 2549 Highway Avenue, Highland, IN 46322
- Janesville, WI: 2310 W Court Street, Janesville, WI 53548
The two Chicago campuses are listed by neighbourhood: Norwood Park (the school’s Chicago Northwest, on North Harlem Avenue) and Rogers Park (Chicago Northeast, on North Sheridan Road). The school’s Indianapolis campus is on Crosspoint Commons although the school labels it Fishers. Tricoci’s administrative office in Park Ridge, Illinois, has no classes and is not counted as a campus.
Student salons and career help
Every campus runs a student salon and spa that is open to the public. For Libertyville, Illinois workNet lists career help that includes placement assistance, job fairs, interview preparation, on-campus employer recruiting, résumé help and alumni networking. The school’s materials we checked do not mention student housing.
What students say
Every Tricoci campus page we checked on Niche had fewer than 25 reviews in October 2026, the minimum we need for a summary, so we give no rating or review themes here.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Cosmetology and Esthetics
- Cosmetology
- Esthetics (Aesthetics in Wisconsin)
Barbering and Nails
- Barbering (Illinois)
- Barber Crossover for licensed cosmetologists (500 hours, Illinois)
- Nail Technology / Manicuring (Indiana)
Instructor Training
- Cosmetology Teacher
- Esthetics Teacher
- Barber Teacher (Illinois)
Campus Locations
Chicago (Bridgeview), IL 7350 West 87th Street, Bridgeview, IL 60455
Chicago (Norwood Park), IL 5321 North Harlem Avenue, Chicago, IL 60656
Chicago (Rogers Park), IL 6458 North Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60626
Elgin, IL 264 South Randall Road, Elgin, IL 60123
Chicago (Glendale Heights), IL 530 East North Avenue, Glendale Heights, IL 60139
Chicago (Libertyville), IL 751 East Park Avenue, Libertyville, IL 60048
Bloomington-Normal (Normal), IL 1503 E College Ave, Suite L, Normal, IL 61761
Peoria, IL 602 West Glen Avenue, Peoria, IL 61614
Rockford, IL 5485 East State Street, Rockford, IL 61108
Champaign-Urbana (Urbana), IL 202 East University Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801
Bloomington, IN 1681 N College Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47404
Indianapolis, IN 9725 Crosspoint Commons, Indianapolis, IN 46256
Lafayette, IN 833 Ferry Street, Lafayette, IN 47901
Chicago (Highland), IN 2549 Highway Avenue, Highland, IN 46322
Janesville, WI 2310 W Court Street, Janesville, WI 53548