Hair Expressions Academy
Rockville, MD · official site ↗
Private for-profitLess-than-two-year institution (not classified by Carnegie)
–
Fin. Resilience
Hair Expressions Academy is a private for-profit institution in Rockville, MD, classified by Carnegie as “Less-than-two-year institution (not classified by Carnegie).”
It enrolls about 38 undergraduates and is benchmarked here against 1303 peer institutions (Less-than-two-year · Private for-profit).
Its strongest standing relative to peers is loan repayment rate (7-yr) (60.9%, 93rd percentile).
Its weakest is enrollment momentum (CAGR) (-13.6%).
Ibex's cross-metric scan flags: Undergrad enrollment down 69% since 2016.
Peer group
Less-than-two-year · Private for-profit
1303 institutions
Undergrad enrollment down 69% since 2016
What changedlargest year-over-year moves
Pell recipient share
▼ -61%
66.4% → 25.9%
2022→2024
Graduation rate (150% of normal time)
▲ +15%
72.6% → 83.5%
2022→2024
Median debt at graduation
▼ -3%
$9,833 → $9,500
2019→2020
Most recent single-year change in each tracked metric. Green = moved in this metric’s favorable direction, red = unfavorable, grey = size or context, not scored. Each row uses the latest pair of years that metric has, and federal collections release on different schedules, so the years differ from row to row: read the years on the row, not just the ranking. A single year is also not a trend, the multi-year series is on each metric’s card below.
Policy & demographic exposure
How exposed Hair Expressions Academy is to the structural shifts reshaping higher ed: a composite structural-risk index plus the 2025 federal budget law’s endowment excise tax, Grad PLUS elimination, new Parent PLUS borrowing cap and new Workforce Pell short-term-credential opportunity, and the demographic enrollment cliff. Only signals that apply to this institution are shown.
Workforce Pell exposureShare of this school's measured credentials that are undergraduate certificates, the sub-associate tier the 2025 budget law's new Workforce Pell Grant makes Pell-eligible from July 2026 (short-term programs of 150–600 clock hours over 8–15 weeks). An opportunity signal: higher = more of what the school already produces could draw new federal grant aid. Source: College Scorecard Field-of-Study; an upper-bound proxy since the certificate tier spans varying lengths.
100%
Certificate-intensiveHigher than 78% of schools nationally
Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.
-15.2%
Steep declineIndicative signals, not forecasts, see each metric’s definition and the methodology. Endowment-tax, Grad PLUS, Parent PLUS and Workforce Pell figures appear only where the institution is actually exposed; “nationally” compares against all schools that report each signal.
Turn these signals into action
Seeing exposure is step one. Ibex builds AI agents that monitor and act on exactly these pressures, explore an interactive demo. Live demos run real workflows; the rest are working mockups we build to your institution’s data.
Revenue composition
Where the money comes from
$861,647 total revenue · IPEDS FY2022-23
Tuition & fees is the largest single source at 97% of revenue.
Tuition & fees97.5%
Other revenue2.5%
Where each dollar of revenue comes from, as a share of total positive revenue. Sources are standardized across public (GASB) and private (FASB) reporting; a net investment loss in a down market is shown as 0% and excluded from the mix.
Federal funding mix
Which agencies fund this schoolThe share of this school's federal funding that comes from each awarding agency in FY2024. These are dollars agencies committed (obligations), not dollars the school spent, so the total will not match the audited federal-awards-expended figure elsewhere on this page. Matched to the school by its own SAM.gov Unique Entity ID.
$447,129 obligated · FY2024
Education alone accounts for 100% of it.
Education100.0%
Federal dollars each agency committed to this institution in FY2024, as a share of its total positive obligations (USAspending.gov). Obligations are money committed, not money spent, so this total will not match the audited “Federal awards expended” figure elsewhere on this page. Amounts an agency reclaimed during the year are excluded.
Financial Health
The bar under each rank is the spread across the peer group: the shaded box is the middle half, the pale line is their median, and the gold marker is this institution. Hover for the figures.
Avg Parent PLUS loanAverage Parent PLUS loan originated per recipient family.As filed
$15,400
92nd percentile in peer grouppeer median $8,599
context, not scored
AY2025-26 YTD (Federal Student Aid)563 peers
Average federal Parent PLUS loan per recipient (U.S. Dept. of Education, FSA Direct Loan Dashboard, AY2025-26 YTD). Parent PLUS faces new aggregate borrowing caps under the 2025 budget law; a high average shows how far families currently borrow above other federal aid. Companion to the Grad PLUS and Parent PLUS cap-gap signals. Context, not a quality measure. From the Federal Student Aid Direct Loan dashboard for award year 2025-26, year-to-date through Q2. A partial year, so it is not comparable with a full-year total.
Financial responsibility scoreED financial-responsibility composite score (-1.0 to 3.0; >=1.5 is passing).Regulator / auditor finding
Average
2.2
44th percentile in peer grouppeer median 2.4
higher is better
FY2022-23 (Federal Student Aid)913 peers
The U.S. Department of Education's financial-responsibility composite score, a -1.0 to +3.0 measure of an institution's solvency built from its audited finances. 1.5 and above passes; 1.0-1.4 is a zone needing oversight; below 1.0 fails and can trigger letter-of-credit or cash-monitoring requirements. ED computes it only for private non-profit and proprietary schools, so it is reported only where scored. Higher is safer. Banded against the school's peer group.
Federal funding obligatedHow much externally funded research the institution does. Shown as scale, not quality: it reflects mission, and an institution that does no sponsored research is not thereby worse at teaching. Useful for finding peers of comparable research intensity.Total federal dollars all agencies committed to this institution in FY2024, across grants, contracts, and student aid.As filed
$447,129
59th percentile in peer grouppeer median $372,624
context, not scored
FY2024 (USAspending.gov)349 peers
Obligations reported to USAspending.gov for FY2024 (Oct 2023 to Sep 2024), summed across every awarding agency. This is money committed, not money spent, so it will not equal the audited 'Federal awards expended' figure and the two should not be subtracted from one another. Negative amounts (agencies reclaiming prior commitments) are excluded.
Federal funding agenciesHow many distinct federal agencies committed money to this institution in FY2024.As filed
1
50th percentile in peer grouppeer median 1
context, not scored
FY2024 (USAspending.gov)349 peers
A count of awarding agencies with positive FY2024 obligations. Neither high nor low is inherently better: a community college funded solely by the Department of Education is behaving normally, while a research university typically draws on ten or more agencies.
Largest funder's shareShare of federal funding that comes from the single largest awarding agency.Calculated from filings
100%
50th percentile in peer grouppeer median 100%
context, not scored
FY2024 (USAspending.gov)349 peers
The largest agency's FY2024 obligations as a share of the institution's total positive federal obligations. Read it as concentration, not risk: most teaching colleges sit near 100% because nearly all their federal money is Department of Education student aid.
Operational-risk index (official findings)0-100 severity of what federal regulators and auditors have actually said about this institution. Higher means more official concern.Blended index
Clean
11.0
52nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 9.0
lower is better
ED composite FY2022-23 (Federal Student Aid)913 peers
A 0-100 severity score built only from published federal determinations: the Department of Education's financial-responsibility composite score, its Heightened Cash Monitoring list, and the going-concern, material-weakness, material-noncompliance, modified-opinion and repeat-finding results of the school's Single Audit. It is deliberately NOT a model: every component is something a regulator or an independent auditor put in writing. Components are scored only where they exist, and the score is their weighted average, so a school assessed on two signals sits on the same scale as one assessed on seven. Schools with neither a composite score nor a Single Audit on file are omitted rather than shown as clean: ED does not compute a composite score for public institutions, and no audit on file means nobody looked, not that nothing was found. Read it alongside the structural-risk index, which is the tool's own forward-looking model rather than a record of findings. Lower is better. The window shown is the one this school's own figure was measured over: it is shorter where the series starts late, ends early, or is cut at a reporting change, so peers are not all measured over identical years.
Enrollment & Pipeline
The bar under each rank is the spread across the peer group: the shaded box is the middle half, the pale line is their median, and the gold marker is this institution. Hover for the figures.
Undergraduate enrollmentNumber of degree-seeking undergraduates (IPEDS fall headcount). A size measure, not a quality signal.As filed
38
15th percentile in peer grouppeer median 99
context, not scored
2024-25 (Scorecard)1303 peers
Graduation rate (150% of normal time)Of first-time, full-time degree- or certificate-seeking students, the share who completed within 150% of the program's normal time (about three years for a two-year program), per College Scorecard. This is the two-year analogue of the six-year graduation rate shown for four-year colleges.As filed
Strong
83.5%
71st percentile in peer grouppeer median 74.6%
higher is better
2024-25 (Scorecard)1218 peers
Share of first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking students who completed within 150% of the program's normal time (about three years for a two-year program), per College Scorecard. The two-year analogue of the six-year rate shown for four-year colleges.
Graduation rate (on-time)Of first-time, full-time degree- or certificate-seeking students, the share who completed within the program's normal time (100%, on-time), per College Scorecard. Reported for two-year and less-than-two-year institutions.As filed
Strong
69.6%
82nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 23.6%
higher is better
2024-25 (Scorecard)1218 peers
Share of first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking students who completed within the program's normal time (100%), per College Scorecard. Reported for two-year and less-than-two-year institutions.
Pell recipient shareShare of undergraduates receiving a Pell grant, the standard proxy for how many low-income students a school enrolls. Not scored in either direction: it is a measure of who a school serves, and both a high and a low share are defensible depending on the mission.Share of undergraduates on a federal Pell Grant, a proxy for the share from lower-income families.As filed
25.9%
9th percentile in peer grouppeer median 57%
context, not scored
2024-25 (Scorecard)1301 peers
First-generation studentsShare of undergraduates who are the first in their family to attend college.As filed
57.5%
72nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 52.3%
context, not scored
2016-17 (Scorecard)918 peers
Share of undergraduates who are first-generation college students (College Scorecard, 2016-17). An access signal, not a measure of quality: a higher share often reflects a stronger commitment to serving students whose parents did not attend college. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file, built from aid-applicant records rather than the full student body, and not republished since.
Part-time undergraduatesShare of undergraduates enrolled part-time.As filed
0%
25th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0%
context, not scored
2024-25 (Scorecard)1301 peers
Share of undergraduates enrolled part-time (College Scorecard, 2024-25). Context, not quality: a high part-time share is common at community and commuter institutions and affects graduation-rate comparisons, which are based only on full-time, first-time students.
Median family incomeMedian family income of students at this institution.As filed
$21,095
74th percentile in peer grouppeer median $16,446
context, not scored
2016-17 (Scorecard)1073 peers
Median family income of students at this institution (College Scorecard, 2016-17). An affordability and access signal, not a measure of quality: a lower figure typically means the school enrolls more students from modest-income families. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file, built from aid-applicant records rather than the full student body, and not republished since.
Low-income students (under $30K)Share of students from families earning under about $30,000 a year.As filed
60.3%
25th percentile in peer grouppeer median 70.5%
context, not scored
2016-17 (Scorecard)1032 peers
Share of students whose families earn under roughly $30,000 a year (College Scorecard, 2016-17). A direct low-income access signal: a higher share usually reflects a school enrolling more students from modest-income households, and pairs naturally with the Pell recipient share. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file, built from aid-applicant records rather than the full student body, and not republished since.
Women (share of undergraduates)Share of undergraduates who are women.As filed
92.1%
48th percentile in peer grouppeer median 92.7%
context, not scored
2024-25 (Scorecard)1303 peers
Share of undergraduates who are women (College Scorecard, 2024-25). Reported as context on the student mix, not a measure of quality.
Middle-income students ($30K-$75K)Share of students from families earning roughly $30,000 to $75,000 a year.As filed
27%
79th percentile in peer grouppeer median 22.1%
context, not scored
2016-17 (Scorecard)612 peers
Share of students whose families earn roughly $30,000 to $75,000 a year (College Scorecard, 2016-17), the two middle income bands combined. Reported as context on the student mix: together with the low-income (under ~$30K) and upper-income (over ~$75K) shares it sketches the full family-income picture, and the three bands sum to about 100%. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file, built from aid-applicant records rather than the full student body, and not republished since.
Upper-income students (over $75K)Share of students from families earning more than about $75,000 a year.As filed
12.7%
62nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 9.2%
context, not scored
2016-17 (Scorecard)482 peers
Share of students whose families earn more than roughly $75,000 a year (College Scorecard, 2016-17), the two upper income bands combined. Reported as context on the student mix, not a measure of quality: together with the low-income (under ~$30K) and middle-income (~$30K-$75K) shares it sketches the full family-income picture, and the three bands sum to about 100%. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file, built from aid-applicant records rather than the full student body, and not republished since.
Applicant-pool diversity shiftProjected change in the non-white share of the home state's public high-school graduating class, class of 2025 to 2037.Modelled by Ibex
+5.9 pts
WICHE 2024 (11th ed.)
Percentage-point change in the non-white share of the institution's home-state public high-school graduating class between the class of 2025 (the national peak) and 2037 (WICHE, Knocking at the College Door, 11th ed., public-school race detail). A forward look at who the future applicant pool will be: a positive value means the state's graduating class is projected to grow more racially diverse. Strategic recruiting context, not a forecast of any one school's enrollment, and a college recruits from many states.
Direct competitors within 100 miCount of other institutions within 100 miles. Scored as lower-is-better because it is used here as a competitive-pressure signal for the institution, not as a benefit to students.Number of same-type institutions (same Carnegie class and control) within 100 miles.Calculated from filings
Below peers
47
74th percentile in peer grouppeer median 27
lower is better
2024-25 (Scorecard universe)1303 peers
How many institutions of the same type (same Carnegie classification and control, i.e. the schools competing for the same students) sit within roughly 100 miles. A higher count means a more crowded local market and a harder yield fight, which matters most as the regional pool of high school graduates shrinks; a low count means the school has its catchment largely to itself. Distance is straight-line from campus coordinates. Banded against the school's peer group. Fewer is better for recruiting leverage.
Metro-area unemployment rateUnemployment rate in the school's metro area, ACS 2019-23.As filed
Strong
4.7%
32nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 5.2%
lower is better
ACS 2019-231290 peers
The civilian unemployment rate in the school's metropolitan or micropolitan area (US Census ACS 2019-23, mapped by the school's federal CBSA code). It is a proxy for local labor demand: a lower rate means a tighter job market, a stronger near-term destination for graduates and a smaller pool of working adults to recruit. It describes the local economy, not the school. Schools outside any metro area are not scored. Banded against the school's peer group.
Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.External projection
Steep decline
-15.2%
WICHE 2024 (11th ed.) projection
Projected change in the number of high-school graduates in the institution's HOME STATE from the class of 2025 (the national peak) to 2041, per WICHE's Knocking at the College Door, 11th Edition (Dec 2024). The 'enrollment cliff' is the post-2008 birth decline reaching college age; the U.S. total is projected to fall about 13% over this window. A college recruits from many states, so its home-state projection is an indicative directional signal of feeder-market pressure, not a forecast of that institution's own enrollment. A projection, not a measurement: WICHE's state-level forecast of high-school graduates. It describes the pool a school recruits from, not the school's own enrollment.
Shown exactly as the institution filed it. The value falls outside the normal range for this measure, which usually means a reporting quirk rather than a real figure, so read it with care.
Workforce Pell exposureShare of this school's measured credentials that are undergraduate certificates, the sub-associate tier the 2025 budget law's new Workforce Pell Grant makes Pell-eligible from July 2026 (short-term programs of 150–600 clock hours over 8–15 weeks). An opportunity signal: higher = more of what the school already produces could draw new federal grant aid. Source: College Scorecard Field-of-Study; an upper-bound proxy since the certificate tier spans varying lengths.Modelled by Ibex
Certificate-intensive
100%
2024-25 (Scorecard completions)
Share of the institution's measured credentials that are undergraduate certificates, the sub-associate tier that the 2025 budget law's new Workforce Pell Grant makes Pell-eligible from July 1, 2026. Workforce Pell extends the Pell Grant to short-term workforce programs of 150 to 600 clock hours offered over 8 to 15 weeks, subject to state-workforce-board and accreditor approval and to job-placement, completion and earnings-value guardrails. This is an opportunity signal: a higher share means more of what the school already produces could draw new federal grant aid, and the upside is greatest where Pell reliance (shown separately) is also high. Computed as undergraduate-certificate completions divided by all credential completions in the College Scorecard Field-of-Study file (most recent release). Scorecard's 'Undergraduate Certificate' level spans certificates of varying length, so the statutory 150-600 clock-hour window is a subset of this tier, read this as an upper-bound exposure proxy, not a count of qualifying programs. Shown only for institutions that confer such certificates above a minimum completions floor.
In-state HS graduatesPublic + private high-school graduates in the school's state, class of 2025.External projection
74,018
30th percentile in peer grouppeer median 111,084
context, not scored
Class of 2025 (WICHE)1266 peers
The size of the school's home-state high-school graduating class in 2025 (WICHE Knocking at the College Door, public and private combined). It is the near-term in-state feeder market, the complement to the enrollment-cliff projection, which shows the direction that market is heading. Context metric, not better or worse. Shown as a position within the peer group, not as a score.
Enrollment momentum (CAGR)Enrollment momentum (CAGR).Modelled by Ibex
Below peers
-13.6%
2nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 2.1%
higher is better
2016-17 to 2024-25 (Scorecard)1212 peers
Compound annual growth rate of undergraduate enrollment over the years the tool tracks (College Scorecard, roughly 2016-2024). Positive means the school is growing; negative means it is shrinking, the leading indicator of demand stress ahead of the demographic cliff. Where the reported count jumps by a merger or a campus consolidation brought under one institution, only the years after that jump are measured, and where too little history follows it no rate is shown. A sharp fall is measured in full: a shrinking count is the signal this metric exists to carry, not an artifact to be cut away. No rate is shown where the enrolment never reaches 25 in the measured window: on a series that small one student is a double-digit annual rate, and a percentile computed from it would rank noise. Banded against the school's peer group. The window shown is the one this school's own figure was measured over: it is shorter where the series starts late, ends early, or is cut at a reporting change, so peers are not all measured over identical years.
Shown exactly as the institution filed it. The value falls outside the normal range for this measure, which usually means a reporting quirk rather than a real figure, so read it with care.
Consecutive years of enrollment declineHow many years in a row undergraduate enrollment has fallen, counting back from the most recent year.Modelled by Ibex
Not declining
0 yrs
28th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0 yrs
lower is better
2016-17 to 2024-25 (Scorecard)1273 peers
The number of consecutive years, ending with the most recent one, in which this school's undergraduate headcount fell. Zero means the latest year was flat or up. A single down year is ordinary; three or more in a row is the pattern that precedes program cuts and closures, and it is visible in the federal data years before it becomes public. A fall smaller than 2% counts as flat, because year-to-year reporting noise at that scale would otherwise manufacture streaks. Measured on the same window as enrollment momentum: where a merger or consolidation makes the earlier years a different institution, only the years after it are counted. Banded against the school's peer group. Lower is better. The window shown is the one this school's own figure was measured over: it is shorter where the series starts late, ends early, or is cut at a reporting change, so peers are not all measured over identical years.
Student body
Undergraduate race & ethnicity
IPEDS 2024-25
Hispanic/Latino42.1%
White28.9%
Asian15.8%
Black7.9%
Unknown5.3%
Undergraduate enrollment by race and ethnicity, as reported to IPEDS (College Scorecard). “International” denotes nonresident students; “Unknown” means race/ethnicity was not reported.
Student Outcomes & Risk
The bar under each rank is the spread across the peer group: the shaded box is the middle half, the pale line is their median, and the gold marker is this institution. Hover for the figures.
Median earnings (10 yr)Median earnings of former students ten years after first enrolling (working, federally-aided students).As filed
Strong
$35,225
91st percentile in peer grouppeer median $25,306
higher is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)883 peers
Taken from the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the most recent release in which the Department published this element; it is null in every release since. Earnings are measured in a single tax year for a cohort that first enrolled about a decade earlier, so this describes students who entered well before 2020.
Median debt at graduationMedian federal loan debt graduates carry at the point they complete.As filed
Average
$9,500
59th percentile in peer grouppeer median $9,000
lower is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)953 peers
From the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the last release carrying it. Median debt pools the borrowers who left in that award year and the one before it.
3-yr cohort default rateShare of borrowers defaulting within three years. Lower is better, but values covering 2020 to 2023 are depressed for every school by the federal payment pause, so the level means less than the comparison.Share of borrowers who default within three years of entering repayment. Lower is better.As filed
Average
12.8%
47th percentile in peer grouppeer median 13.2%
lower is better
FY2017 cohort1007 peers
Share of borrowers who defaulted within three years of entering repayment (U.S. Dept. of Education official cohort default rate). Shown for the FY2017 borrower cohort, the most recent cohort whose full three-year default window closed before the 2020-23 federal student-loan payment pause. More recent cohorts are reported by the College Scorecard at essentially 0%, but that reflects the payment pause (no payments were due, so almost no one could default), not borrower health, so the pre-pause cohort is the last meaningful reading. Lower is better.
Share taking federal loansShare of students taking out federal loans, a borrowing-reliance signal.As filed
48.1%
37th percentile in peer grouppeer median 54.2%
context, not scored
2024-25 (Scorecard)1301 peers
Debt-to-earnings ratioMedian graduate debt divided by median earnings, how heavy the debt load is versus what graduates earn. Lower is better.Calculated from filings
Strong
0.27×
30th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0.31×
lower is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)750 peers
Both sides of this ratio come from the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the last release carrying either. It is co-vintage, but it is not current.
Loan repayment rate (3-yr)Share of borrowers paying down principal. Higher is better, with one honest caveat: a selective school can look worse than it is because many of its graduates postpone payments while in graduate or professional school. Read it beside median debt and earnings rather than alone.As filed
Strong
48.1%
78th percentile in peer grouppeer median 36.3%
higher is better
2016-17 (Scorecard)867 peers
Share of student-loan borrowers who had repaid at least $1 of their loan principal within three years of entering repayment (College Scorecard, 2016-17). Read it as context, not a simple good/bad score: a low rate can mean borrowers are struggling, but it can also mean many graduates have postponed payments while enrolled in graduate or professional school, which is common at selective schools and pushes their rate down. Unlike the cohort default rate, it is not distorted by the 2020-23 federal payment pause. Reported only where enough borrowers exist. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file. The Department has not published repayment rates since, so this is the most recent figure that exists, not a recent one: it follows borrowers who entered repayment in the early 2010s.
Earn more than a HS grad (6-yr)Share earning more than $28,000 (about a high-school graduate's wage) six years after entry.Calculated from filings
Strong
35.6%
79th percentile in peer grouppeer median 26.3%
higher is better
2014-15 (Scorecard)672 peers
Share of students earning more than $28,000 a year, roughly what a typical high-school graduate earns, six years after entering this institution (College Scorecard, 2014-15). A direct read on whether attending beats not attending, and conceptually aligned with the 2025 budget law's program-level earnings-premium test. Share of former students earning more than $28,000, the Department's benchmark for the median earnings of a high-school graduate. From the College Scorecard 2014-15 data file, the last release carrying it; the threshold is not inflation-adjusted.
Working 10 years after entryShare of the no-longer-enrolled cohort who are working ten years after entering.As filed
Below peers
72.3%
29th percentile in peer grouppeer median 76.3%
higher is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)883 peers
Share of students who are working (not still enrolled) ten years after entering this institution, of those whose employment status is known (College Scorecard, 2020-21). A coarse employment signal; it does not capture earnings level or job quality. Taken from the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the most recent release in which the Department published this element; it is null in every release since. Earnings are measured in a single tax year for a cohort that first enrolled about a decade earlier, so this describes students who entered well before 2020.
Withdrew by year 2Share of entrants who had withdrawn by their second year. Lower is better.As filed
Average
26%
54th percentile in peer grouppeer median 24.9%
lower is better
2019-20 (Scorecard)572 peers
Share of students who had withdrawn from this institution by the end of their second year (College Scorecard, 2019-20). An early-attrition signal, where lower is better; high part-time or adult-learner enrollment can raise it without reflecting institutional quality. From the College Scorecard 2019-20 data file, the last release carrying it.
Loan repayment rate (5-yr)Share of borrowers paying down principal. Higher is better, with one honest caveat: a selective school can look worse than it is because many of its graduates postpone payments while in graduate or professional school. Read it beside median debt and earnings rather than alone.Share of borrowers who repaid at least $1 of principal within five years of entering repayment.As filed
Strong
48.5%
76th percentile in peer grouppeer median 38.3%
higher is better
2016-17 (Scorecard)788 peers
Share of student-loan borrowers who had repaid at least $1 of their loan principal within five years of entering repayment (College Scorecard, 2016-17), a longer-horizon companion to the three-year repayment rate. As with the three-year figure, a low rate can reflect graduates deferring payments while in further schooling rather than financial distress. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file. The Department has not published repayment rates since, so this is the most recent figure that exists, not a recent one: it follows borrowers who entered repayment in the early 2010s.
Median earnings (6 yr)Median earnings of working former students six years after they first enrolled.As filed
Strong
$25,632
70th percentile in peer grouppeer median $21,983
higher is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)1014 peers
Median earnings of former students who are working and were federally aided, measured six years after they first enrolled (College Scorecard, 2020-21). A shorter-horizon companion to the ten-year earnings figure; early-career pay tends to run below the ten-year mark, so read the two together rather than in isolation. From the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the last release carrying it. Earnings measured about six years after entry, so the cohort behind it entered in the mid-2010s.
Median debt (did not complete)Median federal loan debt of students who left without completing. Lower is better.As filed
Average
$4,750
64th percentile in peer grouppeer median $4,750
lower is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)849 peers
Median federal loan debt carried by students who withdrew from this institution without completing a credential (College Scorecard, 2020-21). The counterpart to debt at graduation, and often the higher-risk group: borrowing with no degree to show for it. Lower is better, but compare it against the school's completion and withdrawal rates rather than on its own. From the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the last release carrying it. Median debt pools the borrowers who left in that award year and the one before it.
Loan repayment rate (1-yr)Share of borrowers paying down principal. Higher is better, with one honest caveat: a selective school can look worse than it is because many of its graduates postpone payments while in graduate or professional school. Read it beside median debt and earnings rather than alone.Share of borrowers who repaid at least $1 of principal within one year of entering repayment.As filed
Strong
44.2%
74th percentile in peer grouppeer median 33.8%
higher is better
2014-15 (Scorecard)868 peers
Share of student-loan borrowers who had repaid at least $1 of their loan principal within one year of entering repayment (College Scorecard, 2014-15), the earliest point on the repayment curve. As with the longer-horizon rates, a low figure can reflect borrowers deferring payments while in further schooling rather than financial distress. From the College Scorecard 2014-15 data file, the last release carrying the one-year repayment rate. A decade old, and shown because no newer federal figure exists.
Loan repayment rate (7-yr)Share of borrowers paying down principal. Higher is better, with one honest caveat: a selective school can look worse than it is because many of its graduates postpone payments while in graduate or professional school. Read it beside median debt and earnings rather than alone.Share of borrowers who repaid at least $1 of principal within seven years of entering repayment.As filed
Strong
60.9%
93rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 40.3%
higher is better
2016-17 (Scorecard)667 peers
Share of student-loan borrowers who had repaid at least $1 of their loan principal within seven years of entering repayment (College Scorecard, 2016-17), the longest horizon reported. Together with the one-, three-, and five-year rates it traces how repayment progresses over time. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file. The Department has not published repayment rates since, so this is the most recent figure that exists, not a recent one: it follows borrowers who entered repayment in the early 2010s.
Median debt (first-generation students)Median federal loan debt of students who are the first in their family to attend college. Lower is better.As filed
Strong
$6,333
28th percentile in peer grouppeer median $7,354
lower is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)637 peers
Median cumulative federal loan debt carried by first-generation students, those whose parents did not complete college (College Scorecard, 2020-21). Read it beside the all-students median debt: a gap between the two is an equity signal about who shoulders the borrowing. Lower is better, but weigh it against completion and earnings. From the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the last release carrying it. Median debt pools the borrowers who left in that award year and the one before it.
Median debt (Pell recipients)Median federal loan debt of Pell Grant recipients, the lowest-income aided students. Lower is better.As filed
Strong
$6,333
28th percentile in peer grouppeer median $7,389
lower is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)706 peers
Median cumulative federal loan debt carried by Pell Grant recipients (College Scorecard, 2020-21), the lowest-income federally-aided students at the school. Compare it with the all-students median debt and the Pell share: it shows how much the neediest students borrow to attend. Lower is better. From the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the last release carrying it. Median debt pools the borrowers who left in that award year and the one before it.
Loan repayment rate, completers (3-yr)Share of borrowers paying down principal. Higher is better, with one honest caveat: a selective school can look worse than it is because many of its graduates postpone payments while in graduate or professional school. Read it beside median debt and earnings rather than alone.Share of borrowers who COMPLETED and had paid down at least $1 of principal within 3 years. Higher is better.As filed
Strong
57.9%
85th percentile in peer grouppeer median 41.8%
higher is better
2016-17 (Scorecard)621 peers
Three-year loan repayment rate among borrowers who completed their program (College Scorecard, 2016-17): the share who, three years after entering repayment, are not in default and have paid down at least a dollar of principal. Read it beside the all-borrower loan repayment rate and the non-completer rate: completers almost always repay at higher rates, so a low figure here is a strong warning sign. Higher is better. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file. The Department has not published repayment rates since, so this is the most recent figure that exists, not a recent one: it follows borrowers who entered repayment in the early 2010s.
Loan repayment rate, non-completers (3-yr)Share of borrowers paying down principal. Higher is better, with one honest caveat: a selective school can look worse than it is because many of its graduates postpone payments while in graduate or professional school. Read it beside median debt and earnings rather than alone.Share of borrowers who LEFT WITHOUT a credential and had paid down at least $1 of principal within 3 years. Higher is better.As filed
Strong
33.3%
77th percentile in peer grouppeer median 23.5%
higher is better
2016-17 (Scorecard)621 peers
Three-year loan repayment rate among borrowers who left WITHOUT completing (College Scorecard, 2016-17), the group at the highest risk of default since they carry debt without the credential. Pair it with the non-completer median debt: together they show how heavily a school's dropouts are burdened. Higher is better. From the College Scorecard 2016-17 data file. The Department has not published repayment rates since, so this is the most recent figure that exists, not a recent one: it follows borrowers who entered repayment in the early 2010s.
Median earnings, low-income students (10-yr)Median earnings 10 years after entry for students who came from families earning under ~$30,000. Higher is better.As filed
Strong
$34,560
89th percentile in peer grouppeer median $26,578
higher is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)365 peers
Median earnings ten years after entering, measured only for students who came from the lowest family-income tier, under about $30,000 a year (College Scorecard, 2020-21). Read it beside the overall median earnings: a school whose low-income students go on to earn near the all-student figure is delivering real upward mobility, while a large gap signals the payoff is not reaching its neediest students. Higher is better. Taken from the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the most recent release in which the Department published this element; it is null in every release since. Earnings are measured in a single tax year for a cohort that first enrolled about a decade earlier, so this describes students who entered well before 2020.
Median earnings, middle-income students (10-yr)Median earnings 10 years after entry for students who came from families earning roughly $30,000 to $75,000. Higher is better.As filed
Average
$33,370
59th percentile in peer grouppeer median $32,147
higher is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)365 peers
Median earnings ten years after entering, measured only for students from middle-income families, roughly $30,000 to $75,000 a year (College Scorecard, 2020-21). It is the middle rung of the earnings-by-family-income ladder: read it beside the low-income (under ~$30K) and high-income (over ~$75K) figures to see whether the school's payoff is even across backgrounds or tracks who students were when they arrived. Higher is better. Taken from the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the most recent release in which the Department published this element; it is null in every release since. Earnings are measured in a single tax year for a cohort that first enrolled about a decade earlier, so this describes students who entered well before 2020.
Median earnings, high-income students (10-yr)Median earnings 10 years after entry for students who came from families earning over ~$75,000. Higher is better.As filed
Average
$36,252
63rd percentile in peer grouppeer median $32,869
higher is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)365 peers
Median earnings ten years after entering, measured only for students from higher-income families, over about $75,000 a year (College Scorecard, 2020-21). It is the top rung of the earnings-by-family-income ladder: the gap between this and the low-income figure shows how much the school's earnings payoff depends on family background. A narrow gap signals strong upward mobility. Higher is better. Taken from the College Scorecard 2020-21 data file, the most recent release in which the Department published this element; it is null in every release since. Earnings are measured in a single tax year for a cohort that first enrolled about a decade earlier, so this describes students who entered well before 2020.
Net-value indexComposite 0-100 of earnings, completion, net price and debt vs peers.Blended index
Strong
68.0
85th percentile in peer grouppeer median 50.0
higher is better
2020-21 to 2024-25 (Scorecard)1232 peers
A 0-100 composite of student value relative to the peer group: the average of peer percentile ranks for median earnings ten years out, graduation rate, net price (lower counts as better value) and median debt (lower is better). Built only where at least two components are reported. Higher means more outcome per dollar. Banded against the school's peer group.
Loan payment vs earningsMonthly payment on the median federal debt, as a share of median monthly earnings ten years after entry.Calculated from filings
Manageable
3.7%
30th percentile in peer grouppeer median 4.2%
lower is better
2020-21 (Scorecard)750 peers
What this school's median federal student debt would cost to repay each month on the ten-year Standard Repayment Plan, divided by the median graduate's monthly earnings ten years after entering. Both figures are the school's own reported medians from the same College Scorecard file year, so the ratio compares like with like, but they describe different people: the typical borrower and the typical earner are not necessarily the same student. The payment is calculated at the current published undergraduate Direct Loan interest rate (6.39% for 2025-26), not at the rates the debt was originally borrowed at, so it answers what the debt would cost a student starting now. Payments above roughly 8% of gross income are the widely used threshold for strain, and above 15% the standard plan is usually unaffordable without an income-driven alternative. Banded against the school's peer group. Lower is better.
Earnings spread
Earnings 10 years after entry: the middle 50%
Working, federally-aided former students · Scorecard 2024-25
25th percentile$14,189
Median$35,225
75th percentile$56,144
Annual earnings of working former students measured ten years after they first enrolled (College Scorecard), shown as a range rather than a single number. The middle half of this school’s graduates earn between the 25th- and 75th-percentile figures; the Median bar matches the headline earnings figure. A wider gap means more variation in how graduates fare. Bars are scaled to the highest value shown.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page carries one of these labels. They are not degrees of confidence: a projection is not a worse number than a filing, it is a different kind of claim, and the distinction is invisible when both are set in the same grey card.
As filedThis is the institution's own figure as filed with a federal collection, or a federal agency's own published figure about it. Ibex has not adjusted it.
Calculated from filingsCalculated by Ibex from figures in the same federal filing, using nothing but arithmetic: a share, a ratio, or an amount per student. It is exactly as sound as the filed numbers it divides.
Blended indexA blend of several other measures on this page, combined by Ibex. The components and how they are weighted are listed in this metric's description. Reasonable people could weight them differently and get a different score.
Modelled by IbexFitted or extrapolated by Ibex from the institution's reported history. This number appears in no federal file: it is a summary of a trend, and it inherits every irregularity in the years it was fitted through.
External projectionBuilt on an external projection about the future, published by a research body rather than measured. Projections are revised as the underlying assumptions change, and this one describes a scenario, not a fact.
Regulator / auditor findingA finding published by a regulator or an independent auditor about this institution. It is a statement someone made in writing, not a measurement Ibex or the school took.
Top fields of study (all levels)
Hair Expressions Academy’s largest fields by completions, with graduate earnings (4 years out) and debt benchmarked against the same field at its peer group. Sparklines show the 8-year completions trend.
| Field | Completions / yr | Median earnings, 4 yrs out | Median debt | Earnings premium | Risk score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal & Culinary Services | 94 | – | $9,833 66th pct · 754 peers | – | Low · 0 |
Earnings-premium status is an indicative estimate: median graduate earnings four years out vs the MD state median earnings of a high-school graduate (undergraduate credentials) or a bachelor’s-degree holder (graduate credentials) from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2022 ACS 5-year). The official U.S. Department of Education determination uses its own cohort definition and may differ.
The risk score (0–100) is an indicative blend of earnings-premium margin and the five-year completions trend, higher means a field pays closer to (or below) the benchmark and is shrinking. A directional screen, not an official determination.
Major-level detail (CIP 4-digit)
Personal & Culinary Services – 1 CIP program (4-digit), 0 with earnings
| Major (CIP 4-digit) | Compl./yr | Earn 4yr | Earn 1yr | % > threshold | Median debt | Debt/earn | Earnings premium | 2 of 3 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming ServicesCIP 1204 › | 94 | – n=81 | – | 44.4% | $9,833 | – | – | – |
Major-level earnings, debt and threshold pass-rates are reported by College Scorecard only where enough graduates exist to protect privacy, so 0 of 1 major shows an earnings figure; the rest read “–”. % > threshold is ED’s own share of graduates out-earning the federal earnings threshold (the do-no-harm pass rate), drawn from the best available measurement window (4-, 5- or 1-year) pooled across all nine College Scorecard Field-of-Study releases; a small chip marks any figure not on the 4-year window, and hovering names the cohort size and source release. 2 of 3 yrs flags fields below the earnings-premium benchmark in two of the latest three reported cohort-years, the statutory trigger under the 2025 test (effective July 1, 2026). Indicative; the Department of Education’s official determination may differ. Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study (2014–15 through 2022–23 cohorts + most-recent snapshot), accessed March 2026.
See the interactive dashboard for all fields and credential levels (associate through doctoral). Source: College Scorecard Field of Study.
Frequently asked
How much do Hair Expressions Academy graduates earn?
Median earnings ten years after entry are $35,225 (College Scorecard), measured across students who received federal aid.
Which schools are Hair Expressions Academy's peers?
Hair Expressions Academy is benchmarked against 1303 institutions in the Less-than-two-year · Private for-profit peer group; all percentiles and medians on this page are computed within that group.
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Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard & IPEDS (most recent releases), with the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Employment Projections, field-demand outlook) and WICHE (enrollment-cliff projections). Figures lag the current academic year by roughly two to three years. Percentiles and medians are computed within the institution's peer group. Financial Resilience is a transparent composite, see each component above. Compiled by Ibex Insights.