A new requirement is helping move beauty education—and the industry—toward a more inclusive future.
Beginning September 1, 2026, cosmetology and natural hair styling programs throughout New York State must include education on working with all hair types and textures. The updated curriculum covers hair and scalp properties, haircare, treatments and styling techniques commonly used with textured hair. Students must also demonstrate an understanding of varying hair types and textures as part of the licensing process.
The requirement does not add hours to New York’s existing cosmetology programs. Instead, it ensures textured hair education is meaningfully incorporated into the training future beauty professionals already receive.
For Aveda Arts & Sciences Institutes, this represents an important step toward an industry where every stylist is prepared to serve every guest, and every guest can enter a salon feeling welcomed, understood and confident in the care they will receive.
Why Is Textured Hair Education Important?
Hair is deeply connected to culture, identity and self-expression, yet traditional cosmetology education has not always prepared graduates to work confidently across the full spectrum of hair textures.
That education gap can leave clients with curly, coily, coarse or highly textured hair struggling to find professionals who understand how to properly care for and style their hair. It can also limit new stylists, who may enter the industry without the skills or confidence to serve everyone who sits in their chair.
New York’s updated standards are designed to help change that by requiring future professionals to learn about varying curl and wave patterns, strand thicknesses and hair volumes.
The result is bigger than learning another technique. It is about creating greater equity in the salon experience while preparing beauty professionals to build stronger, more inclusive careers.
Texture Education Has Been a Focus at Aveda Arts
At Aveda Arts, textured hair education is not treated as a single lesson or specialty, it is woven throughout students’ education.
Texture is incorporated into theory, hands-on application and the diverse clientele students encounter while training. Students explore textured hair throughout specialty areas such as:
- Haircutting
- Hair color
- Styling and natural hairdressing
- Locs, braids and twists
- Protective styling
- Sew-ins and extensions
- Wig theory
- Hair and scalp care
This integrated approach helps students develop their skills progressively and understand how texture influences consultation, product choice, technique, maintenance and the finished result.
“Texture is one of our top priorities at Aveda Arts. It is woven throughout the entire curriculum, which I think is going to make the biggest difference,” shared Traci Sakosits, Vice President of Education and Creative Direction at Aveda Arts & Sciences Institutes.
Helping Advance Texture Education Nationwide
Aveda Arts’ commitment extends beyond our own classrooms.
In 2021, Louisiana became the first state in the nation to revise its cosmetology education standards to include textured hair on the practical licensing examination. The resolution was advanced through the Louisiana Board of Cosmetology under the leadership of Aveda Arts CEO Edwin Neill.
Aveda Arts & Sciences Insitutes also joined industry leaders through the Texture Education Collective, an alliance working to help modernize cosmetology education and licensing requirements across the country.
The goal is clear: future beauty professionals should graduate with the foundational education needed to provide thoughtful, informed services for all hair types and textures.
Preparing Future Artists to Serve Every Guest
New York’s textured hair education requirement is an important milestone, but the work does not end with meeting a state standard.
True progress requires schools, educators and industry leaders to continually strengthen their curriculum, expand hands-on learning and give students meaningful experience with a diverse range of guests.
At our Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute New York location in Dumbo, NYC, and all of our campuses across the country, we are proud to continue advancing texture education for future beauty professionals in one of the world’s most diverse and influential beauty markets.
At Aveda Arts, we want graduates to enter the industry with more than technical knowledge. We want them to possess the confidence, adaptability and respect necessary to make every guest feel seen, and to create beauty without boundaries.
Because learning to serve all hair is not simply an industry trend. It is an essential part of becoming a well-rounded beauty professional.