Undergraduate certificate · Seattle, Washington

Is Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services at Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute Seattle worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 10.5 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $42,147; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $46,732; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $7,916; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $27k (likely $23k – $31k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $3k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in WA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 10.5 years (likely 6.1–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$58k (likely −$100k – −$14k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: −$281 (likely −$101k – $104k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 53%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26