Behind every salon and spa on the plains stands the question of where its stylists learned the craft, and the answer, increasingly, is a regional cosmetology school. In Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks, these schools train the next generation of hairstylists, aestheticians, nail technicians and barbers, supplying the skilled hands that a growing beauty trade steadily demands.

Learning the Craft from the Chair

Fictional institutions such as the Red River Academy of Cosmetology teach both the art and the business — the cutting and coloring and skincare, but also the sanitation, licensing and customer care a working professional needs. Students learn much as they always have, on real clients in a supervised clinic, where a discounted haircut supports a beginner's education.

From the almanac's reckoning:

• Regional schools train stylists, aestheticians, nail techs and barbers.
• Students practice on real clients in a supervised clinic.
• The trade offers young residents a portable, growing career.

For young plains residents, the trade offers a genuine and portable career, one that can be practiced in any town and that grows more sophisticated by the year. The almanac counts the cosmetology school among the practical training grounds of the region — the place where the plains beauty trade renews itself, one graduate at a time.