House bill 4927 would cut barber-school hours from 1,800 to 1,500 to reduce barriers to entry, sponsors say

House Bill 4927 would lower the required hours for barber licensure in Michigan from 1,800 to 1,500.

Representative Fairburn, sponsor of the bill and part of the 2025 red-tape package, argued the current 1,800-hour requirement imposes an outdated barrier to entry. He contrasted barber licensure hours with pilot training requirements as a rhetorical device and said the change aims to modernize curriculum and expand access to the trade.

Lauren Mosier, branch director of Hair Lab Detroit Barber School, testified in strong support. Mosier said the bill "keeps every safeguard intact, the same testing, sanitation, and safety standards," while modernizing instructional delivery. She told the committee Michigan is one of four states that require more than 1,500 hours and that reducing to 1,500 "brings us in line with the majority of the country." Mosier also raised an instructor shortage and said current instructor-qualification rules (testimony said a licensed barber must wait two years and then complete an additional 1,000-hour/one-year instructor program) make it difficult for barber schools to hire instructors.

Roderick Samuels, director of education at Hair Lab Detroit, described students juggling long work shifts and training and said a 1,500-hour standard would increase completion rates and speed entry into the workforce. LARA (Paige Fultz) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed cards in support, according to the committee record.

Committee members asked whether reducing hours would affect financial aid eligibility; Mosier said barber programs remain eligible for financial aid and that aligning hours with cosmetology (1,500) should not change eligibility.

Ending: Sponsors and barber educators said HB4927 would lower barriers without changing sanitation or testing standards; supporters urged additional instructor-reform measures to address school closures and local training shortages.