How do I renew my cosmetology license in Florida?
Florida cosmetology licenses are renewed through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, under the Board of Cosmetology, every two years. The requirement is 10 hours of continuing education, and all 10 have to come from a provider the Board has approved.
What Florida asks for
- Hours required
- 10 hours of approved continuing education
- How often
- Every 2 years
- Who sets it
- Florida Board of Cosmetology (DBPR)
All 10 hours must come from a board-approved Florida CE provider.
Checked against the board's own pages on 2026-08-09.
Who the 10 hours apply to
Cosmetologists and specialists both. That includes facial specialists, nail specialists and full specialists. The hours are the same requirement across those license types.
Why we do not print your expiry date
Because DBPR's own pages do not agree on it. The cosmetology FAQ describes licenses expiring on 31 October on an alternating Group 1 and Group 2 cycle, and another DBPR page gives 30 November of even-numbered years. We are not going to pick one and present it as fact, because a renewal date is exactly the wrong thing to guess about.
Look your own license up in DBPR's licensee search and use the date it shows. That is the only date that governs you, and it is authoritative in a way that a general FAQ is not.
The subject breakdown, and why it is not listed above
DBPR does publish a breakdown of the 10 hours, covering HIV and AIDS, sanitation and sterilisation, OSHA, workers' compensation, laws and rules, chemical makeup and environmental issues. Our course's own breakdown differs from DBPR's by one hour, so rather than print a split that might not match what the Board expects, we print none. If the exact composition matters to you, take it from DBPR directly.
The renewal itself
- Complete 10 hours with a Board-approved Florida provider. Ours is the Florida cosmetology CE course.
- Confirm the hours reached your record. Florida tracks continuing education centrally, so check that your completion is showing before you renew rather than after.
- Renew in DBPR's online portal before the expiry date on your own license record, and pay the current fee.
- Keep the certificate.
The HIV course for initial licensure is a different thing
Florida also requires an HIV and AIDS course for initial licensure, which is separate from the 1 hour of HIV and AIDS content inside this 10-hour renewal. If you are getting licensed for the first time rather than renewing, that is the course you are looking for, and it does not replace the 10 hours later on.
