
Idaho Falls, IDprivate forprofitwww.austinkade.com/
Austin Kade Academy is not a traditional university but a hyper-focused, nationally accredited beauty school in Idaho Falls, Idaho. It operates with the pragmatic, career-first ethos of a trade school, where the entire culture revolves around hands-on training in cosmetology, esthetics, and barbering. The student body is overwhelmingly female and local, and the school’s metrics—from its open admissions to its licensure and placement rates—tell a story of direct, vocational preparation for the beauty industry.
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Outcomes & value
Earnings = median of students working ~10 years after entry; debt = median of graduates. Value divides 10-yr earnings by one year’s net price — read it as earnings per dollar of annual cost, not a full lifetime ROI; it favors lower-cost schools. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~2 years and reflect all students, not your intended major.
U.S. Dept. of Education Financial Responsibility Composite Score (FY2022-23). Scale −1.0 to 3.0; ≥1.5 meets the standard. Reported for private nonprofit & for-profit institutions only — public universities are state-backed and not scored, so this is a stability signal, not a ranking.
Campus & location
On-campus criminal offenses classed as violent (murder/non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) for the most recent reported year. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education Campus Safety and Security (Clery Act). Counts reflect what’s reported to the school, and urban campuses often report more partly due to non-student incidents nearby — read alongside campus size and setting, not as a standalone safety verdict.
Pleasant days counts days per year with a mean temperature of 55–75°F, a high at or below 90°F, a low at or above 45°F, and little precipitation — a transparent comfort measure, not a weighting we invented. Computed from Open-Meteo ERA5 daily history (2019–2023). Natural-hazard risk is the county’s composite rating from the FEMA National Risk Index.
Admission to Austin Kade Academy is fundamentally different from the selective, Holistic admissionsA review that weighs the whole applicant — grades, essays, activities, and context — rather than relying on test scores and GPA alone. of a liberal arts college. The process is open and geared toward career preparation, with sources describing it as a "beauty school admissions and enrollment" process. One source explicitly states the school has a 100% acceptance rate, indicating the primary barrier to entry is a student's commitment to the program, not competitive selection. The school's total enrollment is small, at 116 students, with a dramatic gender skew: 92% of students are female and 8% are male. The student body is predominantly local and homogenous; data shows 77.8% of full-time undergraduate students are White Female, followed by 13.6% Hispanic or Latino Female. There is no indication in the provided sources that the school uses standardized test scores (SAT/ACT) or has an Early Decision process; one admissions page explicitly states "Acceptance rateThe share of applicants a college admits in a given year. A 10% acceptance rate means it admits about 1 in 10 applicants. information is not available," while another external source provides the 100% figure.
Academics at Austin Kade Academy are synonymous with vocational training in the beauty industry. The school offers a narrow set of programs focused entirely on practical and business skills for the beauty world. According to Niche, the most popular majors are:
The school promotes a "comprehensive curriculum" that moves from foundational techniques to advanced skills. With a reported student-to-faculty ratio of 15:1, instruction is likely hands-on and personal. The school also boasts a strong first-year retention rate of 87%, suggesting students are generally satisfied and committed to completing their programs. The entire academic model is built for speed and direct application, with programs described as "shorter" than traditional college paths, designed for students ready to "jump-start their careers."
Student life is deeply intertwined with the school's professional training mission. The academy describes itself as having a "family-oriented culture" and being "known for its... hands-on training." Given the intensive, skill-based nature of the programs, a significant part of the student experience involves learning to balance life and school, a topic the school addresses directly in its blog content. The small, close-knit environment of just over 100 students, predominantly women from the local East Idaho area, fosters a supportive network. Discussions among prospective students in local online groups compare Austin Kade to other regional beauty schools like "Vogue," indicating its reputation is evaluated within a specific, career-focused community rather than a broader collegiate landscape. The vibe is less about dorm life and football games, and more about mastering a trade within a cohort of like-minded peers.
Outcomes are the core product Austin Kade Academy sells, and they are measured in industry-specific metrics: completion, licensure, job placement, and early-career earnings. The school's most recent catalog reports a graduate completion rate of 86.21% and a placement rate of 68.09%. Earlier data showed a slightly lower 75.57% student completion rate and a 64.65% job placement rate, with an exceptionally high 98.99% licensure rate for its graduates. For graduates who secure employment, the financial return is modest but immediate; the median earnings one year after graduation are reported as $36,427. This data paints a picture of a school where the majority of students who start, finish, pass their licensing exams, and a substantial majority find work in their field, yielding a solid vocational wage soon after completing their program.
As a for-profit career school, cost is a central consideration. The published Cost of attendanceThe full estimated yearly cost of a college: tuition, fees, housing, food, books, and other expenses, before any financial aid. is not explicitly stated in the provided snippets, but the Net priceWhat a family actually pays after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the sticker price — usually far less than the published cost. after aid is clear. The average annual cost after scholarships and grants is $15,142. Students receive financial aid primarily through federal programs; the average financial aid package is $4,142 per year, with total aid awarded averaging $10,457. This aid breaks down into $4,060 in federal grant aid, $6,000 in state grant aid, and $500 in institution grant aid. The school directs students to complete the FAFSA to access federal aid and offers its own scholarships. A stark post from the school's Facebook page notes, "All students must take a student loan and a Pell Grant to pay their tuition," indicating that financing through federal loans is a standard, if not expected, part of the enrollment process for many attendees.
Austin Kade Academy stands out precisely because it is not trying to be a traditional university. It is a pure-play trade school for the beauty industry, and its identity is built on that clarity of purpose. Its standout features are its exceptional licensure rate (nearly 99%), its strong retention rate (87%), and its family-oriented, hands-on culture within a small cohort. It serves a specific, local demographic in East Idaho with open admissions, offering a direct, accelerated path to a skilled trade. While its job placement rate (around 68%) suggests room for improvement in connecting graduates to work, its model is unabashedly vocational. In a landscape of expensive, exploratory liberal arts education, Austin Kade represents the other end of the spectrum: a focused, pragmatic, and debt-financed investment in a specific technical skill set, with success measured in state licenses and salon chairs, not diplomas and dean's lists.


