Cosmetology / Barber License from Connecticut to Pennsylvania: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Pennsylvania accept a Connecticut cosmetology license?
A cosmetology license transfers from Connecticut to Pennsylvania by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Pennsylvania State Board of Cosmetology, verify your Connecticut license, and meet Pennsylvania's endorsement requirements. Exams are not retaken — an applicant who meets the criteria for licensure by reciprocity may obtain the license without examination (49 Pa. Code 7.31(b)).
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Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.
Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
This move runs downhill. Connecticut trained you to 1,500 hours; Pennsylvania requires only 1,250. With the hour test cleared by a margin, your transfer is administrative — license verification, application, fee — and the requirements below read as a checklist rather than an obstacle course.
What's different between Connecticut and Pennsylvania
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Pennsylvania. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
Connecticut to Pennsylvania (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
Pennsylvania to Connecticut (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from Connecticut matter?
Coming from Connecticut matters here: only 8 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get this result for a move into Pennsylvania.
The others get: reciprocity agreement (30), compact enacted — not yet issuing; until it issues, reciprocity agreement (11), and compact enacted — not yet issuing; until it issues, licensure by endorsement (1).
- Reciprocity agreements
Pennsylvania's reciprocity agreement list names 41 states, not including Connecticut.
Connecticut's row names no reciprocity agreement states.
- CLC membership
Pennsylvania has enacted the Cosmetology Licensure Compact; Connecticut has not.
- Application fee
Pennsylvania lists $89 for an out-of-state applicant and Connecticut lists $100 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Training hours
Pennsylvania's first-time-applicant standard is 1,250 training hours for the standard license; Connecticut's is 1,500.
Pennsylvania's is 250 training hours lower than Connecticut's.
- Exam rules on record
Pennsylvania and Connecticut carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Pennsylvania (this move): Exams are not retaken — an applicant who meets the criteria for licensure by reciprocity may obtain the license without examination (49 Pa. Code 7.31(b))
- Connecticut (the reverse move): No Connecticut exam is required if your licensing state required education/training and passage of an examination; applicants licensed in a state with no exam requirement instead document at least five years of licensed practice
What changes, Connecticut → Pennsylvania
| Connecticut (current) | Pennsylvania (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| CLC status | Licensure by endorsement | CLC enacted — not yet issuing |
| Training hours | 1,500 | 1,250 |
| Application fee | $100 (application fee; applications accepted online only) | $89 (licensure by reciprocity / Act 41 endorsement application fee, applied for through the PALS portal) |
| Processing time | no timeframe published by DPH | the board's processing guide describes a three-phase timeline but publishes no fixed durations |
| Licensing authority | Connecticut Department of Public Health — Hairdresser and Cosmetician Licensure | Pennsylvania State Board of Cosmetology |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Pennsylvania sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Pennsylvania's current requirements on the Pennsylvania State Board of Cosmetology website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Pennsylvania State Board of Cosmetology (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current license with a minimum of two years of licensed work experience, documented by signed employer certifications.
- Provide criminal history records checks, dated within 180 days, from every state where you lived, worked, or trained during the past five years.
- Be licensed in a state with which Pennsylvania holds a reciprocal agreement; applicants from the eight non-reciprocal states apply by Act 41 endorsement instead.
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-10-29.
- PA Department of State — Cosmetology Licensure Guide (reciprocity section) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- PA Department of State — Cosmetologist Licensure Snapshot ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- 49 Pa. Code Chapter 7 — State Board of Cosmetology ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Cosmetology Licensure Compact Commission — Pennsylvania becomes 13th state to enact (SB 331) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Cosmetology Licensure Compact Commission — FAQ (compact not yet active) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- CT DPH — Hairdresser Licensure Based on an Out-of-State License ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- CT DPH — Hairdresser Licensure by Examination (1,500-hour requirement) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-10-29
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