Empire Beauty School-Buffalo
For-profit College in Cheektowaga, NY. Median 10-year earnings $22,377.
Ten-year median earnings of $22,377 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Median debt at graduation is $10,667, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
This institution reports no six-year graduation rate. The federal measure only follows first-time, full-time students, so schools built around part-time or transfer enrollment often fall outside it entirely. Retention of 66% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Being a for-profit short-program school is the single most useful context for these numbers — the sector's spread is wide enough that the school-level figures matter more than usual. At 158 undergraduates, expect a small, closely-held student body.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 158 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $16,895 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($16,460 versus $22,293), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. About 69% get grants averaging $5,466, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Borrowing is widespread: 63% take federal loans.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 68 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $16,460 |
| $30–48k | $16,104 |
| $48–75k | $18,122 |
| $75–110k | $20,445 |
| $110k+ | $22,293 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 100 of these 158 students, totalling $803,184 — an average of $8,032 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Erie County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)