Key Takeaways: 

• A Great Clips franchisee shares the excitement of awarding a Great Scholarship to a deserving student in her market 

• Great Clips, Inc. announces the Scholarship recipients for the 2025 fall award period 

When Kristy Beliew learned that Great Clips had selected a cosmetology student from her community in Jonesboro as a $5,000 scholarship winner, she knew she wanted to be involved with the celebration. “Winning a $5,000 tuition scholarship can be life-changing for a student!” Kristy said. As a franchisee who owns and operates four Great Clips® salons in Arkansas, Kristy knows firsthand how hard it can be for students to pay their tuition. “This was a really, really big deal,” Kristy said. “Having a local winner out of the 2,000 candidates across the U.S. and Canada was huge.” 

A big, Southern celebration 

“We like to celebrate big and give great southern hospitality in Arkansas!” Kristy said. “I wanted to make the scholarship award celebration over the top for Carrie, our local winner!” she said, smiling.  

Kristy organized a balloon arch, oversized presentation check, decorations, and food for the whole school. She also called the local CBS and Fox affiliate station as well as local publications to cover the celebration. “We received coverage on TV and in print!” Kristy said.  

The celebration made a big impact on the scholarship winner, Carrie. “I’ve always been driven by the beauty industry and cosmetology. It holds a special place in my heart,” she said. “This award lets me know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be and I made the right decision, and that’s very comforting.”  

Great Clips loves students 

“We believe in making a big effort with local schools,” Kristy said. “For example, here in Jonesboro, we regularly visit schools to do career presentations and exciting haircutting demos. Students are always impressed by the skill level of our demonstrations.” 

Kristy says that when her team visits a school, they aim to educate students and help them think about the type of salon that would be the best fit for them. “We don’t go into the schools to recruit everyone for Great Clips because not everyone would be a good fit,” Kristy said. “We want students to find the salons that suit their individual needs.” 

However, there are two things Kristy says every new cosmetologist needs: tools and confidence! “When my franchise organization hires a cosmetology school graduate to work at one of our salons, we give them a free beauty box that is filled with high quality clippers, trimmers, shears, styling products, and lots of accessories,” Kristy said. “We’ve found that a big challenge for new stylists is they don’t have the money to buy tools, so we like to help them get started.” 

Kristy also says that new graduates often don’t have the haircutting expertise they need to feel confident serving a broad range of customers and haircut requests. “They’ve had to learn so many things in school that they don’t have the focus on haircuts that is required. We provide training for new hires who are fresh out of cosmetology or barber school,” Kristy said. “We invest a lot in them. We get them to a place where they have the confidence to execute virtually any haircut, and we do it before they ever hit the salon floor.”  

$100,000 to kick start salon careers 

As the world’s largest salon brand, Great Clips® believes in the student stylists and barbers who are the future of the industry. That’s why each year, the brand gives up to 22 students in the U.S. and Canada a tuition scholarship valued at up to $5,000.

The most recent Great Scholarship recipients include: 

• Carrie from Arkansas Academy of Hair Design (Jonesboro) 

• Kayla from MC College, Red Deer (Alberta, Canada) 

• Taylor from Baltimore Studio of Hair Design (Baltimore)  

• Yasmin from La ‘James International College (Des Moines)  

• Cale from Vogue Cosmetology School (Idaho Falls)  

• Lila from Academy of Beauty Professionals (Appleton) 

• Tashnique from Paul Mitchell the School Reno (Reno) 

• Emma from Aveda Institute (Tucson) 

• Sarolta from Empire Beauty School (Boston) 

Do you want a chance to trim your tuition? 

If you’re a cosmetology or barber school student, apply for the Great Scholarship Program. You could receive up to $5,000! 

If you’re a stylist or graduate, use our job search tool to find available opportunities with a franchised Great Clips® salon near you!

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All Great Clips® salons are independently owned and operated by third party franchisees. Franchisees, not Great Clips, Inc., are responsible for all hiring and personnel matters at their individual salons.