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In late 2017, The Hechinger Report began a deep dive into cosmetology education in Iowa, an education marketplace that has long eluded scrutiny and whose graduates comprise a poorly paid and “invisible” workforce. For-profit beauty schools have maintained a near-monopoly on the sector and kept state regulations to their liking, and where, despite the schools' hefty price tags, student earnings years after graduation often remain low. The story was a collaboration with The New York Times.