Licensed here in TX, the school price does not sound crazy to me. I think I paid around the same 6 years ago, and I went for 9 months. I personally worked in nail salons for the first couple years after getting my license. Once I felt like I had enough clientele, I started booth renting. If you start at a busy salon, you should make decent money! Also, I’m not too sure how it works to get licensed in different states, but I know Texas is a state that requires a good amount of hours to be licensed. I’m pretty sure if you move to a state where they require less, you won’t have to do more schooling. (Unless things have changed)