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Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Southwest Institute of Healing Arts and Eastern Arizona College.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Eastern Arizona College.
Spotlight Schools Search
Spotlight Arizona Schools Related to This Career
- Locations: Avondale, Chandler, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Prescott, Tucson
- Programs: 5 relevant programs; click the school name for details.
- Degrees: Diploma
- Locations: Mesa
- Programs: 11 relevant programs; click the school name for details.
- Degrees: Certificate
Steiner Institute of Esthetics
- Locations: Phoenix, Tempe
- Programs: One relevant program; click the school name for details.
- Degrees: Diploma
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Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Yuma School Of Beauty • Yuma, AZ
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 2006)
• 10/28/2011
"I am very satisfied with the training I received and the foundation I built for my career. I found that all the basics were covered in school."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Yes, I recommend the school often and many have attended because of my recommendation. However, it is the only local school so there is not much I can compare it to. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | Good reputation in the community. However, it is the only school in the local area. |
| Program Quality | 9 | The school focuses on providing a good foundation for all students. However, there were areas that I would have liked to have received more training in, such as cuts for men. |
| Instruction | 9 | Very experienced staff with a set curriculum that has proven effective. I learned all the necessary terminology and hands on work needed to begin on the job upon graduation. |
| How Difficult | 5 | I love to study and read. Work load was average - most times I was able to finish work in school during break times. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Equal amounts of book time and hands on work. Theory was covered each morning, then the rest of the day was hands on. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 2 | Not very flexible in this aspect, although they are mindful of emergencies. If you go over your projected graduation date, you will be fined. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | The school is older which means that furnishings are antiquated. There is a limited library and few media resources. |
| Social Life | 5 | We participated in fashion shows and competitions. We would organize social events within the school as well. |
| Placement Services | 9 | Very good job placement and services. They offer tours of local hair shops, hair suppliers, and spas. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | During school alumni would often come in to talk about their businesses and any challenges they may be facing. After graduation there is only average communication with past classmates. |
Earl's Academy Of Beauty • Mesa, AZ
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 2006)
• 11/3/2011
"I was sufficiently satisfied with my training at Earl's Academy of Beauty and felt it equipped me with the knowledge to excel at my trade. It was a great experience and got me where I am today."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend this school to others pursuing a career in cosmetology because the instructors are helpful and patient. The school itself has been revamped with newer equipment and is under new management so I am not entirely sure if it's run the same way, but I have heard many good things about the changes. It was a very positive experience and I am satisfied with the training I received. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | Above average but not extremely good. I know there were several students just out of my class who did not make it to even take the state board. But, everyone in my class who did take the test passed. |
| Program Quality | 7 | The school's program helped me prepare for everything that would be on my state board test. I wish we spent less time studying nails as it was irrelevant to my career as a hair stylist. |
| Instruction | 8 | The instructors at the academy were very helpful and I felt the assignments helped me prepare to test high on my state board exam. |
| How Difficult | 6 | The difficulty was a little above average because it's a hands on career. You stand on your feet all day, and even in school, you take client after client while working on your assignments for the day. It's a physically tiring career, while mentally it's easy to do. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Beauty school is a very hands on program and throughout the course we spent about 90% of the time practicing on clients for the school and our mannequin heads. We called the first four weeks "freshmen" where you spend your time in the classroom learning most of the techniques we'd be doing, and even then we were able to immediately practice. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | It worked out well for me, they had day and night classes as well as full and part time classes. There were no online courses. If you needed to stay late or leave early, the instructors would work around your work schedule if possible. |
| Academic Facilities | 4 | It was below average. Everything, including the stations and equipment, were outdated and the classrooms were very old. After I graduated they revamped the entire school and added new resources. |
| Social Life | 9 | It was a smaller school therefore everyone was involved with one another. We had several opportunities to be a part of competitions, hair shows and volunteer work. My favorite thing we did was makeup and hair for the Special Olympics in our city. |
| Placement Services | 3 | They had several salons stop by to speak about job opportunities, but when I graduated there was no specific job placement for me. I had to go out and find my own work. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | There really wasn't much of a alumni network there for me after I graduated, though my instructor did check up on me after I had graduated once to wish me luck. |
Regency Beauty Institute • Phoenix, AZ
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 2009)
• 11/25/2011
"This school could have taught me so much more for the amount I put in to it. I do believe it made me stronger because I had to do so much on my own for my education. I can now continue my education on my own and make proper decisions while at work and make, meet, and revise my goals to keep myself moving up."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I am split on this decision. No, because I do believe they took my money without proper instruction from unenthusiastic instructors. Yes, because after completing and working in the industry I can see how it made me stronger than others that had floated by in other schools. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | I do believe they are a highly accredited school with great reviews and there are many campuses within the US. However, given my experience, I would give them the lowest rating possible. |
| Program Quality | 4 | The school I attended was fairly new without the kinks worked out of it. There were a few instructors that truly showed their sense of passion for hair, creating an inner artist striving for more. However, this particular school went through a management switch, leaving the school manager-less for numerous months and left many of its previous students with missing paperwork. This caused the students to work double to make up for the lost grades and credits. I would highly recommend an established school well rooted to avoid this type of mishap. |
| Instruction | 4 | There were a few instructors that truly wanted us to understand the creativity and enjoyment of being a hairdresser. However, I must say that during the first few months, most of the instructors at this school would read word for word the test to be given along with the answers. I feel many of the students slid by unfairly with these instructors who were only hurting their students in the long run. New instructors were needed as many of them had been doing hair for 25 plus years and were teaching us outdated, unusable, and wrong techniques that would never be done in a professional salon. |
| How Difficult | 7 | When you are fascinated or at least interested in a subject it is very easy to find yourself studying for your benefit. There are numerous subjects to study and learn for a career in cosmetology: anatomy, chemistry, trichology, laws and regulations, and so on. The amount of work required from my school is still well beyond what others did at different schools. A certain amount of each service had to be done before completing the program, and there was a mid-term and a grueling final exam. This made the state boards a breeze. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Regency gives a three month book only program and when completed, students advanced onto the "floor" with continued book learning. The majority of the program was based on service hours. This school was very hands on, which I did enjoy. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | There are two options, full time or part time. I choose full. They required attendance every other Saturday and Tuesday classes were at night. I do appreciate the realistic scheduling as a hairdresser, working weekends and nights. They did allow three leaves of absences - two medical, one personal. |
| Academic Facilities | 3 | This school gave you what you needed to know. The rest was up to you. Our academic advisors did not enjoy their work or provide proper instruction on where we needed to go. |
| Social Life | 6 | We had open houses in which local salons were encouraged to participate. There were hair shows for us let out our creative side and have fun with hair and make-up. |
| Placement Services | 7 | Regency was very persistent on ensuring you had a job, maybe a bit too persistent. They definitely prepared me for a job in this industry, but only you can get you where you want to be. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | As far as alumni networking, I have no idea what that is so I would say it was very poor. They did have hair shows and open houses in which we were able to speak with and compare different salons for later job hunting. |
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