Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Hairdressers And Cosmetologists
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Heritage, Palm Beach State College, FSC Jacksonville, and Heritage.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider South Florida Community College, Palm Beach State College, and FSC Jacksonville.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Indian River State College, Daytona State College, FSC Jacksonville, and Lake City Community College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Chipola, Pensacola Junior College, Brevard Community College, and South Florida Community College.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Chipola and South Florida Community College.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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La Belle Beauty Academy • Miami, FL
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 2012)
• 11/22/2011
"I wanted to master my craft and I can say that I have learned more on my own than at the school."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | There are far better schools out there. They might be a bit more expensive, but they're totally worth the money, like Paul Mitchell. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | In South Florida it is the one of the better schools for cosmetology. However, it is not the best. |
| Program Quality | 4 | Teacher quality is poor and the tools provided are very cheap. |
| Instruction | 4 | The teachers barely spoke English and, as I said, the tools we used were cheap. |
| How Difficult | 6 | In order to be good at this you have to have some idea of how to create a hair style or a makeup look. This takes a lot of practice. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | If hands on means working on a doll, then yes, we were hands on. Videos were also shown and there were some teachings from a textbook. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | They were considerate of my needs in regards to missing classes due to my job. |
| Academic Facilities | 3 | They did not provide any medium to better assist me with studying, such as books or videos. |
| Social Life | 3 | Students are primarily Spanish speakers, making it very hard for me to socialize. |
| Placement Services | 4 | They did not help me with job placement. I had to search for one on my own. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | Most of the students only spoke Spanish, making it very difficult for me to relate to them. |
University Of Central Florida • Orlando, FL
Studying Computer Science (completion in 2007)
• 12/5/2011
"I think it's the greatest school in the Central Florida area. I would recommend anyone in the area attend."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend the university to anyone seeking the same profession. I found it to be extremely helpful in the advancement of my career. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | They have a well-known reputation for this program. |
| Program Quality | 7 | I really enjoyed attending UCF. I really would have liked to attend USF, but I was unwilling to relocate for school. |
| Instruction | 10 | I felt the curriculum was extremely well thought out and detailed. |
| How Difficult | 7 | I found the program to be very challenging for some students, but I was able to adapt to it very easily. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It was very 50/50; a lot of bookwork and a lot of labs. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | Class flexibility was very limited. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | I absolutely love the campus and the professors; they were all very helpful. |
| Social Life | I never really participated in spirit events. | |
| Placement Services | 5 | I was unaware of any resourceful career placement programs. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I know they have a great alumni network, but I do not participate in these networking meetings or any other events the alumni committee presents. |
Aveda Institute Tallahassee • Tallahassee, FL
Studying Esthetician's Program (completion in 2010)
• 1/15/2012
"I learned alongside dear friends I have made for life. I learned from some very talented hands. It would be very hard to make me more satisfied with my cosmetology education."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Aveda is hands on and promotes all-natural products and earth-friendly processes. Aveda Institutes are enjoyable places to learn. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | I have only applied for work in Aveda salons and spas. They all accept my qualifications without question, though I am unsure if this would transfer into others. |
| Program Quality | 9 | This program is very comprehensive. I learned all I needed to in order to be prepared for my field. |
| Instruction | 9 | My instructors were very well versed in the field and had experience. The curriculum did not overstress those areas that are hardly applicable, and did not skimp on the amount of time spent on the important subjects. |
| How Difficult | 4 | Cosmetology school is not very challenging in comparison to a lot of postsecondary education. My workload is not as much as most of the college courses I have taken at the state college. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Book learning is not acceptable as standalone teaching of cosmetology. Hands-on learning is a staple of an Aveda education. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | I completed my courses generically. There are no online options. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | Advisers are sometimes work to get in contact with. No greater facilities are desired. The institute is well known for its student salon, where we earn the final portion of our qualification and get the chance to provide services for individuals at a low cost. |
| Social Life | 9 | The students are very close-knit. You develop friendships for life. |
| Placement Services | 7 | I was privileged to work for my institute as a graduate. However, I know some of my fellow classmates were not so lucky. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | The network of support after accreditation is okay. I was given the opportunity to work at the graduates' salon and spa area after graduation, which was a worthwhile experience. |
Tom P Haney Technical Center • Panama City, FL
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 2006)
• 1/10/2012
"I love the school. I love the location. I love the people. The cafeteria was redesigned, and the school also caters. The instructors are amazing. The school also invites high school students to attend, and we are all treated the same."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I think Tom P Haney is the best school for hands-on learning. The only downside is the days and hours of operation. Other than that, I have no complaints. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | Tom P Haney has an excellent reputation, not only with cosmetology, but with other programs as well. As soon as I graduated, I was blessed with a position in a well-known shop. |
| Program Quality | 9 | I learned a lot of hands-on work. I was able to work on people before I graduated. |
| Instruction | 10 | My instructor was amazing. She was very patient and helped with hands-on instruction. She did not belittle me if I made an error. |
| How Difficult | 10 | The program started simply with basic cuts, and as the program progressed, the styles became more difficult. I felt challenged, in a good way. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We didn't use a lot of books. We learned more hands on, with dummy heads. Then, we progressed to real people. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | I had to maintain a certain amount of attendance. I was unable to do the classes online or during the evening. There were also no weekend classes. This made it difficult for attending classes, as I am a single mom. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | The classes were easy to access. There was plenty of spa space, as well as chairs, sinks and waxing areas. |
| Social Life | 10 | I was able to make many friends and share experiences. I don't see many of them, but there are a few I still associate with. |
| Placement Services | 10 | I was able to obtain a job as soon as I graduated. I am very happy with my position, and I plan to expand my abilities. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | Since I graduated, I have not had much contact with my alumni. It's a little sad, but I feel I can excel on my own. |
Palm Beach Community College • Lake Worth, FL
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 2008)
• 1/24/2012
"Overall, I was extremely satisfied with the school. I mentioned earlier I passed my state board exam with a 97% in practical and 93% in theory on the first try. I myself would consider that absolutely amazing. I know and work around many hair stylists who needed 2 or more tries to pass theirs. And they're great stylists, but some schools don't get you ready for the test as well and that is just as important. Without your license it doesn't matter how great you do hair!!"
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | It is a great school for cosmetology. They have options to pay monthly instead of most private schools where it is one lump sum. Students use many different products so you get a feel for different things before being thrown into a salon. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | It is one of the most respected hair schools around. All the private cosmetology schools in the area make it a lot easier to graduate, but it shows in the work field. |
| Program Quality | 10 | The Cosmetology school at PBCC is amazing. They have the best teachers and they prepared me to take the state board exam and pass the first time, and they've also helped me to be extremely successful in my career. |
| Instruction | 10 | I went right into a very high end salon after graduating hair school and passing my state bored with a 97% in practical and 93% in theory on the first try. The salon I worked for was actually amazed at my skills straight out of school. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The work load and time you have to put in is a lot. After a year of hard work it definitely pays off. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I think they kept a good balance between what we needed to know for the work field, and what we needed to know to be able to get our license. However, they did do more hands on work because that's the nature of the business. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | Classes were offered for "day" or "night" school. If you choose to go during the day it was 12 months (or 1200 Hours) and at night it was 24 months (also 1200 Hours). |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The Salon that we did our hands-on work in was perfectly set up for maximum learning. We also used class rooms for book work, and those were great to. |
| Social Life | 4 | I didn't really get involved in too many social activities at the school. There are are very few athletics because of it being a community college. |
| Placement Services | 8 | They had great job placement for many salons in the area, although I choose to go find a job on my own. My reasoning for this was I wanted a high end salon in Palm Beach Gardens, which is where I live. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | I don't want to rate it as extremely poor because I don't really know. I haven't taken part in anything or been back since graduation. This is a hard question for me to answer! |
Bay Area Vo-Tech • Fort Walton Beach, FL
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 1979)
• 3/9/2012
"The teachers made the school, and since I had such awesome instructors, I was pretty much satisfied. I wish there had been more of an interaction with the office staff and the resources they could have offered. When you entered the Cosmetology Lab... that was the only thing we saw. At lunch we would leave the school and go to a restaurant every single day. The students in our class were the only friends we had at the school. It would have been nice to see what others were doing and so that we could interact with them."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would recommend this school to others who are in the position I was in when attending. If you live in Fort Walton Beach and you know that you are not able to attend college for whatever reason... then yes, Bay Area Vo-Tech is a great way to develop a trade to help you succeed in life. The school does offer many trades of study, but you have to "want" it because there are many attending to get out of going to their high school or to stay out of trouble with the law or their parents. If you stay focused on yourself and the program you are in... this school will get you there, especially if this is all you have the opportunity for in your current situation. Hopefully, you will be fortunate to have instructors that not only teach you a trade, but that are there to support you... I certainly was one of the lucky ones. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | The reputation for the school is okay because they have very little competition. The school is a means for some to just graduate by getting credits for high school. When I went to school there... I went all day throughout my entire senior year and received 6 credits for doing so... many goofed around, dropped out, or just barely finished, which made it difficult for those wanting to make it a career. For this reason the reputation of the school suffered. As far as the program itself, I think the reputation is a good one because the majority of us that graduated and that do graduate from there continue to work in the field of cosmetology. |
| Program Quality | 6 | It is a little hard to answer this question because I have no other schools of Cosmetology to compare it to, but I was happy with the school I attended. I wish that the school had more "hands on," but being a vocational school they were unable to advertise services. The school had nice chairs and equipment for us to work with each day. The text book was a bit outdated, but it provided the basics I needed to have a career that has lasted over 20 years. |
| Instruction | 8 | The instructors were great and were so very helpful in helping start our careers and also helping in our personal lives. They supported us during and after our studies and helped many of us receive jobs when we graduated. They helped us think outside the "normal" job of working in a salon and introduced us to other alternatives within our career field. I had a friend who graduated and our instructor helped her get a job with a retail makeup chain and now, over 20 years later, that girl is still working there. She helped another girl get a job as a color specialist with a leading color company. Like I said with the previous answer, it would have been nice to have a more updated textbook and to have more clients enter the school for services. I feel that they could have taught more up to date styles instead of working so much with rollers and pin curls! |
| How Difficult | 3 | The academic challenge was very easy for me and took very little studying time. Very little homework each week, and the tests were easy if you read the chapters. The work load was a little more demanding because of being in a "learning" process of doing the practical work. We were given an adequate amount of work to do each day and I did struggle to keep up with some of the daily jobs we had to complete. So, I found the actual doing of hair was very challenging, but the bookwork was very easy. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was a mixture of both, but the hands on portion of actually doing hair was very important. They broke the class up into 2 sections... we spent about a quarter of the time studying from our book and then the rest of the class was hands on doing hair. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | The school provides many opportunities for students to arrange a class schedule that will fit their needs. They offer day and night classes along with a summer schedule. I attended in the day during my high school hours, which was awesome. Otherwise I would not have had the opportunity to attend. They even provided bus service from my high school to the vocational school. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | For my study in cosmetology, we pretty much had everything we needed at our disposal. The room where we did hair was very large and accommodating. We had a nice reception area and desk, phone lines, and computer access. The instructors were always available and were 100% involved with our best interests in mind. |
| Social Life | 3 | The spirit was there in the classroom, but not in the school. Again, I am sure this is because it is a vocational school and not a college. Athletics were not offered at the school and the only parties were the ones that the classroom had. There were no social events after school. I remember having a competition for decorating our classroom window for Christmas (which we won)... but that is all. |
| Placement Services | 6 | I think it was up to the instructor you had. My instructor was awesome and helped many of us, but in other areas of study this is not the case. The school does not really help after you leave... it is more about the relationships you had with your instructors. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | As far as the school itself goes... I have to give it an extremely poor rating, although it is a vocational school. I feel they could have reached out to the alumni to support them since the school was in such a small town, but I do not recall ever receiving any contact from the school after my graduation from the program. Things are different today with the access to online social media, so maybe things have been different for those graduating within the past several years. |
Manhattan Hairstlying Academy • Tampa, FL
Studying Skin Care (completion in 2011)
• 3/26/2012
"I graduated, I'm done. I am disappointed in the staff with the exception of one teacher. They were rude, money hungry people."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | I don't think I would recommend this career to anyone. With the economy the way it is people just aren’t willing to pay what they used to for a facial. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | The student retention was not very good. Some of the students dropped within the first month. |
| Program Quality | 8 | My teacher was wonderful. The client rotation was excellent and we had a lot of hands on training. |
| Instruction | 9 | The instructor was very knowledgeable and taught from a variety of view points. She prepared us for the tests and more. I never even needed to study with my textbook before a test. |
| How Difficult | 2 | With the instruction we received, the tests were a breeze. The was no homework and very few of the students opened their books outside of school. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | We had quite a few walk ins so we were busy with the clients most of the time, leaving little time to have our noses in the books. Learning from doing was very beneficial for all of us. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 1 | If you come in late you get sent home and had to pay to make up the hours. If you miss a day you have to pay to make up the hours. You end up forfeiting your saturdays to come in and make up hours. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | The instructor would bring in extra material for us to review. Other than her and our textbooks, there were no other resources. |
| Social Life | 3 | The office staff was rude and pretended not to speak english. There was no school spirit, and the only parties they had were when someone graduated. They were allowed to leave, buy a cake, and come back and rush to eat it if they could do it in the 30 minute break time. |
| Placement Services | 1 | They do not do job placement. They help you write a resume and say good bye, good luck. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | They put the graduating students names on a wall, thats about it. They do not offer job placement. |
Paul Mitchell The School • Casselberry, FL
Studying Cosmetology (completion in 2009)
• 4/11/2012
"It's not for everyone but if you are willing to do the work it could be perfect."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | If you're willing to do the work this school will work for you. They truly make future professionals there. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | It is still a high quality program even if it's tough. |
| Program Quality | 8 | It's what they do best. The school is wonderful for learning the techniques necessary to succeed. |
| Instruction | 8 | It's a pretty established lesson plan but Paul Mitchell does keep it up to date. |
| How Difficult | 4 | It's difficult for people who don't do the work or study. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | A perfect mix of both. Half our day in classrooms the other on the floor with clients. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 1 | They want you in and out and done in a certain amount of time. There is little to no flexibility with hours. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | The facilities were top of the line! All very high quality products for practicing. |
| Social Life | 5 | I wasn't exactly partying the whole time there. However, my experience in Design Team was very wonderful! |
| Placement Services | 2 | There is no job placement at Paul Mitchell. They do offer something similar to "help wanted" ads. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | I'm not even sure if they have an alumni network that's worth while. |
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