Students blind-sided by closure of beauty college

Local students Thursday said they were blind-sighted by Regency Beauty Institute’s decision to close after more than 50 years in cosmetology education.

The institute announced Wednesday night on its website that it permanently closed all 79 campuses nationwide, including the Miami Twp. campus at 2040 Miamisburg Centerville Road.

Norma Jeane Rogers-Parks of Moraine said she received an automated message alerting her of the permanent closure at 9:15 p.m. She enrolled at Regency just three months ago. For an 11-month program, she’s taken out $19,000 in student loans.

“We were completely blindsided,” she said. “They had tours yesterday, and they were having people sign their papers for enrollment.”

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The institute said it does not have the money to continue to run the business, and cited multiple reasons: Declining numbers of students coupled with a “negative characterization for for-profit education.”

Regency officials said the school could not obtain continued financing, but it is not being forced to close because of wrongdoing.

“We held ourselves to high educational and ethical standards,” the statement said. “The environment is simply not one that allows us to remain open. We diligently explored a range of strategic options that would benefit our students, teachers, and staff — and allow us to remain open. Unfortunately, those efforts were not successful.”

This is another in a string of for-profit schools that have closed. Earlier this month, Carousel Beauty Colleges announced the closures of all five of its area locations, displacing more than 90 students. ITT Technical Institute also said it was closing 137 campuses in 39 states, impacting about 2,000 student in Ohio.

Charles Gross, the general manager of Creative Images Institute of Cosmetology, said his school’s student population and retention rate have been rising. The cosmetology school — which has two locations in Dayton — has about 240 students.

Gross said the crackdown on for-profit schools has not impacted Creative Images because of its “high standards.”

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“We haven’t had issues like that,” he said. “There are very strict rules for for-profit schools, and you have to do it right. You have a choice over the quality of education you get.”

Rogers-Parks said when Carousel closed its campuses, she asked a Regency administrator if the school was in danger of shutting down too. They assured her that school would remain open.

“That fact that she assured me that nothing was going to happen, I just can’t believe it,” she said. “We’ve got people graduating in a week. Now where do they go? What do I do?”

Regency students will be able to return to the schools to pick up personal items from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday. Schools will not be open at any other time.