Cosmetologists, sometimes called beauticians, hairdressers, and hairstylists, provide hair and beauty services such as shampooing, cutting, coloring, and styling. As a licensed cosmetologist, you will also be able to provide services for nail care and skin care if you so desire.

Historically, the cosmetology program has been referred to as a beautician school or beauty school. More recently, it has been called beauty college or cosmetology school. Generally speaking, we call ourselves a cosmetology institute or school and we believe our program is different from others. If you are just starting to look, check out our Things to Consider document and put us to the test.

As a cosmetologist, you could have a wide range of opportunities! According to the United States Department of Labor, employment of hairdressers, hairstylists, cosmetologists, and skin care specialists is projected to grow between 9 and 17 percent through the year 2014.

We estimate that a typical full-time stylist earns $30,000 to $40,000 annually, including tips. This estimate is based on a 2007 job demand survey by our accrediting agency NACCAS, data we have received from salons, and our own experience hiring educators from salons. Salon owners, experienced commissioned stylists, and other beauty industry professionals may earn significantly more. The Bureau of Labor statistics cites a mean wage for full-time cosmetologists of $27,070 annually.

We strongly recommend touring our campus and meeting our staff and students. Call our admissions team at 800-787-6456 to schedule a tour.

Accredited schools have met national standards of educational performance. In our case, the recognition comes from the Department of Education. Accredited schools are monitored by a recognized non-government agency on behalf of the DOE. In the past, we have achieved accreditation by the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (NACCAS) within 60 days of opening.

Accreditation of schools has become one of the most authoritative and reliable metrics for a school's concern for integrity toward its students in search of a quality education. Some of the factors that accrediting organizations look for include the school’s curriculum, quality of education, facilities, staff, and admission policies. As an accredited school, we are able to offer federal financial aid to those who qualify, along with other benefits. Check out our thoughts on accreditation. It costs more to meet and maintain the standards for accreditation, but we believe you’re worth it.

As an accredited institute, we offer federal financial aid to those who qualify. Check out our financial aid information.

Regency’s formal admissions requirements are simple. To enroll, you need to show proof of a high school diploma or GED, be 16 years of age or older (parental consent will be required for students under 18 years), pass our entrance assessment, complete our application process, and pay the enrollment agreement fee. We also look for individuals who have a passion for helping others look and feel their best and who share our guiding principles.

That’s it – if you want to pursue a career in cosmetology and contribute to the Regency community, we want you here!

Classes start all the time so you can jump in right away. We don’t have any of that crazy waiting list business. Check out our start dates.

We heard our student’s requests loud and clear and recently introduced part-time programs at many of our campuses. Check out the part-time start dates to learn more.

If you go full steam, you can finish our program in about a year. Check out the program information to learn more.

We pack a lot of learning into three phases: Workshop, Performance, and Rehearsal. In short, those three aspects translate into classroom time to get you trained and prepared, some behind-the-scenes practice (and more practice), and lots of quality time on the salon floor. For more detail, check out our curriculum page.

According to the US Department of Labor, almost half of all cosmetologists are self-employed. Many own their own salon, but a growing number lease booth space or a chair from the salon owner. Our professional development program will help prepare you to manage your business, increase client relations, and achieve personal and professional goals. These skills will serve you throughout your life.

We focus on all shapes, sizes, and textures so you’ll be ready for the real world with all your practice.

Regency students can be elected to the student council. Student council members play an important role in each campus including planning and coordinating events and being a voice for fellow students.

Regency is an equal opportunity educational institution and evaluates all applicants and students on the basis of merit, without regard to protected class status. We do not tolerate unlawful discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, military or veteran status, or other applicable characteristics protected under federal, state, or local law. Further information concerning this policy can be found in the Regency Student Handbook.

In compliance with applicable law, Regency will provide a reasonable accommodation for (1) the known physical or mental impairments of an otherwise qualified student with a disability and/or (2) for a student’s sincerely-held religious belief or practice.

Accommodation requests may be submitted by prospective and current students, and each request is reviewed on its individual merits. A reasonable accommodation is one that that is consistent with both the student’s needs and the essential elements of the educational program. The purpose of a reasonable accommodation is to provide a student with equal access to the fundamental requirements of the program. A requested accommodation may be denied as unreasonable if it would require Regency to alter or waive the core elements or requirements of its educational program, if it would pose an undue hardship on Regency, or as otherwise provided by law.

Any prospective or current student requesting an accommodation of disability or religion in the course of the application process or enrollment should notify Regency by an email addressed to studentaffairs@regencybeauty.com. Individuals requesting an accommodation will be required to complete a Special Accommodations Request Form (“SARF”). Each request for accommodation will be reviewed in accordance with Regency policy by Regency’s Student Affairs Committee. Further information concerning these policies can be found in the Regency Student Handbook.

• Regency accepts transfer students and will accept up to one-half of those program hours required by the state in which the student wishes to attend the program, but reserves the right to deny transfer hours from another institution for any reason.
• Regency accepts 100% of hours earned from other campuses that share common ownership under Regency Corporation.
• For information about the specific process to follow to request approval of a transfer, please refer to the Regency student handbook for the location you plan to attend.

For the most recent reporting period, 58.6%¹ of students who started Regency’s cosmetology program had completed the program within 150% of the time normally needed to complete it.

To make sense of that number, public 4-year universities² – what many people think of as the standard for education – have a lower comparable completion rate. 54.7% of students who started school in the 2000 class had graduated within 150% of the time normally needed to complete. At public two-year institutions, the rate is even lower – just 22% for students who began their program in 2005.


¹Relates to campuses covered by OPE ID: 01049000, 2009 cohort; corresponding rates for our Willoughby, OH campus (OPE ID: 037003) Winston-Salem, NC (OPE ID: 030644) are 37.9% and 57.8%, respectively.
²http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010152rev.pdf, p. 16

You are the single biggest factor. In a study cited by the U.S. Department of Education as the authoritative review of college attrition, it was concluded that “...individual intentions regarding participation in higher education and attendance at a specific institution are important predictors in the likelihood of degree completion.”¹

In other words, it is all about you! Your commitment to stick to the program is what it takes to complete it. It would be nice if a school could guarantee that you’ll graduate, but only you can guarantee that for yourself.

Some schools maintain very high completion rates by admitting only those students they think are likely to graduate and, more importantly, turning many students away. At Regency, our guiding principles tell us to make a difference in someone’s life. Our admissions requirements are designed to let anyone with a passion for the beauty industry pursue the education they need, not screen people out. As a result, our students come from all walks of life, and some overcome significant personal challenges to graduate.


¹http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009152.pdf, p. 7

We don’t publish or provide specific comparisons to other schools’ completion rates, because every school is different. Their admissions practices vary, and the students they serve therefore may vary as well.

Also, in our experience, some completion rates that get published may not be reliable. With the exception of highly selective schools, completion rates are often lower than you might expect. Numbers between 50% and 70% are common, as the example about 4-year universities above shows. Despite that, it’s not unheard of to find cosmetology schools that report rates as high as 90% or even 100%.

Our advice? Take very high completion rates with a grain of salt and use your own observations to evaluate the number you get from a school you’re considering (including Regency!).

Most importantly, ask yourself this question: based on everything I know, is this someplace I believe I’ll want to be for the full length of the program? If completion is all about you - your commitment and your expectations, then how the school you select measures up to both will determine how likely you are to graduate from that school.

We publish three different numbers based on DOE requirements alone – the completion rate for our Cleveland campus, the rate for our Winston-Salem campus and the rate for all our other campuses combined. If you’re enrolled in Cleveland or Winston-Salem, you will see a different number from what we’ve provided here, which is the total number for all of our other campuses.

We also report on a campus-by-campus basis, and this is the number the U.S. Department of Education provides on the Student Aid Report. This rate is not the same as the combined rate that the U.S. Department of Education requires us to publish so confusion about the “correct” rate can occur. You should know that individual campus rates can vary from one another quite a bit, particularly at our newer campuses, where the calculation may be based on a very small number of students who enrolled and/or graduated by the time the report was due. Also, the number you get from the U.S. Department of Education may reflect a prior year and could be different, because it shows the results for a different group of students.

Completion rate is a complicated subject. How it’s reported and calculated can vary. Interpreting what the number means is open to individual perspective, too. Remember that school averages are lower than you might expect and ask questions if a rate reported to you seems very high. While we are proud of our student completion rates, we think the best way to find the best school for you is to visit the schools you’re interested in. We provide prospective students who are interested in Regency this helpful guide to selecting a school, and we recommend the approach outlined there.

98.8% of Regency graduates¹ surveyed said they took the final part of the state licensing exam in 2010 and passed. Our surveys are conducted under the reporting requirements of our accrediting agency, the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts & Sciences.


¹Relates to campuses covered by OPE ID 010490. Corresponding rates for our Willoughby, OH campus (OPE ID: 037003) and our Winston-Salem, NC campus (OPE ID: 030644) are 100% and 100%, respectively.

Of students who graduated in 2010, 91.4% reported finding employment in the field of cosmetology¹ when surveyed in 2011. Our surveys are conducted under the reporting requirements of our accrediting agency, the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts & Sciences.


¹Relates to campuses covered by OPE ID 010490. Corresponding rates for our Willoughby, OH campus (OPE ID: 037003) and our Winston-Salem, NC campus (OPE ID: 030644) are 89.9 and 91.2%, respectively.

We have a SalonPartners^® program that gives salon owners and managers the inside track on new talent. (That would be you.) We’ve established relationships with hundreds of industry leaders nationwide to give you an advantage as you start thinking about your first post-Regency career move. And, we just launched a new national job placement website. If you choose to post your resume, salons and other industry partners will be able to see how you’ve performed in areas such as academics, guest satisfaction, service volume, and retailing, so they’ll like you before they even meet you.

Visit our online store to see all of our Regency gear: www.RegencyWear.com