Empire Beauty School

Regardless of what Empire Beauty School contributes, I recommend Paul Mitchell schools for those that seek the best.

With the scam the local school here is running, I do not doubt that Empire can afford such a program. Stay away from the Indiana School if you value ethics and honesty.

I go (used to) Empire Hair Design in florence KY. On Thurs. Feb. 19, 2009 they terminated me because of grades along w/ 2 other students after we had paid in full. I was graduating May 7. I have been to major universities w/ never below A/B average. They could not show proof of my grades. I asked for reports and they said they would have to dig them out of closets who knows where that it would take them forever. They are trying to get rid of all of us paid in full to get the new ones money. We have one educator on the floor and about 130 students (2-3/station). mind u, it is a requirement to have 1 educator/20 students. Even if i did have bad grades u could understand why.

I go to the night class at empire in new york and frankly I wish the school was better ! some teachers they don’t know what their doing! the duirectors are never around when u have a problem ! all the students are disrespectful and getto and that really sucks ! their is always a fight ! and they put u to work on the salon floor to fast ! they have a program called 360 which is horrible and if ur absent they drop u ! many people have families and that’s not fair ! I just think something needs to be done ! they need to have someone come in and fix the school and the people that go their

To whom it may concern,
In a recent class meeting, we the students were asked about our attendance, or rather lack thereof. A generalized question was asked as to why so many students were lacking in attendance.
No one responded in definite statements; many of the excuses were either work or home related. However, after talking with my classmates afterward, we all seemed to share the same view and complaint of our school. In truth, the reason why the majority of the student body does not attend class on a regular basis is due to the overwhelming impression that we are here for no other reason than to work for free, while a company who holds us in no regard makes a profit off of our valuable time.
I myself am a night student in the advanced class. My classmates consist of mothers and full-time employees who have made serious sacrifices to be here. We all took on this burden of financial and physical strain because we wanted to better our lives by learning and becoming certified in a trade. We soon found out that the most we were ever meant to learn were the bare minimum basics in the beginner�s class. After scraping together whatever knowledge we could from the lesson plans, we were tossed out on the salon floor. It was then up to us to sink or swim, no matter how unprepared we might have been.
Many of us struggled and fought to stay afloat, but here we are. Stuck in what we refer to as, �A glorified part-time job.� (With the exception of actually getting paid for our work.) I�m not as naive as to say the E-salon is useless; I understand it�s purpose. The salon floor is a way to familiarize us with salon inner workings and give us experience. That being said, it should not be our sole priority after we are moved to �Advanced� stature. So far, the advanced class has been a joke.
Never mind the fact that we are embarrassed to take clients, given that we rarely ever have sufficient product and have to make excuses for our so-called, �first rate school.� For example, every time anyone has a client that requests color services, (if it be permanent or temporary) nine times out of ten we will not have the color they desire nor anything even close to the shade. We are then encouraged to mix colors to get a close substitute so �we� don�t lose on the sale. I can vividly remember a day that we ran out of every kind of conditioner that we carry. These things shouldn�t happen and we should not have to endure the repercussions from the clients because of these issues. There is no consistency in anything at Empire: not in product, not in teachers (every time I turn around they are juggling them from shift to shift, class to class,) not in values, nothing.
It�s quite clear that the only purpose we serve is to knock out as many roller sets and flat irons as we can, rather than continue our education. Our class schedule is evidence enough. Mondays, we have theory. We cram as much information into four hours as humanly possible and pray that we retain some of it. On Tuesdays, we have one hour of �theory.� Aside from the fact that one hour is not enough time to learn anything or get anything done, but many times our teachers are so buried in work that they need to do, that they call off our theory hour and send us to the floor to take on whatever clients have shown up early. The other two days a week we are on the salon floor.
So, I�ll ask you, the reader; do you honestly think that four to five hours a week is adequate class time? We have the knowledge of basic procedures, but as far as any specialty haircuts, color service, perms, or something as simple as a relaxer, some of us are still in the dark and continue to stay that way. The only people who seem to thrive in this situation are those that already had the know-how to do these services and didn�t need to be taught in the first place. Everyone one else relies on themselves or fellow students to teach them what they need to know.
It�s insulting for us to see this school for what it really is: an overpriced illusion. A place where you are pulled in under a lie. Upon taking your tour of the school, you are filled with confidence and reassurance that the education you will be receiving is first-class, sought after, envied, and well worth the tuition. We all came to realize all too soon that it couldn�t be further from the truth.
From incomplete kits to elementary designed lesson plans, Empire�s true colors and values brilliantly shine. Before any of the students here enrolled, we were assured that our kits would contain everything we would ever need for our entire enrollment at Empire; now we see different. The salon goes as far as to offer services that require implements that we were never given and have had to go and purchase out of pocket. Prime examples: flat iron and acrylic nail sets. Both are offered as a service; neither one are any of us prepared to do if we only have the items we were given. Even the sets of rollers we were issued do not contain enough to roll an entire head with the same size roller, so additional rollers are added to the very long list of equipment that we have all had to buy.
As for the quality of the education we do receive, every �technique� we have been shown is and taught readily available on YouTube. In fact, many of us have learned more off the internet that we could ever hope to learn from Empire.
My question is, why am I wasting my time and money with a school/company that doesn�t care if I succeed or fail? You�ve got my money, right? What more do you need? This school has made me sick to my stomach when I think about how we are were eluded into the hype of being a �Professional Stylist� and being convinced that we are getting the best of the best for our money. In reality, I could have saved twelve thousand dollars and went to RCCC.
I don�t expect this letter to change anything, but the question was asked, so this is my answer. We don�t come to class because we are tired of being taken advantage of. We are exploited and in return -if we suffer this for two years- we are awarded with a piece of paper that states we did our time. We are then released into the world, unprepared and terrified.
On a side note, the so-called �job placement� was built up a lot more than a cork board littered with post-its noting which local jobs have opened up. (Excellent commitment to the student�s welfare on that one.) I can only hope that more people see this before its too late. As for me, I�ve made my commitment. I�ve been lured in under the mirage of a phenomenal school and they have my student loan under lock and key. The most I can hope for is that I can still afford to pay my internet bill, so at least when I graduate I will have a way to learn the techniques I need to make it in the cosmetology industry.
I don�t expect this to shed light on anything. Why would a company stop making easy money to consider their students? We are a paycheck, nothing more. That being said, since I know that absolutely nothing in this letter is going to open any eyes at Empire, this is not only a letter of dissatisfaction from a student, but part of a chain letter. One that has been sent to the Better Business Bureau, Wachovia (who handles my loan) and every person I know who has ever considered a career in cosmetology.

-Vanessa Kuchera
Student of Empire Beauty School
Concord NC, 28027

OMGOSH, why is empire getting away with this!???? I called a lawyer for all the above reasons[that Vanessa wrote] Mystory is as bad if not worse.We enrolled our daughter in the Empire school here in Tucson, az. While attending, she ended up getting pregnant.[not planned] She did miss school, because of nausea. When she went out to have the baby,she was told she would have to re-enroll to come back.Well,she tried to re-enroll, and they wont let her come back.So her father, and I are stuck paying this lousy school 12,0000.;and she is now being asked to pay 4,800. well, she has a part time job at I-hop, a newborn, and nothing to show for the 16,ooo. we all owe, forNOTHING,NADA,ZIP…..I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS SCHOOL IS ALLOWED TO DO THIS!How can this not be against the law??? I would love any advice on how to resolve this issue. I also do not want anyone else to have to go thru what we are going thru. Please, if you are even considering this school….DO NOT DO IT! Thank you…

Wow. I amparticipating in Cut It Out and I hope it all goes well, another student and I have been doing a lot for this event despite all the crap that goes on at our school. I go to Empire in Bordentown,NJ. It probably was one of my BIGGEST Mistakes ever. Along with many other students, someone at the school waas forging our financial aid papers. A couple months ago they fired almost al the staff, minus the teachers, So the Directors, financial aid advisor, the guy who got students to enroll. Now there are many students including myself gettying lawyers to fight this. They lied and signed my name as well as my Moms on my financial aid papers. They were embeziling so much money every month and it just gets worse and worse. They have since then hired new people which I hope starts working out because the things going on there need to stop. DRUGS ARE BEING SOLD FROM LOCKERS, fighting, A TEACHER ACTUALLY BUYS DRUGS FROM ANOTHER STUDENT. ITS NUTS!!! It seems now I read this all empire beauty schools are no good!!!!

Not to mention, we never have product,its pick and choose with what students can do what. They change rules every 5 seconds… and the product thing is huge becuz we cant get our state requirments doen if there is NO PRODUCT!!!!

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After speaking to the “Acting Director” (the previous director was fired) I am in outrage he was so rude and at one point asked me “why did i come in the office when i saw he was busy”? I am convinced anyone thinking of Empire it’s so easy to get and so easy to get out! The school is designed to make everything seem so easy and helpful until UR 1st Day!!! You start to learn slowly but surely how things work. Constant rule changes, no product, assisting clients when the school profits 100%! I say to all who have written on this blog I Know what ur going through! They will get there’s some day with a class action suit that will stop all corporate offices in there tracks! Its illegal, the whole system is a scam. BEWARE!!

I really wanted to have a service done to my hair. However, after all this negative issues, I have alternative plans.

I attend an empire school, in NJ and let me tell you it is horrible. One teacher has a bad coke addiction, Another teacher is very very racist, another teacher does nothing but sell cupcakes and hamburgers to ensure that we don’t have to pay for trips that we never go on, and the rest of the teachers are just too cool to teach or plain old lazy… I dont understand it but this new CLIC stuff SUCKS with a capital S…. Makes no sense its just another way of these cheap ass people to make money they charge more tuition $1600 dollars and give less supply in the kits then when the school was $1200. then the books have these pop up charecters.(as if we were still in pre-school)…if any one was smart enough they would realize the owner of this company is super smart he takes from milady puts it in his own words calls it clic and makes it his own…go figure now they spend less money on providing books and cheap cheap supplies that break faster then it takes the manufactuer to make. I feel bad for future students but i must say i am glad to be out of that asylum.

Thank you all for posting all of this. I was trying to make a decision between Empire and Paul Mitchell and now I know what to do. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the drive and tenacity is within every individual to be their best, after all, it is very easy in comparison to most fields with the same median income potential, and that is for low stress. I with the winners that understand a value is a value and doesn’t stop there. Believe in yourself.

Well we are 2 years into my daughters 18 month Empire prison term. she could never take a vacation or be sick without it being an issue. she was supposed to “graduate” in 10/2010 and here we are at the 2 year mark. They use these kids and its a crime. A new teacher shared that one of these supervisors has a bottle of wine in her desk and acts like she is drunk. that same person called my daughter a “retard” (my brother is profoundly retarded). really really awful to her and they just keep giving her dates of graduation and then changing them. when students freak out or say they are calling the state, the school lets them go w/ their paperwork. she has completed her curriculums and she is over hours. she was supposed to be done monday and thursday before her last class they told her she needs to complete 30 cuts, 10 wash and styles, perms and facials…you get the idea. i called them and and asked why she was never given these tasks.they said she needs to get people to come in for the service or try to “sell” additional services to the customer. so i said so my daughter has to strong arm people, her family and strangers, into getting services. She said “yes” thats correct. i said thats nuts. so im going to come into that salon over and over and have her cut my hair , perm it, facials pedicures whatever…til i dont have any thing left. we spent a lot of money for a job that pays little in comparison. im an RN making 70 grand a year after 2.5 years of college and i paid less than what this school charges. my daughter doesnt want to be a nurse but now she hates this , this school has made her hate everything about this career and thats the biggest shame. bye bye—going to get my hair cut (1 half inch at a time)

Wow, these are scary reviews but seem totally on the mark for beauty school. I am a licensed aesthetician and I went through a horrible school experience with that. Thank goodness it was only a few hundred dollars at a community school but the teacher was a complete buffoon who couldn’t even pronounce the words in the Milady text let alone understand and explain them. I kept asking her to teach things and she would say you’ll learn that after you graduate. WHAT? After about two weeks of “theory” they put us on the floor to do facials without ever even having demonstrated a single facial all the way through.

I am contemplating a Paul Mitchell or Empire school to go back for my full license but I don’t want to go through a miserable experience of feeling like a prisoner like that again. They had coffee in the lobby and wouldn’t let the students have it. I am a grown woman with a family taking night classes. I said I’ll friggin PAY for it and they treated me and all the students like third class citizens. They wouldn’t let us park close to the building (in the ghetto getting out at ten at night) so the customers could park there.
Yipes…don’t know if I want to get into that again.

I attend NW campus, & EMPIRE BEAUTY SCHOOL shoud not be a $18000 dollar school. Let me be one of the first to tell you that this school did not provide a TOP NOTCH EDUCATION we learn the very basics!! If even that, there is so many students the teacher cant give individual attention if your struggling with something or another reason may be because a teacher may focus to much time on students they favor for whatever reason. I COULD GO ON ABOUT THE BASIC EDUCATION THAT THEY CLAIM IS TOP NOTCH & WORTH ABOUT $ 20000 GRAND ALMOST, BUT IS IT REALLY??? And i could go on about the students being scared to complain, or the ones that did have complaints but didn’t wanna make a fuss. Ect…THE NEGATIVE ATMOSPHERE THAT THE MAJORITY OF TEACHERS CREATED BECAUSE OF PRE-JUDGING STUDENTS OUTCOCME IN THE BEAUTY WORLD OR JUDGING THEIR PERSONALITY. What an ugly place this was. TO MANY KATTY WOMEN TEACHERS & DIRECTORS. JUST TEACH!!

Agree with you sandra bolton!!!

I am thinking about attending costomotology school and toured Empire Beauty in Chandler, AZ. The classes fit 20 people and the teachers appeared to be enthusiastic about their job. However, its so hard to make a decision when you read terrible reviews, yet see a not so bad environment. Everyone appeared to be in a good mood. The room for facials seem adequate, compared to some other schools.. and the fancy technology, with the smart board thing and fancy elaborate books. The even gave me a giant book “as a gift for taking the time to come in and tour” full of fancy pictures and quotes, etc. The lady even had me feel the hair of the manicans, and asked me if the other schools had done that. No. Wow, they must really know how to scam people out of their money. The location for me is great, but using financial aid to cover the costs makes me leery. I’m so confused and torn. A woman who recently opened up a salon that interviewed me for a receptionist position had recommended Empire to me. The flat iron and other tools in the kits appeared cheap and the bag they include to tote your stuff around aswell. This is so frustrating, unless I pay out 20,000 and go to Kohler or Paul Mitchell and face a 40 minute commute, I sacrifice a possibly better education.. Soooo torn! I had no idea how many beauty schools were out there and just how bad they want your money!

I think it is so amazing that even though I’m all the way in Memphis,TN @Kaylie is experiencing the same thing I’m experiencing. The way they present the school is so practiced. The lady at Empire here performed the same routine…giving me a nice, big book, showing me their specialized manequins,telling me that others are making a bad decision by choosing other schools.I must admit I thought Empire would offer me more up-to-date techniques and really teach me like I’ve never touched a head of hair before but now, I doubt it. My choice was between Paul Mitchell & Empire. I know what I’m going to do now.

I started at Empire in 2004 at the Midlothian, Va location. I don’t remember it being THAT bad back then, but I do know the education was very basic and not trendy at all. Having been in the business for 7 years, I don’t know how you would be successful without knowing the latest trends and hairstyles. I had to leave for about a year and started back up at the west end Virginia location. After I filled out my financial aid information they informed me that not all of it was covered and I would have to pay over $600 a month to return to school. I lived with my single mom who made $30,000 a year and had 3 children. After my mom and I worked something out I started back to school. We never had any of the supplies we needed and the teachers seemed to be picked up off the streets. The administrators were shady and the director Desiree recently got fired for stealing. They told me before I enrolled I would make $30,000 right out of school which is a lie. I didn’t even make half that my first year. I would tell anyone interested in this profession to reconsider. There’s no money in it and people are rude. You would spend less money and make more doing a two year program at a community college. And for anyone considering going to Empire, don’t. Don’t even consider it. Go to Paul Mitchell, it’s cheaper and you get a better education and a trip to Vegas. Or get an apprenticeship at a salon you like, you will learn all of the latest styles and get all of the attention you need to learn how to do them. Empire is just a total waste of money.

These reviews are crazy! I was in the process of going here in january. however, im totally reconsidering. i was all excited with all the tools and the school it self. it makes me sad reading this because i was SOOOO excited. i really want to go to beauty school because doing hair, nails, and makeup the most is what i LOVE to do. somebody give me advice please!! HELP ME!