Ever since Salt Lake Community College administrators announced it would be closing doors on its cosmetologist training program, cosmetology students have been voicing their discontent. Cosmetology students in Salt Lake City are seeking ways to prevent the program from closing down in two years.
Increasing the prices for student haircuts is one proposal that has been offered by student leaders. One student leader, Rochelle Hall, thinks that clients are willing to pay more than $2 for a haircut. She was quoted by ABC News as saying that clients are willing to pay a little extra in order to ensure the program can continue its operations. Overall, the student body seems to be upset over the closure of the program. Even students who are not studying within the beauty school disagree with the decision, since they enjoy having access to affordable haircuts.
Student leaders in the Revolutionary Student Union will be holding a rally to voice their opposition to the discontinuance of the SLCC salon program. Students hope to find common ground with administrators at the rally and offer alternatives to the closure of the program.
The administration of the cosmetology program at SLCC cites budget costs and poor job placement as the main reasons for the closure of the program, and they consider the issue closed. Costs for the program were increasing by $80,000 every year, and the revenue simply wasn’t increasing to meet the increased costs. In fact, administrators stated that the program cost over $1.5 million to operate every year. Only $700,000 was coming back in cash flow, making the program very costly to operate. About 500 beauty school students were graduating from the program every year.
In two years, the administrators of the Salt Lake Community College salon program plan on closing its doors. The administrators have chosen to make students aware of the closure of the school to ensure everyone is able to graduate within that time frame. The building will be destroyed in two years. A new administration building with classrooms will replace the current location for the SLCC beauty school program.
The effects of the announcement have resulted in a drop in clientele for student salon stylists. After the announcement was made by administrators, the number of clients seeking haircuts has dropped by 50 percent. A Facebook group called “Save the SLCC Cosmetology Barbering Program” has been created to garner more support from the community to attempt to stop the shutting down of the program.
Even though the SLCC program will be closing doors in two years, students in Salt Lake City can still pursue their dream of becoming a stylist. Plenty of other cosmetology schools can be found in the area, and students may be able to obtain financial aid or scholarship money from these schools. The best thing to do is talk to the available cosmetology schools in Salt Lake City, UT and ask for more information about the programs and financial aid options. To help aspiring SLC cosmetology students, we have put together this checklist of things to ask admissions reps: How to Choose a Beauty School
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