Moving into the professional world of beautification

With tuition on the rise, the job market getting smaller, and employment qualifications becoming higher, many students are desperately searching for alternative methods to cut costs without sacrificing quality education. Some students have had to change their plans on attending private institutions, career colleges and universities due to the extremely high tuition costs or low acceptance rates.

They have instead chosen to go the community college route. Community colleges have also expanded their degree and certificate programs in order to keep up the universities and the career fields. Now it is becoming more acceptable to attend a community college after high school, especially with the Cal States not accepting any new applicants for the fall and spring semesters.

Community colleges are once again being seen as a stepping stone in the pursuit of higher education. Fullerton College offers an array of degrees specializing in many industries, which includes a comprehensive board certified cosmetology program. Just like attending a private beauty school, Fullerton's cosmetology program prepares students for the state board certification exam at the end of the program.

Tuition and overall costs are big factors when deciding whether or not to attend a private beauty school or enroll in the cosmetology program at a community college. Total tuition costs plus supplies for the full cosmetology program at Fullerton is about $3,300 plus the costs of extra materials.

The average tuition costs for a private beauty school are about $14,000-$25,000 not including supplies and depending on the school. Other than tuition, some of the benefits the cosmetology programs have at the community college level are that the class sizes tend to be significantly smaller than some of the private schools. At Fullerton, the class size never exceeds 25 students. This gives the students as well as the instructor more one-on-one time with each other.

Not only does the p r o g r a m i n c l u d e total hair instruction but it also o f f e r s classes on all aspects of the industry, such as makeup, both traditional and air brushing, basic skin care techniques, manicuring and hair extensions. The program at Fullerton College consists of five nineweek classes that are 40 hours a week, and take about one year to complete.

Because Fullerton's cosmetology program follows a school schedule, the students get the benefits of having major holidays off, spring and summer breaks off, as well as winter break. Most private beauty schools require a student to be at school year round, although they do observe national holidays, they do not observe extended holidays such as spring break, winter break and summer break. Some private schools also require students to pay for the hours they miss and don't make up. On the other hand, Fullerton's program allows students a total of 24 hours that they can miss (without being penalized) every nine weeks. Popular private beauty schools tend to rely on the reputation of their name in order to entice students to apply.

Most applicants think that they will receive a better education and instruction, when in actuality, they have the same state board requirements that everyone else must have. The only difference is that the private schools charge seven times the tuition costs of a community college. Fullerton's cosmetology program has an overall state board graduation rate of 85 to 95% which rivals some of the private schools' success rates. With its high state board passing rates, Fullerton's cosmetology program is a top contender at the community college level.

Fullerton College also offers a prestigious fashion program. Not only does the curriculum rival vocational schools and career colleges, but also the staff consists of some of the best in the industry. The department coordinator of the fashion department, Janet Gregg, is a former buyer for Broadway. Renee Young, the fashion design instructor, is a former instructor at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Christopher Griffin, the retail buying instructor, is a former director of M.A.G.I.C. Sherry Eversaul, the other retail buying instructor, is a former Vice President of Nordstorm. The faculty in the fashion department prides themselves on keeping current with courses that are very similar to the ones offered at schools such as Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM).

Vocational schools and career colleges, still maintain lower costs that the community colleges offer. At Fullerton College the popular associate's degree in the fashion department is Fashion Merchandising. The total tuition for an Associate of Arts degree in Fashion Merchadising at Fullerton College is about $1,000 plus the cost of books. The tuition for that same degree at FIDM is about $27,000.

Regardless of your final goal, receiving a degree at a community college or a career college will prepare you to enter the workforce and have a great amount of success. Gregg had a former student that went on to work the sewing floor at Nordstroms, sitting next to her was a FIDM graduate with the same degree. This is an example of how someone can still pursue their dreams of working in the fashion industry without attending a career college or vocational school. After receiving an AA, there is always the opportunity to work your way up in the industry.

However, if you want a job in fashion merchandising, these days most companies require at least bachelor's degree. Popular department store JCPenny will not consider an application without a B average and a bachelor's degree. On the other hand, someone could enter the industry with an AA at a smaller company such as Pac Sun. Just like community colleges, private schools curriculum only meet the minimum qualifications required for the industry.