Regency Beauty Institute Closing All Its Campuses, Including One In South Austin

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — Minnesota-based Regency Beauty Institute is permanently closing its 79 campuses nationwide, including the one in South Austin, company officials said.

The South Austin campus is located at 500 E. Ben White Blvd. in South Austin. Another location in Round Rock, at 2711 La Frontera Blvd., also will close.

Company officials announced the closures on the Regency Beauty Institute website on Wednesday.

"This is incredibly difficult news for everyone affected, especially our students, teachers, and staff," company officials wrote in a statement. "We recognize that some of you may be finding this out for the first time by reading this. We are truly sorry for the abrupt nature of this information."

Company officials said they were in the process of sending students their transcripts so they could transfer to other schools in finishing their cosmetology studies. The company said students would be allowed to retrieve their personal belongings on Thursday between the hours of 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

After those dates, students would no longer have access to their campus. Former students can click here for more information.

Officials at the school — which has taught students since its inception 50 years ago — cited various reasons for the closure: declining numbers of students, an increasingly negative characterization of for-profit education among lawmakers and regulators and a subsequent inability to secure additional financing for operations.

Read the company's full statement below:

"This is incredibly difficult news for everyone affected: especially our students, teachers, and staff. We recognize that some of you may be finding this out for the first time by reading this. We are truly sorry for the abrupt nature of this information. How did this happen? In short, the organization does not have the cash to continue to run the business. There are multiple intertwined reasons: declining numbers of cosmetology students nationwide, a negative characterization of for-profit education by regulators and politicians that continues to worsen and, in light of these factors, an inability to obtain continued financing. This is not another case of a school being forced to shut down because it was accused of wrongdoing. We held ourselves to high educational and ethical standards. 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."

In Dallas, Aveda Institute has offered to take in former Regency Beauty Institute students to help them finish out their studies, but it was unclear whether they would extend that opportunity to other cities where they operate campuses.

For its part, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation issued a statement saying it would explore ways to help affected students. “TDLR staff found out about the sudden closure of Regency Beauty Institute late last night," Susan Stanford with TDLR said. "Our immediate and main concern is for the students. We are meeting in Austin [Thursday] to determine the best plan to assist the students.”

In its statement, Regency Beauty Institute referenced a growing negative stigma of for-profit schools as partly attributable to its closing. Earlier this month, ITT Technical Institute officials cited the same reason as explaining the closure of its 130 campuses after the Department of Education denied further access to federal financial aid funding.

Image: Shutterstock

Bryan Kirk contributed to this report.