MARYSVILLE — Tina Evans is eager to tell community members about a field of employment that she’s seen survive the recession.
Evans is the department head of the Everett Community College School of Cosmetology, located in Marysville, and she’s inviting prospective clients and students alike to their third annual open house, Dec. 2 from 3-6 p.m. in Suite G at 9315 State Ave.
“We’re supposed to have space for 50 students, but we actually have 64 enrolled right now,” Evans said. “I wish we had more room. We’ve seen a significant increase in enrollment in the past 18 months. We have a really nice mix of young and older students, with 23 percent coming here for skills retraining, 30 percent here through partnerships with high schools, and the rest are brand new to the industry.”
The school filled its enrollment on Nov. 18, the first day of registration for the new quarter. The next quarter starts Jan. 3. To complete the course, students must complete at least 1,730 hours of training, which Evans estimated takes five quarters.
“We’ve kept a student-teacher ratio of 15-to-one, so students can expect to be supervised closely,” Evans said. “They won’t get lost in the shuffle.”
The school has maintained this ratio in spite of the increased enrollment that Evans has witnessed at all of Everett Community College’s schools, and in spite of her school producing so many graduates, she’s quick to tout what she sees as the cosmetology industry’s almost guaranteed employment.
“We offer 100 percent placement,” Evans said. “We’re recession proof. You hear about people giving up luxuries like massages, but they’re still getting their hair cut and colored. They might go six or seven weeks between trims, rather than three or four, but our people are still working. That same recession has also created an increase in clients here at the cosmetology school, since we offer services at a third or less the price of what you’d pay at a salon.”
Evans estimates that the school draws 28 new clients a week, especially during $4 haircut Wednesdays. During the open house, the school will provide makeup touchups, nail polish changes and brow waxing for $3 each, as well prizes, refreshments, retail specials, school tours and beauty demonstrations.
“Our students will be dressed in evening wear and we’ll show you how to have ‘holiday hair,’” Evans said. “We offer haircuts, hairstyling and foil treatments for half what you’d pay at a salon, and our $28 manicure, pedicure and facial ‘spa package’ is a big hit.”
The school offers a certificate in cosmetology and an associate of technical arts degree, and students can attend full- or part-time in preparation for state cosmetology licensing exams.
“In the past four years, our students have had a 100 percent passing rate on the exam, compared to the state average of 84 percent,” Evans said.
For more information, log onto www.everettcc.edu/cosmo. To make a salon appointment, call 425-259-8283.
