ISB Ottumwa campus to close in August
Jun. 20—Andrew Oswald could see the writing on the wall, but that didn't make the decision any easier.
Simply, it was the nature of the business.
Oswald, the president of Iowa School of Beauty, announced on Facebook Friday that the Ottumwa campus will close Aug. 27, ending a run of over 50 years as a beauty school in the community. Though the campus wasn't always known as the Iowa School of Beauty, it served as a training ground for cosmetologists for years.
"I wish I had an answer for why the trends have been in decline, but I don't think there's any specific reason," he said in an interview Monday. "Enrollments have kind of worked inverse of the economy in the sense that, you know, during recessionary periods, people go back to school and think maybe it's time for a career change.
"I'm just grateful for all the graduates we've had throughout the years, all the customers and all the employees we've had."
Oswald said enrollments peaked around 2010, but enrollment in the Ottumwa campus has dropped considerably in the last decade. In 2012, the campus had 65 new students; in 2021, it had 16. He said 15 graduates a year might make the school viable and "turn a little bit of profit and continue to move forward."
"You see it every year, and the majority of schools that are closing are in communities that have populations of less than 50,000 people, and there's less people just coming to school for cosmetology in general. You have to have new students to continue a revenue stream," said Oswald, who has been at the Iowa School of Beauty since 2011. "And the ones coming to school are typically going to a bigger community to receive their education. Schools are leaving small communities because they just can't turn a profit."
With the closure of the Ottumwa campus, the Iowa School of Beauty will have campuses just in Des Moines and Sioux City. The school closed its campus in Marshalltown in 2018, and Oswald said, "that was about three years too late."
"As soon as we closed that one, then we really had to monitor the Ottumwa campus, because we didn't want to get into a situation again where we put all our schools at risk to try to keep one going for as long as possible," he said. "We had to make a decision, and ultimately, that's where we're at."
Students currently enrolled in the campus, however, have a light at the end of the tunnel. Iowa School of Beauty has partnered with the American Hair Academy in Mount Pleasant to take on those students in what Oswald called a "teach-out agreement," where the American Hair Academy takes on those currently enrolled and accepts all the students' transfer hours from the Iowa School of Beauty. Oswald said five students will be graduating later in 2022.
"The transition is seamless because (owner) Lori Greiner has agreed to teach our students with no additional costs," he said. "There's no application fee, and they'll finish their cosmetology education at American Hair Academy."
On social media, former students of the Ottumwa campus spanning the decades expressed their gratitude for attending the school, with one person calling it a "life-changing experience" and another using it to boost a career as an educator.
"There was always an influx of new labor, so I guess a high supply of labor kind of drove down wages, benefits, everything," Oswald said. "But now with a decrease in enrollment, chain salons have increased their pay dramatically. They've increased their benefits, trying to do everything they can to attract people to the industry. So there's been a big shift there, and I think there's a big opportunity for a rebound.
"We've encountered some great people in Ottumwa and love that community," he said. "We're definitely sad to leave. I know Des Moines isn't that close, but we hope to educate students from that community for years to come."
— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury
