Established in 1961, California Beauty College provides a campus in Modesto's downtown. The site incorporates both a training center and a student salon, where students provide salon services under the scrutiny of a supervisor. An independent school, CBC offers its graduates a guarantee to provide additional training, if needed, to pass the state examination for up to one year after graduation.
Dior operates three sites in the Central Valley, in the towns of Modesto, Manteca and Turlock. The organization takes pride in training "cutting edge" stylists. Located on the north side of town, the Modesto facility sits near Vintage Faire Mall. Students provide a full range of cosmetology services in the student salon under supervision.
For more than 50 years, Adrians's Beauty College has offered comprehensive training in the area. The campus in central Modesto averages five to 10 students per class, as do the Tracy and Turlock facilities. Adrian's gives students the opportunity to serve customers under supervision with an extensive menu of offerings. Adrian's provides additional training at no cost to graduates who fail to pass the state test.
As a Paul Mitchell partner school, the Safavi Institute provides the highest name recognition of the cosmetology schools in Modesto. The school focuses on Paul Mitchell products and techniques, although students receive some exposure to other lines through visiting guest artists. SICE boasts a 17,000-square-foot facility at its central Modesto location.
At most schools, students train in all of the disciplines of cosmetology, whether they intend to practice in that area or not. The graduate may choose to specialize after passing the state licensing examination for cosmetology, which includes the care of hair, nails and skin and requires the completion of 1,600 classroom hours prior to testing.
The state of California offers statistics on how well graduates of each cosmetology school perform on written and practical state board examinations on the state website. Prospective students can check a school's success rate as a measure of the curriculum effectiveness. Other considerations include tuition rates, available financial aid, convenience of class hours, instructor/student ratio and convenience of the school's location.