North Charleston cosmetology academy closes

A small for-profit school that taught hair styling and other cosmetology skills for several decades in North Charleston has closed.

The Academy of Cosmetology at 5117 Dorchester Road shut down because “of financial issues and not having the resources to continue operations,” the U.S. Department of Education said in a filing posted on its website this week.

Sewell Gelberd, who bought the school in 2007, agreed with that assessment.

“That and the combination of our own mistakes, increased competition and lack of capital — all of those things sort of sunk us,” Gelberd said today.

Also, a management company that had been running the school pulled out without warning, he said.

“It was sort of a done deal by the time they left,” Gelberd said.

The last day of instruction was in mid- to late January, he said, and five students were unable to complete their coursework because of the closing. Efforts were being made to place them with another school, the Education Department said this week.

Depending on the course, tuition and other fees at the Academy of Cosmetology ranged from $3,500 to $14,000.

Gelberd said the school had several previous owners and that its license dated back to the mid-1970s. Any graduates who need copies of their transcripts can contact him by email at sgelberd@gmail.com.