Bennett Career Institute

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for Bennett Career Institute. The school is great, The staff and teachers are great and the students are friendly and helpful too one another. I am thankful and blessed and couldn’t have chosen a better school to attend. Thanks Greg C.

The only reason i give this school a 1 star is because i really liked my instructor and some of the people i had met. This school is horrible!!! and i mean HORRIBLE!!! I attended here thinking I was making a great choice but NOT!!. I am actually a formal student and a disabled veteran and they don’t give a dam. All they care about is money money money. Their cosmetology kits are crappy but they had the nerve to raise the tuition from 15K to 17K but the cosmetology kits are still crappy. The building is extremely run down. The classrooms are extremely raggedy. They do not teach you different typed of hair. The clientele that school attracts is only older women who are either disabled or are recovering addicts. That neighborhood is evolving but it seems like that school is far from it. Sad thing is there is a college right across the street from the school and i never seen 1 student from that school step foot in there. Let alone i have never seen a Caucasian person in there. The cops were called a few times because of the type of people that go in there. Oh and do not decide to transfer schools. If you do the debt is basically yours. That school gets away with screwing people over and no one does anything about it. It sucks because they really do not care about your education and what your learning. The hands on aspect is non existent. I will keep writing reviews like this one until this school gets closed down or begins to actually treat us like people instead of money. I am myself a sister of color and i personally feel some African American owned establishments like this one should not be opened simply for the fact they want you to pay for everything that you would not have to if you went to Aveda, Paul Mitchell, even hair academy. They actually care about the students career during school and after. This school will only place you in a mom and pop salon. Well i can not speak for hair academy because i never stepped foot in that school to experience it. If you need shampoo you provide that yourself, if you need bleach, developer, towels, paper towels, hair dye, conditioner, gloves you provide that yourself. If the school does provide it they find ways to add this cost to your tuition which is so wrong in many ways. I asked the instructor how come they can not provide these things for the students? their answer is «were not those well named schools. we do not have money like them» that’s 100% true but the issue is why raise the tuition if there is physically no proof the money is going towards the students and their education. If you look in the parking lot you will see escalades, BMW’s Benz, nice cars owned by the staff. They cater to the day students. The night students are basically left to fend for themselves and that’s not how a school is supposed to be ran. The type of students that this school attracts is extremely ghetto and gossip filled high school kids. I was surprised to witness on many occasions the instructors getting in on the gossip about other students. Even one of the high level people in that school would talk crap about some of the students and turn around and hold a meeting stating «i care about our students that attend this school». Forgetting he was just talking crap about some of the students he so called «cherishes». All he cares about is money. Every show or fundraiser the school host they expect the students to pay for it. Now i do understand the students have to pay for some supplies but the other things that a school is SUPPOSED to provide they don’t. I remember there was this transgender student in the night class and everyone including the instructor would talk a load of crap about her. I even got told do not call him a her people who dress like a woman but are a man are disgusting.!! Once that happened i was done. Too many thieves in this school. many people have came across their things being stolen by other students and the school does not investigate any of it. many Saturdays i would go upstairs for class and the whole hallway would reek of marijuana. This issue has been brought up to the higher authorities many times and nothing had happened. There are cameras in the hallways but i guess they’re just mounted for show. Oh and you can forget making sure your hours are valid. Many students including myself have seen that our hours have been messed up and its either «fixed» or left for the student to be responsible for the missing hours. This school i have to agree is one of the worst schools ever. This establishment needs to close down or inspected simply because of the fact im pretty sure they know students smoke marijuana by the male bathroom up on the 2^nd floor and they do nothing about it. It smells like weed as soon as you walk upstairs. Why should students be subjected to this type of treatment when all we want is a chance to make it in the beauty industry? This school is not the way to go if you are even thinking about going to a cosmetology school

Worst school ever they are only about the they care less about students i was assaulted by teachers and the teacher i had was very lazy didn’t get up to teach anything and they wonder why hairstyles and cuts wasn’t done right… I was going to this school in hopes to experience all types of hair like i dreamed of but instead all they work with is African American hair which i already mastered then u had half the staffs that did not keep professional at all this school is a waste of time until they get it right i do not prefer you come here as student or to get styled if u are not of african American race

I was a frequent visitor to Aveda until their constant cancelled appointments made them a little to hard to rely on. I didn’t immediately come here but I am glad I came. There are things to note. You pay first before your service. My wash and blow dry was 22 dollars. Have cash of your own to tip because of their location (nice but in a residential neighborhood) they don’t have a lot of cash.
They randomly assign you to a student. But in my case African American with natural hair blown straight they were fast and very professional. I realize because of there no appt policy going on a weekday is far superior than Saturday

I decided to give Bennett a try for a hair cut as I usually go to the Aveda school in Chinatown but they cancelled my appointment. The prices were are definitely great HOWEVER they are not set up or experience to deal with all types of hair. If you are african american then this is the place for you — they have a ton of experience and do a fabulous job from what I could see. I am a straight haired blond with a short hair cut and instead of turning me away they said it was good practice for the student. It took 4 people with 5 opinions to help the student, I got one of the worst hair cuts in ages and it took almost 2hrs. Be warned!

One word. A horribly school don’t wased u money u won’t learn anything that Bennett is interested in only one thing n that’s ripping u off. It’s a shame that a minority is not really there 2 help u but just about MONEY. T school is also very dirty. Has a hair styles n makeup artist, that school was t worsted investment 2 my learning. I had to go n learn in another school.

A passionate and energetic mix of students and professionals, Bennett Career Institute has a wide range of barbering and beauty services. I’m interning in DC and staying at Catholic University — Bennett is right next door.
It is busy and professional and Mr. Price runs the barbering section and does a damn fine job. I had an awesome experience. They run a tight, but loose enough, ship. Heavy focus on customer satisfaction and getting your hair right.
They take walk-​ins and have… wait for it…$ 5 haircuts!
This has to be one of the best deals in the city, if not the region.
I will definitely be going there again before I leave DC.

I was looking for moderately priced hair styling in a salon setting, so I thought I’d consider going to a cosmetology school. After viewing Bennett’s web site, I decided to give it a try. I was in luck because on Fridays they offer half-​off chemical services and I was planning to get a relaxer.
The building itself is unassuming, but conveniently located right of Michigan Avenue. I arrived a little after 11 o’clock and parking was a challenge so be prepared to search for a bit. When you walk in the lobby, there is a small room to the right where you go to pre-​pay for your services. Upon paying, you get a ticket which you take to the instructor in the salon area. It’s first come first serve so depending on how busy it is you may have a wait. My wait wasn’t long, only about 5 minutes, the student came and got me asked me a few questions and then we got started with my services. As I mentioned, I got a relaxer, their standard brand is TCB, but I upgraded to Affirm (extra $ 5).
The student took her time and did everything pretty much by the book. An instructor perused the room from time to time checking on every one’s progress. One thing I liked was that each student is dedicated to one client, so there’s no waiting time while you’re being serviced.
All in all, I’d say it definitely worth the time and money. I was very satisfied with how my hair way styled when I left. I got several compliments while I was out running errands. But be warned, they’re students so you services may take a while.