Beauty Schools in Arkansas tend to have either a predominantly white undergraduate population or a predominantly minority undergraduate population, according to 2016 U.S. Department of Education data.

This trend was particularly prominent at three schools, Professional Cosmetology Education Center in El Dorado, The Salon Professional Academy in North Little Rock and Washington Barber College in Little Rock.

Professional Cosmetology Education Center has an undergraduate population of 24 students, Jill Hanry, who works in admissions and financial aid, said. Out of these 24 students, 17 percent are black and 78 percent white, according to the Department of Education data.

Hanry was unsure why there was such a large difference between the number of white and black undergraduates at the school. El Dorado is a predominantly black city, with 49.5 percent of the population being black and 47.9 percent of the population white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. She did say the school mainly draws students in by word of mouth, and the number of students enrolled is constantly changing as they offer classes every eight weeks all year long.

The Salon Professional Academy has a student population that consists of 16 percent black undergrads and 74 percent white undergrads, according to the Department of Education. Amber Ditto, the admissions director, said they also have a percentage of Hispanic students.

“We try to keep it pretty diverse here,” Ditto said. “We’re not discriminatory or anything, but I would say we have a pretty good mixture of students.”

Ditto said they participate in several local career fairs and advertise online in order to encourage students to visit and enroll at the school.

Ninety-six percent of Washington Barber College’s undergraduates are black or African-American. 

There was no data for white students at the college, but Kim O’Dell, who works in the financial department, said she thought they would probably account for the other 4 percent. O’Dell could not explain why there was no data for white undergraduates. 

O’Dell did say the school’s location is probably the reason for such a high percentage of black undergraduates.

“Diversity is good wherever you are,” O’Dell said. “It’s basically because of where we’re located in the city is why our demographic is more black. The demographics of who lives in this area is mainly black, and it’s a barber school, so that’s not like a [cosmetology school] where they’re doing nails or anything like that.” The black population of Little Rock is 42 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

In Pulaski County, home to Washington Barber College and Arkansas Beauty School at Little Rock, the black population is 37 percent. Both of these schools have a majority black population, according to the chart showing the percentage of black versus white undergraduates at institutions across the state.

“Lately we’ve been getting more [students] in from different backgrounds,” O’Dell said.

She said the school visits career fairs and also makes an effort to reach out to students who have expressed interest in order to bring in undergraduates.

Although institutions strive to bring diversity to campus, 2016 data shows that the demographics of the surrounding area tend to correspond with the makeup of schools’ populations.

Some schools, like The Salon Professional Academy, stray from this trend. However, there is an area near the school that actually has a majority white population. This could account for the dissimilarity.

Sources:

Professional Cosmetology Education Center
-Jill Hanry
-(870)864-9292

The Salon Professional Academy
-Amber Ditto
-(501)753-2400

Washington Barber College
-Kim O’Dell
-(501)568-8800