From Staff Reports

AMERICUS — South Georgia Technical College’s (SGTC) cosmetology program has been recognized as the fourth best cosmetology and beauty school program in the United States for 2018-2019 by EDsmart, a nationally recognized publisher of college resources and rankings. The complete rankings can be found at: https://www.edsmart.org/best-cosmetology-schools/.
The SGTC cosmetology program was ranked as the 23rd best cosmetology program in the nation by The Best Colleges (TheBestColleges.org) in 2017, and this is the third year in a row that the the program has been recognized as a top performing program.
“We are extremely proud of the reputation that our cosmetology program has garnered nationally,” said SGTC President John Watford, Ed.D. “For the past 70 years, South Georgia Technical College has been able to make a difference in the lives of our students. Cosmetology is a program that gives individuals the skills needed to start and be successful at operating their own business.”
All data for the rankings was gathered from the National Center for Education statistics. EDsmart utilized job placement rates and net price for the rankings.
SGTC cosmetology instructor Dorothea Lusane-McKenzie, who has been at the helm of the program for over 11 years, said, “It has been a lifetime passion of mine to teach cosmetology. I try to instill the importance of work ethics to my students, and I am grateful and appreciative for this recognition because it speaks well for our graduates.
“If my students pass all three semesters of my program, they will pass the state board,” she said. “But what will really set them apart from others will be their work ethics. That is what will allow them to have continued success in their careers.”
Ogden-Weber Technical College in Utah was the top ranked program in the nation with a 54 percent graduation rate and a net price of $2,961. Atlanta Technical College in Atlanta with a program graduation rate of 44 percent and a net price of $2,882 was in second place. The third best technical college in the nation was Southern Regional Technical College with a graduation rate of 41 percent and a net price of $2,275.
SGTC was fourth with the highest graduation rate of the other three at 57 percent but with a net cost of $5,164. Three of the top four cosmetology programs in the United States and nine from the top 20 listings included colleges from the Technical College System of Georgia. In addition to Atlanta Technical College, Southern Regional Technical College and South Georgia Technical College, the other TCSG top-ranked cosmetology programs included: Southeastern Technical College (6); Wiregrass Technical College (9), Albany Technical College (10), Georgia Northwestern Technical College (14), Oconee Fall Line Technical College (15), and West Georgia Technical College (17). Two of the top colleges were from Utah, three were from Oklahoma, two from Arkansas, two from Mississippi, one from New Mexico, and one from Kansas.