Penn Commercial Business Technical School

Reviews

• AL

  Alisyn leech

  Oct 22, 2025
  1.0
  I’m really disappointed with my experience in the program at Penn Commercial. The quality of the education didn’t live up to the promises made during enrollment. Many of the classes felt unorganized, and the instructors often seemed unprepared or unavailable for help. The equipment and materials were outdated, and I didn’t feel like I gained the hands-on experience I was told I would receive. Communication from administration was poor, and getting clear answers about scheduling or financial questions was frustrating. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this program to anyone considering it — it just wasn’t worth the time or money.
• CC

  Cosmo

  Oct 9, 2025
  1.0
  Absolutely the worst experience, I would never recommend this school to anyone. Policies and rules are frequently changed without warning, explanation, or documentation. Students are expected to comply with rules that are neither written nor communicated clearly. Student hours are often mishandled or lost entirely, forcing students to redo hours they’ve already completed. Hours are rarely submitted on time. As a result, multiple students have graduated but still do not have their licenses, simply because the school has not submitted their hours to the state. Reaching the front office for clarification is almost impossible, calls and emails go ignored, and follow-ups are rare. Students often receive conflicting information about schedules, curriculum, and deadlines. Questions are met with vague responses like “I’ll check with the front office,” but no follow-up is given. In a single 3-month period, students had three different instructors with no notice or explanation. Staff are often not informed of new policies or expectations, which forces students to relay information to their own teachers. The staff are constantly getting into petty drama with each other that negatively impacted our education on multiple occasions. At times, students were forced to buy their own supplies out-of-pocket and were not reimbursed, even though clients were charged for those services. The front office staff are largely unresponsive and unhelpful. Students have repeatedly had to chase them down just to schedule board exams or get basic questions answered. Issues are often dismissed as students being oversensitive. These issues have been brought up to the employees in charge of handling complaints and NOTHING has been done about them. As someone who has graduated in the last year, I was told by an employee of Penn Commercial to be careful about saying anything negative out of fear that I would have a hard time getting my license that I worked hard and paid for. I write this review not to be spiteful, but to protect future students from facing the same confusion, disrespect, and disorganization we endured. Cosmetology school should be a place of empowerment, skill-building, and professionalism. Sadly, this school fails to deliver on those promises. If you’re considering enrolling, please think twice. Ask former students, visit the salon floor, and don’t rely on appearances alone.
• SA

  Savannah Anderson

  Jun 13, 2025
  1.0
  Worst experience ever dealing with people who don’t like you or judge because of how you look!!! I took the entrance exam & didn’t pass the reading part. I was supposed to take the reading workshop again since i did not pass, i was never offered it!! Instead Mike scheduled me to take the exam again!! I take it again & didn’t pass, my score actually went down!! I had a breakdown & cried expressing my feelings because you only get 3 try’s to take the entrance exam or you have to wait a year!! He laughed in my face after telling me my score actually went down!! So now he wants to send me to the workshop, why didn’t i get the workshop after I failed the 1st time??? So I go for the workshop & he tells me they don’t want me to attend their school because I was upset & felt under pressure with only having 1 more chance to take this test or I can’t try again for a year!!! I asked to speak with someone higher up & they denied me the right to do so!!!! They do not like people based on their skin they just tolerate them!!!
• TB

  Thomas Belko

  Nov 10, 2017
  5.0
  The Networking program and the wonderful instructors here at Penn Commercial has changed my life for the better! So glad I made the decision to go to school here!