Creative Images Institute of Cosmetology abruptly closed both of its Dayton-area campuses, in Vandalia and Washington Township, leaving students and staff blindsided after the school had operated for more than three decades. Employees were told the locations were closing effective immediately, and students said they were only notified of the shutdown that same day.
The Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board confirmed it had received notice that both locations were closed, according to WHIO, which reported that both locations in Vandalia and Washington Township were closed as of that day. WHIO said it also received calls from students who told the station they had just been notified of the closure that same day. As Dayton Daily News reported, the school had campuses at 7535 Poe Ave. in Vandalia and at 568 Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Washington Township, and had opened in 1993.
Employees at the school declined to give their names and said they did not know why the school had closed, according to the Dayton Daily News report. Staff reportedly directed callers with questions about tuition reimbursement and operations to the Vandalia location, but that office answered none of the calls and did not offer any messaging option, the outlet reported. Creative Images did not provide any information about the closure or guidance for current students, per the same account.
Website Still Up, But Offering No Answers
Even as the campuses sat closed, the school's website remained operational as of Tuesday afternoon and still included links for new student enrollment, the Dayton Daily News reported. Admissions telephone numbers listed on the site were not connecting to admissions, and the school's blog had last been updated on October 8, according to the same report.
The institute's 2025 student handbook and catalog, reviewed independently, lists campuses in Vandalia and in Centerville at the Miamisburg-Centerville Road address, and names Charles Gross as chief executive officer and owner, according to the 2025 Student Handbook and Catalog. That same document puts the total cost of the cosmetology program at $25,778, effective October 2025, and states the Vandalia facility was approved for occupancy of 400 people at one time.
Costs And Enrollment At The School
Per niche, the school served about 70 students last year. The Dayton Daily News reported that the school's website had listed annual attendance costs ranging from $10,000 to more than $18,000 for the 2023-2024 academic year, noting that costs varied by major and by each student's individual financial and living situation. Popular majors at the school reportedly included cosmetology, cosmetology instruction, nail technician training, and salon management.
What Ohio Law Says About Closed Schools And Records
Ohio administrative rules spell out obligations schools have toward students when a campus shuts down. Under Ohio Administrative Code Rule 3332-1-10, a school that has closed and ceased operating may not refuse to issue or release transcripts or other academic records because of unpaid tuition or fees, nor impose any other financial restraint or condition on their release. A separate rule cited in Ohio Administrative Code 4713-5 states that a school must forward the state board a complete, certified training record for each student within fourteen days of the completion of any training hours. It remains unclear whether or how Creative Images has complied with those requirements.
A Comparable Case In Eastgate
Dayton-area families aren't the only ones to have faced a beauty school closing its doors with little warning. An Eastgate beauty school, Beauty Artistry Academy, closed abruptly in September, months after accepting full tuition payments from some of its students, according to WCPO. In that case, parents of two students said each had lost more than $10,000, and the school's founder attributed the shutdown to federal funding cuts at the U.S. Department of Education along with a lender's unwillingness to refinance the school's debt. The founder said that school had graduated 96 students over two years, with another 20 pursuing certificates at the time it closed. That case is separate from Creative Images' closure and does not explain why the Dayton-area school shut down or what its students now face.
