A nationwide beauty school that’s been operating for more than a hundred years is facing tough accusations from the federal government, including falsifying records and cheating students out of money.
School administrators at Marinello Schools of Beauty are accused of falsifying federal financial aid records by allegedly offering funding to some students with invalid high school diplomas.
They’re also accused of cheating students out of money by either charging them too much or withholding the federal aid they deserved.
While the investigation continues, the federal government is denying access to nearly $90 million of federal aid for students nearly two dozen Marinello Schools of Beauty, something that many of them say could be financially devastating.
"I could have been working this whole year that I've been paying to come to school to what?” questioned student Kaitlyn Brown outside of the Moreno Valley campus, one of 20 affected.
This week, the Department of Education announced it cut off federal funding for 23 Marinello Beauty schools in Nevada and California, directly affects more than 2,000 students.
"They were giving them false hope, that's what they were doing,” said student Amanda Valdez. “‘Oh yeah, you can come here to the school cause you don't have a diploma but we'll help you.’”
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Valdez said the news has left her confused and upset.
“Where am I supposed to go? I don’t know where to go,” she said.
Parents said they were just as frustrated.
"It's just a mess a complete mess," said parent Tiffany Valdez.
A spokesperson for Marinello Schools of Beauty flatly denied the accusations and said an appeal is already in the works.
School administrators have until Feb. 16 to prove that they did nothing wrong.
Meanwhile, the schools will remain open, but for now, students are left in limbo.
"I don't know what to do. I feel hopeless," said Amanda Valdez.
