Universal Spa Training Academy — Local services in Downers Grove

Attending this school as an Aesthetician student ended up being a heartbreaking, devastating and traumatic experience for me. I attended this school with aspirations of helping people feel truly beautiful inside and out. I wanted to support people on their journeys of developing a sense of wellbeing and confidence. Unfortunately, when another student assaulted me in the halls after having bullied me for months the school grossly mishandled the situation. The school’s administrators attempted to scapegoat me for the entire incident. They were not able to fathom that a woman can indeed assault a man and were extremely biased, sexist and unprofessional in their investigation. Not once did they ever ask for my side of the story during their so called investigations. Months prior to the incident I informed the administration that the student had been bullying me and they did nothing thus enabling the bully’s behavior which led to their assault. I was suspended for weeks for being assaulted not knowing if they would expel me. Which would mean $18000 and over 500 hours of schooling down the drain. I attempted to reach out to teachers and faculty during this devastating time and they all ghosted me. I felt completely abandoned and alone. They ended up revoking my suspension because I filled a police report and the cops didn’t think I had done anything wrong.

If you are potentially considering attending this school as an Aesthetician student or any other program at USTA. I would strongly suggest looking for other options especially if you are a male, POC, LGBTQIA+ or any other minority demographic. The people at this school are incompetent, lazy, racist, homophobic and above all misandrist.

Thank you...

Ms. Kristina Cortez was one of the best educators at USTA. She made my experience at the school pleasant and very enjoyable. Not only did she teach but she helped me grow as an esthetician professionally. Her knowledge about medical grade products are unparalleled to medical educators I had in the past. She was able to patiently work with me to enrich my knowledge and education when working with patients on the clinical floor. Overall, her skill set, diligence, compassion and intelligence is something that inspired me to continue my education after my doctorate. I can confidently say that her knowledge helped me build trust with my clients/patients. Conclusively, without her I wouldn’t be as successful as I plan to be in the skin care industry. Her ability to incorporate the importance of health, wellness and beauty is something that is a gift.

Ms. Donna was a huge key player when it came to building repor with clients on the clinical floor. She made it very enjoyable to explore and learn towards the end of Phase 4. She instilled trust with in myself when knowing which appropriate treatment should be used after assessing a clients skin analysis. Ms. Donna knowledge base is vast and her experience speaks for itself. She is bright, attentive, smart and overall a kay note mentor. Without her the school would not be as great as it is. Moreover, she is truly an asset to this institution and greatly respected, loved.

Mr B made it smooth sailing for phase 1 by helping me build my confidence when it came to test taking and waxing. Absolutely loved him as...

The school is beautiful and I have a great massage therapy teacher who is very knowledgeable, fun and engaging but there are many things to consider before enrolling into this program. During the enrollment tour, you will be reassured that the program will fit into a typical adult's challenging life, but many important details and inconvenient changes were made last minute that cornered us into making unhealthy choices for ourselves. Voicing our concerns was also a challenge and there seems to be a lack of unity within staff which caused a divide among students. Despite some typical archaic social issues, this school can abrasively contribute to individual growth. Hopefully they continue their team building efforts. On the matter of licensing, be prepared for dealing with a long frustrating process with the IL professional licensing department. I graduated USTA the end of May '22 and it is now mid Sept. '22. I am yet to be able to practice because of the ridiculous lack of organization and competence of the IDFPR. I transferred from another state and they lost my transcripts. The lack of communication and constant back and forth to babysit this department is causing loss of wages, opportunity and lots of stress. Many good people are trying to answer the call for the shortage of medical staffing here. I was warned about Illinois' issues and they are worse...