Ugly end for beauty school; dozens of campuses close

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - A Beverly Hills-based beauty school says it's closing all 56 of its campuses in five states after losing federal funding over allegations of misconduct.

Marinello Schools of Beauty has been in business for over a century. It shut facilities this week in California, Nevada, Utah, Kansas and Connecticut.

School officials told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune (http://bit.ly/1miqlIq ) that about 5,000 students and employees will receive transcripts and information about transfers next week.

The federal Department of Education announced this week that it's stopping student financial aid programs at some two dozen campuses.

The agency alleges Marinello knowingly sought aid for students based on invalid high school diplomas, under-awarded some aid and charged students for excessive overtime.

Marinello spokesman Joe Hixon discounts the allegations and says they were based on flawed information.