Hair Knowledge University 18 West Benson Avenue, Cortland, IL 60112

"The staff here is friendly and the atmosphere is very welcoming. I love that everyone is knowledgeable on EVERYTHING about hair and they use a professional line of products."

"Hands down best experience at a barber college. The staff is friendly and the students are skilled. I would recommend this place to anyone living in the DeKalb and Sycamore area."

"This place is amazing, I've been here twice before today will make my third time. I often get individual box braids, but today I wanted to try something different like a sew in, and I absolutely love it!! I really like the vibe of the place it's very welcoming and the people are very loving!! #HairknowledgeUniversityRocks!!"

"Hair knowledge is the Mecca of diversity. Whenever I go there, there is always a diverse group of students and clients. I've sat and talked to old, young, black, and white people. And in such a small town it's easy to be close and separate. But Mrs. U is always giving a great lesson and tying it into a life application. Michelle, the stylist is very efficient and gets clients in and out with precision. So glad I was able to experience this gem of a place. Kudos to the owners for doing such a great job!"

"I’m not one to leave reviews… and I didn’t plan on reviewing this salon/school… until I received this forwarded text: “Just for a future reference if u all are on a tight schedule perhaps you set an earlier appointment, I did not like his attitude nor the fact that he was impatient. Lastly he did not sit to let his hair dry so please do not expect the maintenance to last long. Thank You ~Hair Knowledge University~“ Let me start off by saying: I’m not a disrespectful person, actually extremely quiet, I’ll never put anyone down and have no problem giving someone a second chance; but there’s a first for everything. Also, my complaint is not towards the entire salon/school. The barbers and hair stylist (in the front) were very friendly/welcoming and the place was clean. So with that… I had a 10:30 am appointment on Saturday, but went to the location in Cortland, IL rather than the Dekalb, IL location; so I didn’t arrive at the correct location until 10:45 am. That’s on me. I walked into the “University” and when asked “What can we do for you?” said “I had an appointment at 10:30a.” I was then taken into the back of the “salon” where one “stylist” deep conditioned my dreads with tea tree shampoo (the oil balance should be very interesting) and the other did a retwist. Now according to the “stylist” that washed my hair, the other “stylist” started twisting my dreads at 11:20am and it should’ve taken 2 hours… That’s beside the point. She started parting my hair and retwisting it with brown gel… I should’ve said something then, but decided to give her/it a chance. As she was retwisting, she decided that the dreads weren’t parted correctly and took it upon herself to part them her way; which is fine, but she was actually cutting my dreads to get the part the way she wanted it. On top of that, not once did she palm roll, backcomb, or crochet; just twisted. After almost 4 hours (3pm), she retwisted the last dread and said “Let me put you under the dryer” I then said “I don’t have time, I have to go.” The “stylist” who washed my hair said “So you just want us to take the clips out?” and I replied “Yes, please.” No attitude in any way. I then asked the “stylist” who retwisted my hair if they accepted credit cards and she said “no only cash.” I went to 4 different stores on the strip to find an ATM. When I finally found one, I withdrew $60 (prior to going, I was told that it would be $45) I came back and said “It’s $45 right?” and she replied with an attitude (go figure) “No, it’s $70!” That’s my mistake again, I should’ve asked. So I went back and withdrew an additional $20, gave it to her and rushed to my car. I didn’t rush because I was mad that she “cut my dreads, used a dollar store gel, decided to each Cheetos over my head, was more focused on Martin playing in the Playstation then doing my hair”, but because my wife had to get to work. I drove for 5 minutes (tops), windows up, air on and arrived at my house. I look in the mirror and what do I see on my dreads? Globs of brown gel and loose hairs everywhere. Now, I know “I’m supposed to see the gel because I didn’t sit under the hair dryer”, but anyone that knows hair, knows that gel and heat have/will never mixed/mix. Even if I did sit under the dryer. If you put too little in, it dries out and doesn’t hold, more than likely causing frizz, and if you put too much in and it dries it’ll flake… a lot. My dreads have a mix of too much and too little, the loose hairs/frizz is “unbelievable”. The biggest issue is, I’ve had my dreads for almost two years, and not once have I ever had anyone cut them to make themselves look/feel good. Dreads are supposed to be a representation of their owner. Your dreads will NEVER look like anyone else’s no matter how hard you try. For someone to cut them for something as stupid as a part is asinine. She actually managed to destroy what I’ve been working on for almost 2 years. Congrats."