I've never come away from the beauty school with a bad haircut, and the price is certainly right. If the student is very new or doesn't seem confident, I've found that the instructor is always right there--and in some cases, most of my haircut was done by the instructor, not the student. What I don't like is that it takes forever--the students are so slow. I use my Wahl clipper and my own haircutting scissors now, and do a credible short bob on myself that I like better than most of the cuts I've gotten by salons or the beauty school.
I did get a massage once at the beauty school that was just terrible--pleasant student but ice cold room, the wrong kind of music (think it was just her personal slow music that she liked--not the usual relaxing New Age music), and no instructor at all.
What seems to be the most popular service is the pedicures--people seem to line up for those. But I do my own, so can't comment.