Massage Therapy Colleges

Massage Therapy Colleges are just starting to emerge in the massage profession. For the most part becoming a massage therapist only requires that you go to massage school which is often just a 500 hour program of instruction. Most states only require that amount of education to get your professional massage license.

Currently there are a few Massage Therapy Colleges offering a 2 year program in massage or an associates degree. Since a degree is not required to become a massage therapist going that long to school is controversial. They are usually programs within a community college or trade school.

There are a few benefits to choosing a massage therapy college over a massage school. The cost is usually less especially if they are part of a state college or college offering other programs of study. It can be helpful for someone right out of high school to take more training and hours of classes so that they have time to take advantage of the process of living on their own or being more independent.

The down side to going to a formal College is that the other massage schools are usually a better education in general. Of course it depends on each school as there are bad massage schools too.

The most popular massage colleges are Everest College (Corinthian Colleges). They actually just bought many massage schools in local areas to add to their courses of study. There is also the Utah College of Massage which is part of the Steiner Education Group also associated with Steiner Cruises.

Some other 2 year massage colleges that I found through searching online are:

• Community Colleges of Allegheny Colleges ( CCAC) Allegheny Campus offers an AA in massage therapy.
  
  
• Central Oregon Community College offers associate’s degree of applied science degree program in massage therapy.
  
  
• Herzig College at the Brookfield campus only, offers an AS in Massage Therapy
  
  
• Carrington College programs
  
  
• Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, Ohio , Associate of Applied Science

(The schools listed here advertise 2 year massage programs, but be sure to throughly investigate each one for your self. Please let me know of your College or University that is offering a 2 or any 4 year massage programs so that I can add it to the list here.)

If you are looking for colleges that offer massage diplomas, you will really have to do your homework when looking into these schools. Some or most of the schools will also be accredited with one of the many accrediting agencies meaning that they will have to keep statistics on the graduation rates and things like how many massage therapists find jobs in the field. You can find out more about accredited massage schools.

Many of the good massage schools have been bought by companies or colleges which brings mixed blessings for the massage profession. It brings massage trainings to more people and makes it more available financially but the high quality education standards of the smaller schools are sometimes lost.

See also the list of massage therapy colleges and schools.

For more info on what it takes to become a massage therapist you can read my book: A Career in Massage - Is it for you?