Massage School FAQs: Students
Is accreditation important for a massage school?
Accreditation isn’t all that important for massage or esthetics school. While it seems important, it raises the price the school will end up charging. For students, accreditation only provides one benefit, which is access to federal funding.
It’s more important to find a school with experienced instructors and the ability to outperform the first time exam pass rate in the state. Even more important is a school’s placement rate. After all, getting a job after you finish school is one of the most important things.
How much school is needed to be a massage therapist?
Before you will be able to work as a massage therapist, you will need to complete anywhere from 330 to 1,000 hours of training. This is determined by your state, specialty, and can take a few months all the way up to about two years of training.
Your training will help to prepare you for the MBLEx or Massage and Bodywork Licensing Exam. Passing this exam is necessary if you want to receive your massage therapist license.
How to choose a massage school?
Finding the right massage school for you is very important. Accreditation will be necessary if you want to receive federal grants or loans to help pay for your schooling. However, this is not the only factor to consider when deciding on the right school for you.
Make sure you take the time to do your research before choosing the right school for you. Consider the type of career you want to go into after you finish. You should also consider your schedule, budget and the style of curriculum provided.
Look into the time requirements for the program of your choice and make sure you can handle these requirements. You should also visit the school, if possible and get to know the faculty before making a decision. The post-graduate services provided are also very important to consider.
Before finalizing your massage school decision, look at the tuition, fees and other costs you may need to pay. Make sure you can handle these fees and don't forget about the books, massage table and supplies you will likely need to purchase.
The reputation of the school you attend matters, too. Businesses looking for massage therapists may know whether or not they trust specific schools and the way they teach. A school with a long-standing reputation will likely provide a better experience during the training and after you graduate.
How much does it cost to go to massage school?
The cost of attending massage school can range depending on how many classes you take at one time. Different schooled will likely have different costs and it can range across the country. You may pay a different amount in Chicago compared to New York City.
You want to make sure you ask about the overall cost when you speak to each school you're interested in. Make sure you understand that you will pay for an average of 500 to 600 hours of training. The tuition, alone, will likely run from $6,000 to $10,000. In addition, you will also need to spend money for textbooks, supplies, a massage table, lotions, oils and other supplies.
How to get into massage therapy school?
It's not quite the same admission process as going to a college or university. Massage therapy school admission can vary depending on the school and the program. Typically, you will apply for the program, pay a deposit and speak to an admissions person about when you will start. It's not difficult to get into massage school, but it will require some paperwork.
How much do massage therapists make after graduating?
The average salary for a massage therapist in 2024 was $59,082, according to salary.com. The range can go from about $47,249 to $67,869 and can vary even more based on many different factors. This may or may not include tips, as well.
The actually amount you will make will depend on many factors including experience, location and the type of job or specialty you enter into. Some massage therapists make around $75,000, but they are considered to be at the top of the pay scale for massage therapy.
What kind of jobs can a massage therapist get?
There are three main categories when it comes to massage therapy jobs:
Clinical
Spa
Sports
Within each of these categories there are a few different specialties and type of jobs a massage therapist can get.
If you decide to specialize in clinical/medical massage therapy, you will likely work in a healthcare facility, such as a medical clinic, hospital, naturopathic doctor’s office, hospice center or chiropractic clinic.
Those specializing in fitness/sports massage therapy may work in a number of different types of places. This could open up the opportunity to work for a professional sports team, in sports medicine offices, in fitness centers or in another facility catering to athletes.
The most common type of massage therapy is the spa & wellness category. This type of massage therapist will likely work in a spa or a wellness center. It could even be a business providing massage only.
Another option many massage therapists choose is to work for themselves. This means you will be responsible for the entire business, but you will also be able to charge as you please. You will likely need a room in your home or a space you rent out specifically for massage, however.
Is Alpha School of Massage approved to offer the training in Florida, Georgia, Delaware, and Virginia?
Yes.
In Florida, Alpha is approved by the Florida Board of Massage and licensed by the Commission for Independent Education, a division of the Department of Education, to offer both massage and facial specialty training.
In Georgia, we are licensed by the GNPEC, Georgia’s Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission, and the NCBTMB, and approved by the Georgia Board of Massage.
In Delaware, we are licensed and approved by The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE).
In Virginia, located at 7700 Little River Turnpike Suite 203, Annandale, VA 22003 we are certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).
Training at Alpha will allow you to sit for the MBLEx and receive a license to practice massage therapy. Graduating from Alpha’s massage programs allows you to be licensed in Florida, Georgia, Delaware, and Virginia for massage therapy.
What are the basics you should know about Alpha?
Is the staff friendly and helpful?
We have a staff of twenty-two including our administrators, enrollment, instructors, clinical staff, and managers. Each has a heart for making your time here enjoyable and productive. Our clinic staff works very hard to make massage clients feel they are being treated just like they would at our cities best spas and to treat student therapist like professionals. I hope you will visit the school to determine if this is your experience at Alpha.
Can you easily obtain information about Alpha?
I hope you find this to be very true. I work hard to make Alpha transparent by providing lots of information on our website. There you can learn about each of our programs, you can learn about instructors, hours and schedules, our massage clinic, and contact us for more information and tours. Our enrollment team can be reached at (833) 389-9117. My staff and I can email informative flyers and catalogs to prospective students and we are open to walk-in tours to see the campus and meet your instructor. I recommend reaching out to our enrollment team by phone before touring.
Now that you have the basics out of the way what more should you know?
What does it cost to attend Alpha?
Our 650-hour program is by far our most popular program. Cost and the experience gained are reasons for its popularity. Currently not all campuses offer the 650-hour program. It does rely on a vast clientele for student massages. Please confirm with our enrollment team if your campus offers the 650-hour program.
Our 650-hour Massage Program cost just $149 per month and just $150 to enroll. We sell you the two physical textbooks, student supply kit, and 3 student t-shirts on the first day of your classes for $299 + Tax. (If applicable in your State.) Depending on your schedule, full-time or part-time, the massage program can last between 8 and 12 months.
Most students will finish with a total financial investment of under $2,000 for the 650-Hour Massage Therapy Program.
Learn more about our programs!
What is Alpha's licensing exam pass rate?
For the 2024 Calendar year. We have had 69 out of 88 pass the MBLEx on their first attempt. Putting us at a 78% first time pass rate overall.
What is the Alpha's drop rate?
Our drop rate is consistently in the 20’s. Our largest number of student withdrawals comes in the first three weeks as some people realize how much touching is involved in massage. I know that sounds funny but it's true. Many people can touch but don't like to be touched. They struggle with it and many drop very early in the program. While we know that number is reason for concern, you might need further explanation. See the next question for clarification and why a 20 to 30% drop rate doesn’t bother us here at Alpha.
What happens if you drop from Alpha?
This is a great question that I love to answer because the answer is nothing. At Alpha you are not bound by a contract that forces you to pay even if you don't attend. Each month you attend you will pay $149, once you drop you stop paying. No debt, no collection calls and no hits to your credit reports. We do not want to force people who don't want to be a massage therapist to become a therapist because they don't want large debt for no reason. We don't want them to stick around just so they can avoid collections on debts they incurred with nothing in return. If you decide that massage therapy isn't for you or that now isn't the right time, you will owe nothing more than what you have already paid.
What is Alpha's placement rate?
Our placement rates remains in the 90’s. Our students get hired because of the amount of real world experience we provide. Our school raises revenue by selling massages performed by our students. These massages are just like any massage you will be doing in any spa you will be working in. With the experience you get at Alpha you will walk into your job interviews with confidence. I'll give you a way to measure this below.
Let's wrap everything up with a few more answers to some very important questions.
How much experience will I get at Alpha?
We touched on this above, but I want to be clear about our mission here at Alpha in serving our students. We want you to be successful in the industry. We want you to leave Alpha with confidence that you can compete with anyone across the state. How do we do that? By designing a program that's heavy with hands-on work for a career that is primarily hands-on. If the program you are looking at doesn't offer extensive hands-on training and the ability to provide you with clients to practice on, ask yourself how well are they preparing you for the field. Your first job interview will include a massage on a skilled massage consumer, how will you do? If you attended Alpha it will be just another day at the office. Another opportunity to show off the skill you have honed with hours of training on real clients. At Alpha, our 650-hour students will do a minimum of 300 clinical practice hours, plus the practice you get on your fellow students. 501-hour students will only meet the State requirement of clinical practice hours.
Sandy Fritz, author of Massage Theory textbook says massage is "Science and art" and we agree. Alpha's mission is to provide you with the hands-on experience to become an artist at your trade; you'll spend the rest of your career mastering it.
Does it work?
Does all that hands-on training work when it comes to finding a job in the industry?
I think that's a question for the employers to answer. That is why I encourage our prospective students to call around and speak to the people who are doing the hiring. Sometimes it's the owner of a spa and other times it's a hiring agent either way, call around and ask to speak to the person in charge of hiring massage therapists. Ask them what's important and where they suggest you go to get what they are looking for. I know you won't hear Alpha every time but I'm confident enough in what we offer at Alpha to believe you will hear us enough to convince you to give us some serious consideration.
Thank you for reading and my sincerest hope is that I help you choose the right place for you. I hope you'll reach out to us with any questions you have. If you choose to visit the school you can make an appointment by email or phone call but feel free to stop in anytime, if that works better for you.
What is Alpha’s Online Massage School?
Until recently Massage Therapy was mandated by most states, Florida being one of them, to be taught in classrooms within brick-and-mortar buildings, but that has changed. Those changes allowed us to create “Alpha Anywhere” our online learning platform.
Find out all about it here:
Alpha Anywhere reduces the time a student spends on campus by more than 50% by delivering the classroom content online. Our classroom is now your Livingroom, coffee shop, or anywhere you have WIFI access.
Alpha Anywhere is a production not a computer program. No boring PowerPoints or computer-generated voices here. We don’t license someone else’s curriculum. We’ve created our own. Our learning modules include lectures by Michael Garcia, our lead LMT and RN. Mr. Garcia has been teaching Massage Therapy for over 25 years at Alpha School of Massage. Our online classes are produced in our multicamera studio and include book lectures and demos of techniques. See a sample here.
Alpha Anywhere allows us to partner with local spas to provide clinical experience for our students. This allows many of our students to get their clinical experience in their neighborhoods making it even more convenient to become a Licensed Massage Therapist.
Our learning modules are delivered through Canvas Learning Management System and include the lectures, reading assignments from our two textbooks and online quizzes. Are you a night Owl? No worries. The modules can be accessed anytime, there’s no specific schedule to keep.
The textbooks are:
Massage Therapy by Susan Salvo
Trail Guide to the Body, by Andrew Biel
We provide the textbooks as eBooks so they go with you everywhere. If you have a device and WIFI you have Alpha Anywhere with you.
Our intense hands-on training remains the same. Massage Therapy is a hands-on career, and we want our students to be the best Florida has to offer. We will be offering hands-on training 6 times a year at our campus with day and night classes available.
Alpha Anywhere offers two programs:
501-Hour Hybrid Massage Therapy
Our 501-hour program follows the state’s minimum guideline and can be finished in less than 20 weeks. You can choose day or night training and clinical schedules making Alpha Anywhere convenient for almost anyone. Compare the time it takes to complete and the cost of the program with any other in our area. You won’t be disappointed.
Advanced Hybrid Massage Therapy
Our Advanced Massage Therapy Program includes all the minimum requirements plus a lot more to help you feel completely ready to jump into your new career. We also include additional hands-on training in the modalities you will find in most employment settings. Learn Hot-Stone, Deep Tissue, Pain Management, and Sports Massage. Our Advanced Massage Therapy Program is delivered at just $149 per month. No tuition here.
It’s never been more convenient or affordable to become a Licensed Massage Therapist!