Many community school massage specialist programs require students to successfully fulfill 500 to 900 hours of training to receive certification; for many schools this can take up to two years to complete. For many community college programs, the typical cost can range from $5,000 to $9,000 (as of February 2011) depending on the school and length of the program.
Many private massage schools offer accelerated massage therapist programs that can adequately train and certify students with a therapist license in a shorter time frame than community colleges. To compensate for the quicker program, the workload and speed of the material is more rapid and intense than community college programs. As a result of the accelerated programs, training at private schools tends to be more expensive than at community colleges. Program costs vary by region.
Each state determines whether to require massage therapists to have a license. Most states have licensing regulations which require a certain number of training hours be completeds. However, some states do not have licensing requirements for massage therapists; in these states, you can attend massage schools and obtain 100 hours of training for about $1,000.
In addition to tuition costs, students must also pay for other resources necessary to massage programs, such as school books, which are usually $200 to $400 per semester. At most schools, each student is responsible for providing his own massage table, which typically costs from $150 to $500. Furthermore, in states that have license requirements, many states charge a fee to receive the licence, with the fee generally ranging from $150to $300 (as of February 2011).