American Career College-Ontario Massage Therapy (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services
- Private for-profit college
- Ontario, CA
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
American Career College-Ontario massage therapy graduates earn about what massage therapy graduates earn nationally, $21,533 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $9,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $8,567. Several California programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all massage therapy certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, American Career College-Ontario graduates earn less than the national figure but about $3,209 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California massage therapy program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 8% between the first and fifth year. Massage therapists in California earn a median of $45,970 across all experience levels, which shows how much room there is to grow after the first few years.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate. BLS figures cover massage therapists at every experience level.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $101 a month, or 5.6% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (19 of 21) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Riverside area are about 6% above the national average, so a $21,533 salary here buys what about $20,230 buys in a typical US city.
The median California massage therapist earns $45,970, compared with a national median of $58,450. After adjusting for California prices, that pay is worth about $41,519, which puts California behind.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to massage therapy, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Massage Therapists
$45,970Median pay in California. 14,600 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 15% from 2025 to 2035, with about 20,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
About American Career College-Ontario
Massage Therapy ranks 6th of 6 certificate programs at American Career College-Ontario by first-year earnings. The top three are Practical Nursing ($52,792), Ophthalmic and Optometric Services ($32,524), and Health and Medical Administration ($28,575).
Other massage therapy certificate programs near Ontario
Common questions
The median graduate earns $21,533 one year after graduating and $23,215 five years after. Massage therapists in the Riverside metro area earn a median of $44,760 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $9,500, which ranks 4th lowest of 9 massage therapy certificate programs in California. That works out to about $101 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 44% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 41%. Compare the cost with other California programs before deciding.
Most do. 90% (19 of 21) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the massage therapy program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024