Great Lakes Institute of Technology Massage Therapy (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services
- Private for-profit school
- Erie, PA
- About 15 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Great Lakes Institute of Technology massage therapy graduates earn about what massage therapy graduates earn nationally, $19,364 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $9,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $8,567. Several Pennsylvania programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Pennsylvania and national columns are the medians across all massage therapy certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Great Lakes Institute of Technology graduates earn more than the national figure and about $2,610 more than the Pennsylvania median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania massage therapy program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Pennsylvania 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 36% between the first and fifth year. Massage therapists in Pennsylvania earn a median of $58,300 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 6.3% 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
80% of graduates (20 of 25) were working in Pennsylvania one year after graduating. Prices in the Erie area are about 9% below the national average, so a $19,364 salary here buys what about $21,291 buys in a typical US city.
The median Pennsylvania massage therapist earns $58,300, compared with a national median of $58,450. After adjusting for Pennsylvania prices, that pay is worth about $59,751, which puts Pennsylvania slightly ahead.
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
$58,300Median pay in Pennsylvania. 2,990 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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 Great Lakes Institute of Technology
Massage Therapy ranks 4th of 6 certificate programs at Great Lakes Institute of Technology by first-year earnings. The top three are Practical Nursing ($41,229), Allied Health and Medical Assisting ($27,108), and Dental Hygiene and Assisting ($24,398).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $19,364 one year after graduating and $26,276 five years after. Massage therapists in the Erie metro area earn a median of $58,600 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $9,500, which ranks 4th lowest of 6 massage therapy certificate programs in Pennsylvania. That works out to about $101 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 49% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 41%. Compare the cost with other Pennsylvania programs before deciding.
Most do. 80% (20 of 25) were working in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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