Lancaster School of Cosmetology & Therapeutic Bodywork Massage Therapy (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services
- Private for-profit school
- Lancaster, PA
- About 30 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Lancaster School of Cosmetology & Therapeutic Bodywork massage therapy graduates earn about what massage therapy graduates earn nationally, $18,318 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $6,667 in federal loans, less than at 89% of massage therapy programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying massage therapy programs in Pennsylvania.
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, Lancaster School of Cosmetology & Therapeutic Bodywork graduates earn more than the national figure and about $2,492 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 43% 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 $71 a month, or 4.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
88% of graduates (22 of 25) were working in Pennsylvania one year after graduating. Prices in the Lancaster area are about 2% below the national average, so a $18,318 salary here buys what about $18,643 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 Lancaster School of Cosmetology & Therapeutic Bodywork
Massage Therapy ranks 2nd of 2 certificate programs at Lancaster School of Cosmetology & Therapeutic Bodywork by first-year earnings. The other is Cosmetology ($19,624).
Other massage therapy certificate programs near Lancaster
Common questions
The median graduate earns $18,318 one year after graduating and $26,158 five years after. Massage therapists in the Lancaster metro area earn a median of $59,000 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $6,667, which ranks the lowest of 6 massage therapy certificate programs in Pennsylvania. That works out to about $71 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 36% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 41%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Pennsylvania programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 88% (22 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