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There are two massage therapy schools in El Paso—a public community college and a private technical college. Their programs take less than a year, even for part-time students, to finish.
Standard curriculum components are classes with lectures, labs with hands-on training, and internships that provide practical experience. Graduates receive certificates that entitle them to apply to Texas authorities for licensure. They must pass examinations and meet other requirements before seeking employment.
The leading El Paso practitioners enjoy considerably higher salaries than the national average. Statewide projections call for nearly 1,700 annual job openings from 2016-26.
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We selected the schools below based on the programs that they offer, accreditation, student population, graduation rate and reputation.
View our Ranking Methodology to learn more about how we rank schools.
21%
28819
The continuing education program for prospective massage therapists at this public school involves 525 contact hours — surpassing state requirements.
Some of the courses are Hydrotherapy, Business Practices & Professional Ethics, Health and Hygiene, Physiology, Kinesiology, and Pathology. Other classes train students in massage methods such as sports, prenatal, and spa. Seventy-five hours are spent in an internship.
The program takes place in a “state-of-the-art massage suite,” according to EPCC. The school also touts its low tuition rate (about $1,500), and reports that approximately 74 percent of students receive financial aid.
71%
495
the highly regarded Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation recognizes.
Students on the school’s Diana Drive campus spend half their time in classrooms and the remainder in training. All teachers have worked in the field. The extensive, 750-contact-hour curriculum features 100 hours in two clinical internship assignments. The program lasts 25 weeks (6.25 months) full time during the day, or 47 weeks (11.75 months) part time at night.
Coursework covers Swedish massage, hydrotherapy, deep-tissue therapy, advanced clinical techniques, spa/wellness treatments, pathology, kinesiology, and business ethics.
$17.4
$36,170
The median-range practitioner here earns a little less than the national median—about $36,170 annually or $17.40 hourly, compared with over $41,400 or around $20.
However, El Paso MTs with incomes in the uppermost 10 percent receive more than $96,700 or $46.50—topping the U.S. norms of about $78,300 or $37.65. Those in the city’s bottom 10 percent make approximately $19,400 or $9.35—trailing the nation’s averages of nearly $21,350 or about $10.25.
The number of practitioners in Texas will climb 32 percent from 2016-26, quicker than 26 percent nationwide, according to federal government projections.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CareerOneStop
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