🍂 Fall 2026 Walk-In Enrollment Days | 📅 Mon–Fri, Now–Sep 2 | 8am–5pm | A-Building & D-102 |
Train for a career that helps people feel their best. SUNY Niagara’s Massage Therapy AAS degree prepares students for licensure and careers in one of the nation’s fastest-growing wellness professions. Employment of massage therapists is projected to grow 15% from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations. The median annual wage was nearly $58,000 in 2024.
SUNY Niagara’s 64-credit, two-year Massage Therapy program combines classroom instruction with clinical experience. Students study anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, pathology, assessment and treatment planning, along with Eastern and Western massage and bodywork techniques. The curriculum meets New York State Education Department requirements for massage therapy education, including more than 1,000 hours of instruction.
Students gain practical experience through at least 150 hours of supervised clinical practice in the SUNY Niagara Massage Clinic on the Sanborn campus. Graduates can take the tests to get their New York State license and national certification. Licensed massage therapists can work in private practice or at spas, wellness centers, chiropractic offices, hospitals, rehab facilities, fitness centers and other health care settings.
Whether you are beginning a new career or expanding your credentials as a health professional, SUNY Niagara provides an affordable pathway to becoming a licensed massage therapist in New York State.
The assessment of student learning outcomes is not only a key indicator of program effectiveness, it is also one of the standards of excellence identified by the Middle States Commission (Standard 5) and is required through the SUNY assessment initiative.
View Learning Outcomes.
Effective July 1, 2024, federal regulation requires institutions of higher education to make a determination whether a Title IV eligible academic program that leads to professional licensure or certification meets the educational requirements for licensure/certification in the U.S. State where the institution is located and the U.S. States where “distance education” students are located at the time of initial enrollment in the program, as well as U.S. States where the program is advertised as meeting such requirements, and if applicable, the U.S. State where students attest they intend to be licensed/certified.
The Massage Therapy A.A.S. program at SUNY Niagara is registered by the New York State Education Department and thus meets the educational requirements for licensure/certification for New York State.
Through a good faith effort, and for the purpose of complying with the federal regulation, we have determined that Massage Therapy A.A.S. program at SUNY Niagara, if successfully completed, is sufficient to meet the educational requirements for licensure/certification in the following U.S. States:
New York – https://www.registerednursing.org/nclex/
It is important to note that SUNY Niagara is not the licensure/certification authority in these U.S. States and cannot assess whether an individual candidate will be issued a license/certificate in these U.S. States and instead it is incumbent on each individual candidate to contact the licensure/certification authority in the applicable U.S. State for any further guidance on the requirements for licensure/certification requirements and application processes.
Data from the NYS Department of Labor predicts that New York will need approximately 15,560 new healthcare practitioners and healthcare technicians per year to meet the needs of the state’s health care system.
*Data taken from NYS Occupational Handbook