ADRIAN — Adrian School of Massage has moved to a new location. As of May, the school now operates on Mill Street in Adrian, having moved from a location on Occidental Highway.  

While it wasn’t easy to make the change, owner Christy Bossard said she is excited about moving to their new site.  

“May the blessings of therapeutic touch be widespread and within reach” is the mission of the school, Bossard said.

Adrian School of Massage offers an 842-hour program that normally takes about a year to complete. Students then take a standard exam that allows them to receive a certificate in massage therapy. 

Bossard said that the program offered at Adrian School of Massage requires more for completion than many other programs.   

“I like to warn students that if they are looking for the quickest, easiest way to become a massage therapist, we may not be the right program for them,” she said. “We do significantly more than what the state of Michigan requires and what’s found at most programs in our greater region.”

The extra coursework translates into higher scores on the standard exam, Bossard said. Last year, students from the Adrian School of Massage scored 23 points higher than the state average and 22 points higher than national average.

The program is typically broken into trimesters. Class size is anywhere from seven to 15 students per class.  The students usually start and finish as a cohort group. The program is a combination of scheduled class time, online lectures, and participating in a student clinic. The students are also required to receive six professional massages during the program. 

An accelerated class will start on August 20 and go until May 2025. An evening course is also coming up, with classes beginning October 1. Both classes include weekday and weekend scheduling. 

Bossard said Adrian School of Massage knows the importance of the working with the student’s outside schedule.

“We recognize that a lot of people go into this school as a second or third career,” she said. “We kind of have this internal joke that, like, this is what people do when they realize what they really want to do when they grow up.”  

The massage therapy training costs, $10,000, which includes textbooks and a new massage table. Licensing fees at the end of the course are not included. In-house financial aid is available for students from households that make less than $75,000 annually.  Payment plans up to 30 months are also available. 

“We really try to make sure that the financial piece of the puzzle isn’t the obstacle that keeps somebody from doing what they are supposed to be doing to be able to enter into this field,” Bossard said. 

Bossard said that, upon completing the course, students have a good chance of landing a job.

“It’s a very rapidly growing field,” she said, adding that the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts an 18% increase in the field over the next decade.

Adrian School of Massage is at 415 Mill St., Bldg. A. For more information, call 517-759-5040 or go to adrianschoolofmassage.org.