Missouri Raises Minimum Education Hours for Massage Therapists

On July 1, the Missouri Board of Therapeutic Massage passed an Emergency Amendment 20 CSR 2197-2.010, increasing the entry-level education requirement for massage therapists from 500 hours to 625 hours.

Without this amendment, federal financial aid, specifically the Pell Grant, would have been in jeopardy for Title IV schools with massage therapy programs exceeding 500 education hours, if the Department of Education's new rule ever goes into effect.

With the 625 hours requirement, massage programs with up to this many education hours will continue to have access to the full array of federal financial aid under the DoEd's new Title IV regulations, which have been delayed. Additionally, Non-Title IV schools will have a grace period to bring their programs into compliance with the new requirements.

We encourage you to reach out to our Government Relations Team with any questions.