Survey of 6 Massage Schools
I have visited six massage colleges in the Portland area. My overall impressions:
Everest Institute - Tigard (fka Ashmead): Great cozy learning environment in the upper floor of an office building overlooking 217 just off Greenberg Road. The handouts are cozy too, good brochure design. Only 3 programs, one of which is Massage Therapy with about 150 students split between morning and evening groups on 12 month track. Spa techniques may be added on for additional cost and the fifth study day each week. New sets of students start every 6 weeks. I sat in on a chair massage class and experienced a good learning environment. Followup by admissions and teachers has been prompt and excellent. Program is most expensive, up there with Pioneer-Pacific, but is a lot of hours of education. Less than average pass rate in Oregon Board test results... maybe not harsh enough grading? There is some outplacement capability. I know I'd do well here, and it's close to Mom, and very warm connections with the small staff. Like.
East-West College (Lloyd District): Big city building with spacious well-equipped rooms - not at all cozy, and lots of students waiting between classes sitting in on the floor in the hallways. Only talked with administration, will get chance to see a class Friday and looking forward to that. Lots of students - 440 enrolled, 150/year taking Oregon boards. Quarter program. Great electives and mix of adjunct instruction. COMTA accreditation which carries well across states and nations. Talk with Admissions was heartfelt but I found myself wondering if I would find the environment comfortable enough to really enjoy. Consistently best board pass rates of all the schools, so it prepares people well. Lots of mixed messages from former students who feel prepared but didn't always enjoy the choices made by the administration. Unless the class feels really great, I will probably cross E-W off my list for now and save it as a post-graduation Continuing Education option. Unlike.
Anthem College - Beaverton (fka High-Tech Institute - Phoenix): 400 students in 5 health study areas. Massage has 53 enrolled. There are four tracks/day so up to ~20 students in the busiest time of day, fewer in early morning and late afternoon tracks. Students join every 6 weeks and join a wheel of courses, and then spend the last couple months doing supervised Clinic (the course wheel is novel). Extensive followup with recent and later graduates. Vast improvements in pass rates and placement to recently excellent. Rock star Program Director, Barb, appears to have been responsible for this. The interleaved course material may make transfer of credits impossible. I felt a little uncomfortable with a basic skills computerized test and the seeming inflexibility of the program, precisely tracked, but came to understand this is how they complete a large hours program in only 11 months. Probably easy to work and study because of the four instruction tracks. Like.
Oregon School of Massage (SW Barbur) - Comfortable, lived-in feel, good admissions knowledge, with smallest number of hours of other programs, apparently the hands-on massage time may be quite a bit less, and maybe some scrimping in pathology and surveys of modalities. The focus is on Body-Mind-Spirit integration, so this may be the "energy worker's" massage school. Program includes a weekend of instruction at Bagby Hot Springs. Comfortable lived-in look to the offices. I'm hoping to get a chance to sit in on some instruction (I've asked to see Kinesiology). Good set of continuing education and enough buzz for people to have opportunities for outplacement (but you're on your own). Hours to dollars is reasonable though, maybe just a lot less body hands-on time. I'll have to ask. Really Like.
Pioneer-Pacific College (Health Technology Institute, Wilsonville) - It's crammed between Interstate 5 and the office park land in a very suburban sprawl area, feels rather lifeless there. Inside, very business-officey. The admissions did not have strong knowledge of massage itself or the specific pass rates or placement rates. The published materials are inspecific about hours spent in which standard area in 10 month-long program. I do not have a confident view of the program. They will have the program director contact me. I'm not going to spend much more energy on this school. Unlike.
University of Western States (fka Western States Chiropractic College, near Gateway and Parkrose) - outstanding views of favored Cascade peaks adjacent to I-84 near I-205 in what was a Catholic Girl's School turned college in the 70s. Most of the 500 students on campus are working towards Chiropractic degrees, and the massage program was started 5 years ago, now getting consistently good as far as pass rates are concerned. Up to 26 students enter the program in either April or October and are out in a year. Massage has 50 students who do night school as the facilities are packed daytime. Students get to practice with Chiropractic students in a clinic setting, a lot of hours there. There's also a gross anatomy lab available (cadavers), an extensive medical library with cross-loans to OHSU and other medical schools, and pubmed access. The accreditation makes much of the coursework portable to other regional schools toward Nursing, Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and related programs - and the school has an application for COMTA in progress. My geeky innards feel this could be the most rigorous, medically based option for me in town, and I liked the tour and feel of the classes. I'd have to live East-side almost certainly, and become a nightowl, forgoing most weeknight activities - but it may be worth it. Cost of program is notably lower per hour. Unique learning opportunity. Really Like.
Everest Institute - Tigard (fka Ashmead): Great cozy learning environment in the upper floor of an office building overlooking 217 just off Greenberg Road. The handouts are cozy too, good brochure design. Only 3 programs, one of which is Massage Therapy with about 150 students split between morning and evening groups on 12 month track. Spa techniques may be added on for additional cost and the fifth study day each week. New sets of students start every 6 weeks. I sat in on a chair massage class and experienced a good learning environment. Followup by admissions and teachers has been prompt and excellent. Program is most expensive, up there with Pioneer-Pacific, but is a lot of hours of education. Less than average pass rate in Oregon Board test results... maybe not harsh enough grading? There is some outplacement capability. I know I'd do well here, and it's close to Mom, and very warm connections with the small staff. Like.
East-West College (Lloyd District): Big city building with spacious well-equipped rooms - not at all cozy, and lots of students waiting between classes sitting in on the floor in the hallways. Only talked with administration, will get chance to see a class Friday and looking forward to that. Lots of students - 440 enrolled, 150/year taking Oregon boards. Quarter program. Great electives and mix of adjunct instruction. COMTA accreditation which carries well across states and nations. Talk with Admissions was heartfelt but I found myself wondering if I would find the environment comfortable enough to really enjoy. Consistently best board pass rates of all the schools, so it prepares people well. Lots of mixed messages from former students who feel prepared but didn't always enjoy the choices made by the administration. Unless the class feels really great, I will probably cross E-W off my list for now and save it as a post-graduation Continuing Education option. Unlike.
Anthem College - Beaverton (fka High-Tech Institute - Phoenix): 400 students in 5 health study areas. Massage has 53 enrolled. There are four tracks/day so up to ~20 students in the busiest time of day, fewer in early morning and late afternoon tracks. Students join every 6 weeks and join a wheel of courses, and then spend the last couple months doing supervised Clinic (the course wheel is novel). Extensive followup with recent and later graduates. Vast improvements in pass rates and placement to recently excellent. Rock star Program Director, Barb, appears to have been responsible for this. The interleaved course material may make transfer of credits impossible. I felt a little uncomfortable with a basic skills computerized test and the seeming inflexibility of the program, precisely tracked, but came to understand this is how they complete a large hours program in only 11 months. Probably easy to work and study because of the four instruction tracks. Like.
Oregon School of Massage (SW Barbur) - Comfortable, lived-in feel, good admissions knowledge, with smallest number of hours of other programs, apparently the hands-on massage time may be quite a bit less, and maybe some scrimping in pathology and surveys of modalities. The focus is on Body-Mind-Spirit integration, so this may be the "energy worker's" massage school. Program includes a weekend of instruction at Bagby Hot Springs. Comfortable lived-in look to the offices. I'm hoping to get a chance to sit in on some instruction (I've asked to see Kinesiology). Good set of continuing education and enough buzz for people to have opportunities for outplacement (but you're on your own). Hours to dollars is reasonable though, maybe just a lot less body hands-on time. I'll have to ask. Really Like.
Pioneer-Pacific College (Health Technology Institute, Wilsonville) - It's crammed between Interstate 5 and the office park land in a very suburban sprawl area, feels rather lifeless there. Inside, very business-officey. The admissions did not have strong knowledge of massage itself or the specific pass rates or placement rates. The published materials are inspecific about hours spent in which standard area in 10 month-long program. I do not have a confident view of the program. They will have the program director contact me. I'm not going to spend much more energy on this school. Unlike.
University of Western States (fka Western States Chiropractic College, near Gateway and Parkrose) - outstanding views of favored Cascade peaks adjacent to I-84 near I-205 in what was a Catholic Girl's School turned college in the 70s. Most of the 500 students on campus are working towards Chiropractic degrees, and the massage program was started 5 years ago, now getting consistently good as far as pass rates are concerned. Up to 26 students enter the program in either April or October and are out in a year. Massage has 50 students who do night school as the facilities are packed daytime. Students get to practice with Chiropractic students in a clinic setting, a lot of hours there. There's also a gross anatomy lab available (cadavers), an extensive medical library with cross-loans to OHSU and other medical schools, and pubmed access. The accreditation makes much of the coursework portable to other regional schools toward Nursing, Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and related programs - and the school has an application for COMTA in progress. My geeky innards feel this could be the most rigorous, medically based option for me in town, and I liked the tour and feel of the classes. I'd have to live East-side almost certainly, and become a nightowl, forgoing most weeknight activities - but it may be worth it. Cost of program is notably lower per hour. Unique learning opportunity. Really Like.