You finally figured out what you want to do for school. You take the tour, decide to fill out the application and then the conversation of tuition comes up. This can be a difficult topic for some students. Plenty of schools offer financial aid while others do not. This may seem like it would scare off potential students, but it shouldn’t. There are plenty of options available that can be explored! Let’s look into a few of these options.
1. Financing through the school: Arlington School Of Massage offers a variety of in-house payment plans! We work with each student to see which plan would be the best for them.
2. GI Bill (R): Arlington School Of Massage is now able to accept the GI Bill (R). Veterans who are interested in furthering their education can use their GI bill (R). We have a staff member dedicated to working with veterans to find out their eligibility for schooling.
3. WorkSource or the worker retraining program: If you are coming out of a declining industry or have a low paying job with a family to support (especially for single moms) check in with your local WorkSource office. The massage industry is on the rise with a projected growth of 20% from 2021 to 2031!
4. Federal Accreditation: Since Arlington School Of Massage is now federally accredited, students have the ability to apply for more help! While we aren't able to accept FASFSA just yet, Bank loans are more available. Traditionally banks don’t offer personal student loans but recently a few credit union banks (such as BECU) have started to offer personal student loans. In the past, students had been able to apply for a personal loan and could pay for school (or at least a hefty portion of it) that way. This way the loan payments are easier during the months while you are in school and tend to have a lower APR. Check out your local banks to see if they can do anything for you and find out which one would be your best option!
5. Employer education benefits: Not all places of work will pay for education like Boeing or other large companies, but it is worth checking into. Some companies will help for tuition such a chiropractic offices and smaller clinics. A few places like Massage Envy and Hand & Stone both offer to help pay back tuition when working for them.
6. Family member: It can be a tough conversation but if a bank isn’t an option, it’s possibly you can talk with your family and see if you can get a loan set up. Set up these conversations like a business plan. Explain your passion for massage to them and a payment plan that could include interest with it.
7. GoFundMe: The GoFundMe pages have cropped up all over the place. It has made it possible for several people to achieve their dreams, raise money for charity, and help cover medical costs during hard times. It is an amazing platform that give people the option of donating money to help their friends, families, and co-workers.
8. Borrow from 401K/Retirement fund: Treat this like you were gaining a loan from a bank and pay it back with interest.
9. Scholarships and Grants: These may not pay the full tuition but can surely help with a chunk of it. AMTA and ABMP both have annual events where you write in and explain why you want to be a massage therapist. Massage Warehouse also offers scholarships to students writing in. These can be found online or are frequently talked about in our open houses and anyone taking a tour. There are plenty other scholarships and grants available if you check online, these can be a great help towards tuition.