If you know much about the inner workings of the US government, you know that the more local the governmental body, the greater the impact it can have on your professional life. For example, your city council could pass an ordinance tomorrow that levies a fee so high that your business shuts down in a matter of months. The federal government, however, would take years to pass a similar measure, and the odds of it succeeding are much lower. This is largely because local governments are smaller and answer to fewer constituents. That means they can move more nimbly and pass new ordinances that go into effect far more quickly than state or federal actions.
So, for many of us, the goings-on in Washington, D.C., are often deemed less worthy of our attention. But in the past few years, the federal government has been uncharacteristically active when it comes to issues that affect massage therapists and massage businesses. The world of massage therapy has been shaken up the most by Congress, the office of the president, and the US Department of Education (ED). Let’s break down what changes the federal government has made that could impact massage therapy.
Holdover changes from the previous administration took effect during the current Trump administration, altering how massage therapy schools develop their curriculum. The “100% Rule,” also known as the “150% Rule” and the “Bare Minimum Rule,” caused a big alarm for many school owners last year. That policy was changed with the intent to ensure schools could not receive Title IV funding for their students if their curriculum was, in the opinion of the federal government, too long (meaning too pricey) for students. The purpose was to make sure students weren’t putting themselves into student loan debt that they could not pay back. The rule stated that total program hours could be no more than 100 percent of the minimum length required by state law. This was a major shift from the previous 150% Rule, which allowed programs to exceed the minimum program length by up to 50 percent. In layman’s terms, this meant that if a state had a minimum requirement of 600 hours for massage therapy programs, schools could have programs up to 900 hours and still receive Title IV funding.
The 150% Rule was particularly helpful for schools in states that required fewer than 600 hours for their massage therapy programs. Why? Because another requirement for Title IV eligibility was that a program must be a minimum of 600 hours to receive that aid. This means that if a state only required 500 hours for massage therapy programs, a school would need to exceed that minimum hour requirement by at least 100 hours for their students to be eligible for federal funding, including Pell grants and direct loans. When the rule was changed from 150 percent to 100 percent, many massage programs in many states were suddenly in trouble. If their state had an hour requirement for massage therapy programs of fewer than 600 hours, schools with curricula under that minimum were ineligible for Title IV funding. However, if the program exceeded the state minimum so they could hit the 600-hour requirement, they would become ineligible for Title IV funding due to the new 100% Rule. These programs couldn’t win either way.
This led to individuals and organizations across the massage therapy profession launching a multipronged defense to protect schools and students. Multiple lawsuits were filed attempting to prevent the new rule from taking effect. Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) jumped into action at the state level to advocate for states to raise their minimum hour requirement to at least 600 in order to protect schools and students if the rules became permanent. ABMP provided aid to schools to help them bump up their programming to meet the new requirements in states that increased their hours. The profession fought to protect the aid students deserve and were rewarded with a preliminary injunction stopping the implementation of the 100% Rule. ABMP’s government relations team will update you if things change.
We barely had time to catch our breath following that fight before the next challenge presented itself. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OB3) passed through Congress in July 2025. The sprawling bill contained big changes in federal aid eligibility for postsecondary students and schools. The intent, much like the 100% Rule, was to make programs more affordable for students and protect them from getting stuck with loans they couldn’t pay back. But the way the ED interpreted it had some unintended consequences. As mentioned in the Spring 2026 issue of Massage & Bodywork, the proposed rules issued in January would disproportionately impact massage therapy schools, leaving students without access to Title IV funds and potentially leading to the closure of many massage therapy programs.
If schools close, new graduates will stop entering the workforce at a time when we’re already grappling with a shortage of massage therapists.
Other fields would be similarly impacted, including cosmetology and esthetics programs. ABMP has been hard at work with other associations, school owners, and professionals to fight the implementation of these rules as written. At the time of writing this feature, ABMP is cautiously optimistic about prevailing and saving Title IV funding for schools.
Federal interference in this profession isn’t always doom and gloom. For example, the federal tip tax exemption was implemented in 2025. This provision allows most massage therapists to deduct up to $25,000 in tips from their federal income tax. The tip tax break is currently scheduled to phase out after 2028, but that could change if federal lawmakers decide to extend it.
A lot of these changes have to do with schools. If you’re thinking, “I graduated decades ago,” “My school is no longer in operation,” or “This doesn’t affect me at all,” you aren’t seeing the whole picture. If schools close, new graduates will stop entering the workforce at a time when we’re already grappling with a shortage of massage therapists. As the workforce shrinks, spas will close. This won’t happen immediately. It will take a few years for shortages to cause real problems. By the time we realize the depth of the worker shortage, it will be too late.
It would potentially take the profession years to recover from the fallout of these proposed regulations. Worst-case scenario, we could see states deregulate the profession entirely because the workforce is too small to need board oversight. This is one of the many reasons why we continue to fight to protect schools and students.
If hearing about how these decisions that impact massage therapy are being made (usually without ever bringing a massage therapist to the table to weigh in) has you fired up, you’re not alone. ABMP members have been active through the upheaval of these last few years, making public comments, reaching out to their representatives, sharing information and calls to action on social media, and talking to the press. If you want to make your voice heard in the halls of power, keep an eye on your email—ABMP will keep you informed.
ABMP will share all the information you need to stay up-to-date on how the federal government is impacting the profession. We’ll give you talking points, timelines, contact information, and anything else you could need to weigh in on new measures making their way through Washington (and at the state level, as always). ABMP will always fight for you, but we can’t do it without you.
"How to Approach Tension Headaches" video, Massage & Bodywork remembers Jason Erickson, and reflecting on a lifetime in massage.
Practitioners offer their insights on playing music during sessions with clients.
As part of ABMP’s 40th anniversary, we did a little digging through the files and found the results from ABMP’s first member survey in 1988.
A major theme throughout the 2026 ISPA conference was the continued demand for spa employees, especially massage therapists.
