In early July, North Carolina enacted Senate Bill 607 (page 2), increasing the minimum training requirements for massage and bodywork licensure that an applicant must complete at a school approved by the North Carolina Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy. The bill raises the state’s minimum massage education hours from 500 to 650 hours.
Due to changes issued last fall in the federal Gainful Employment rules, aid-eligible schools would not have been able to offer programs in excess of the 500-hour state requirement and maintain federal aid eligibility. The new state licensing requirement of 650 hours will allow programs at this length to maintain aid eligibility under the new Federal Title IV regulations.
The new education requirements are effective immediately and apply to licenses issued on or after July 1, 2024.