Cortiva Joins SpaTrade as Corporate Partner

Cortiva Institute

SpaTrade is pleased to welcome the Cortiva Education as our newest Corporate Partner. Launched less than three years ago, Cortiva owns ten schools, in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, Washington, Arizona and Massachusetts. "Education must be at the forefront for the long-term success of the spa industry, and Cortiva is raising the bar to benefit the entire profession," says SpaTrade CEO Nancy Griffin. "We are proud to support Cortiva's training, standards and practices."

Cortiva's vision is to create a high standard of excellence in massage therapy education by establishing a benchmark of quality. All the schools Cortiva has purchased have been accredited by a national accrediting agency and are approved to offer federally subsidized financial aid to students. One of the most exciting additions to Cortiva's massage schools are graduate programs for people who are already massage therapists but want advanced education. This series of 120-hour programs focuses on specialist areas from pregnancy massage to sports massage.

Alongside massage-therapy courses, there will be a course in personal training and another in nutrition. A skin care program is also in development. The academic courses include lecture, required homework, written and practical exams, demonstration, and supervised practice on fellow students. The courses also offer 'On the Job' exposure that might otherwise take years to experience.

One factor that really sets Cortiva apart from its competitors is eCornell, a unique alliance with the internationally renowned Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which gives Cortiva students exclusive access to specially tailored online business courses, including hotel management, marketing, business finance, leadership, time management and human resources. The eCornell partnership enables Cortiva students to complete Ivy League-quality courses that have been specially prepared for people in this field, who might not be highly academic or business minded. 'Our students have access to intellectual property from the world's leading hotel school, which really understands hospitality and managing consumers,' says Cortiva Education Co-founder and Chairman, Alan Clingman.

Cortiva recently invested $1.5m to create a world-class clinic at Cortiva Institute - Chicago School of Massage Therapy. The 16-treatment room, purpose-built facility was created by spa designer Clodagh, and is staffed by students under professional supervision. A second clinic is under construction at the Cortiva Institute — Colorado, in Denver.

For more information on admissions and placement, visit www.cortiva.com