Higher price acupuncturists could be very busy so they can raise their prices, but that may be more the quality of their marketing than their medical abilities. They may be fresh out of school and attempting to look important so they raise their prices, they may be in a high rent area and so they simply must charge more. There are many things that can effect the price of a treatment. One is the quality of the doctor, the others have no effect on their ability to help you. Again, I encourage people to seek out the practitioner with whom they feel comfortable.
Students are slow as a rule.
Don't hurry them, they don't want to make mistakes. This is a good thing. It does tend to take longer. The reason for this is that we like to ask a lot of questions, look at your tongue, take your pulse, watch your spirit and so on. These are all diagnostic tools.