Top 8 Dental Hygiene Schools in the United States

If you look around online, you’ll notice every website has its own idea of what the “top” schools are for dental hygiene programs—that’s because the topic can be quite subjective. What you value may be different from the information companies believe you value. So, how do you choose the right school for you?


It can be daunting to begin a task like this, especially if you have no benchmark to begin with. Knowing this, we’ve gone ahead with a few things that we believe can help you. One thing we did was look at all the top schools listed across several trusted websites, and took note of the schools regularly making the lists and ranked highly by students. We’ve compiled “the top of the top” universities into the list below, along with detailed information about tuition, degrees offered, GPA requirements, and more.


Please note that all figures are subject to change by the universities and they are under no obligation to communicate this information to us. Contact the university directly to find the most up-to-date information.


TOP DENTAL HYGIENE SCHOOLS IN THE USA

#1 New York University

Program: fast-track 17 month AAS (Associate of Applied Science) degree, BS (Bachelor of Science) in dental hygiene

Tuition: $30k AAS, $47k BS

GPA Required: 3.0+, high school level biology and chemistry

Housing: On and Off Campus

Student-Teacher Ratio: 10:1

Graduation Rate: 83%

Additional Benefits: Placement services, counseling services, credit for experience

#2 University of Southern California

Program: BS in dental hygiene, 6-year Doctorate program (DDS)

Tuition: $147k BS, $419k DDS

GPA Required: 3.5+

Housing: required on-campus for freshmen

Student-Teacher Ratio: 9:1

Graduation Rate: 92%

Additional Benefits: Advising, job and internship opportunities, programs and workshops, online and live resources

#3 Indiana University—Purdue

Program: certificate in dental assisting, AS in dental hygiene, BS in dental hygiene, DDS 

Tuition: certificate fees vary, resident AS is $17k and non-resident is $42k, resident BS is $37k and non-resident is $99k, DDS is $217k for residents and $421 for non-residents

GPA Required: overall 2.7+, 3.0+ in science

Housing: On-campus

Student-Teacher Ratio: 17:1

Graduation Rate: 22%

Additional Benefits: Placement Services, Counseling Services, most non-clinical courses available online

#4 University of Southern Indiana

Program: BS in dental hygiene via 3 tracks—traditional 4-year program, degree completion program for those with an AS already, and an accelerated 3-year program

Tuition: varies greatly depending on many factors. See more.

GPA Required: 2.8+, and select prerequisites

Housing: on and off campus

Student-Teacher Ratio: 17:1

Graduation Rate: 36%

Additional Benefits: Placement services, counseling services

#5 University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Program: BS in dental hygiene

Tuition: $11k

GPA Required: primarily 4.6+ GPA are accepted each year, and roughly 22% of all applicants are accepted

Housing: on and off campus

Student-Teacher Ratio: 13:1

Graduation Rate: 89%

Additional Benefits: Placement services, counseling services

#6 Ohio State University

Program: BS in dental hygiene for those already working as a dental hygienist

Tuition: $18k

GPA Required: 2.7+ from CODA accredited dental hygiene program, licensed or eligible for license

Housing: on and off campus

Student-Teacher Ratio: 19:1

Graduation Rate: 83%

Additional Benefits: Placement services, counseling services

#7 University of Minnesota—Twin Cities

Program: accelerated 3-year DH (Doctor of Health Science) degree

Tuition: $17k

GPA Required: 2.8+

Housing: on and off campus

Student-Teacher Ratio: 17:1

Graduation Rate: 77%

Additional Benefits: Placement services, counseling services

#8 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor

Program: BS in dental hygiene, very competitive and students may not be admitted to the professional-level program

Tuition: $16k

GPA Required: 3.5+

Housing: on and off campus

Student-Teacher Ratio: 15:1

Graduation Rate: 90%

Additional Benefits: Placement services, counseling services


There are countless schools offering Dental Hygienist programs out there, and this is a rather short list. So, we’ve also included some honorable mentions that appeared in many lists, but didn’t quite make the top of the top. These may offer you solutions which are closer, more reasonably priced or with programs you prefer:


DENTAL HYGIENE SCHOOLS NEAR YOU

Just because a school is one of “the best,” doesn’t always make it feasible to attend. The next thing you may want to know when choosing the dental hygiene school that’s right for you, is which schools exist in a particular area. Perhaps going to New York isn’t something you plan to do. What if you live in California and want to stay local? We’ve got you covered. The American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) has a PDF listing of schools for every type of dental hygiene degree available here. Simply click the applicable PDFs for a state-by-state listing of schools offering degrees in dental hygiene.


CHECKING LICENSE AND SCHOOLING REQUIREMENTS BY STATE

Where you go to school and where you live after could be wildly different. Each state requires its own unique amount or type of schooling to become licensed—this is true for many professions, and dental hygiene is no different. So, to ensure you’ve chosen the right school for the right state you’ll be living, cross check the school’s degree with this handy map from the American Dental Association (ADA): https://www.ada.org/en/education-careers/licensure/dental-licensure-by-state-map

This map can also help you to better understand continuing education requirements for each state. 


SEARCH FOR SCHOOLS THAT FIT YOU

If you’d like to do your own “top university” searching, we recommend the website Niche.com. There you can search all day long with a wide selection of filters—things like years of schooling, online vs offline, how selective the college is, starting salary after school and more. You can even put in your test scores to help filter to only the schools that will accept them.


We hope this list has given you an idea of some factors to look at when comparing schools and finding the perfect program for you. Happy hunting, and, as always: keep smiling!