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Best Schools for Dental Hygiene in 2026

74 schools ranked by DegreeWorth Score · Updated 2026

These are the top schools offering Dental Hygiene, ranked by DegreeWorth Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average Dental Hygiene graduate earns $60,938/yr across 74 schools.

Programs Ranked

Avg Earnings

$60,938/yr

Avg DW Score

70/100

AI Risk

Moderate

31% task exposure

All Dental Hygiene Programs Ranked

Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.

#	Program	DW Score	Earnings	AI Risk	ROI
1	Dental Hygiene Foothill College · Los Altos Hills, CA	82 78–82	$81,255/yr	Moderate	128.8x
2	Dental Hygiene College of Southern Nevada · Las Vegas, NV	81 77–81	$75,252/yr	Moderate	44.8x
3	Dental Hygiene Lake Washington Institute of Technology · Kirkland, WA	81 77–81	$77,431/yr	Moderate	36.5x
4	Dental Hygiene Columbia Basin College · Pasco, WA	79 76–79	$70,534/yr	Moderate	27.5x
5	Dental Hygiene Farmingdale State College · Farmingdale, NY	79 76–78	$72,908/yr	Moderate	20.3x
6	Dental Hygiene Clark College · Vancouver, WA	78 74–78	$64,500/yr	Moderate	43.3x
7	Dental Hygiene St Petersburg College · St. Petersburg, FL	77 73–78	$59,295/yr	Moderate	54.3x
8	Dental Hygiene University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus · Norman, OK	79 76–78	$75,367/yr	Moderate	17.4x
9	Dental Hygiene Eastern Washington University · Cheney, WA	78 74–76	$67,984/yr	Moderate	20.0x
10	Dental Hygiene Yakima Valley College · Yakima, WA	78 74–78	$62,574/yr	Moderate	29.3x
11	Dental Hygiene Clayton State University · Morrow, GA	76 72–75	$54,559/yr	Moderate	28.9x
12	Dental Hygiene University of Wyoming · Laramie, WY	77 74–76	$62,557/yr	Moderate	21.5x
13	Dental Hygiene University of Arkansas-Fort Smith · Fort Smith, AR	76 73–75	$58,380/yr	Moderate	20.1x
14	Dental Hygiene University of Hawaii at Manoa · Honolulu, HI	76 74–72	$71,260/yr	Moderate	13.7x
15	Dental Hygiene University of Louisiana at Monroe · Monroe, LA	75 72–72	$60,188/yr	Moderate	16.3x
16	Dental Hygiene Minnesota State University-Mankato · Mankato, MN	76 73–73	$62,496/yr	Moderate	15.4x
17	Dental Hygiene University of New Mexico-Main Campus · Albuquerque, NM	74 71–73	$55,003/yr	Moderate	18.7x
18	Dental Hygiene University of South Dakota · Vermillion, SD	75 72–71	$61,265/yr	Moderate	15.4x
19	Dental Hygiene Texas Woman's University · Denton, TX	74 71–73	$55,694/yr	Moderate	18.6x
20	Dental Hygiene Utah Tech University · Saint George, UT	75 71–74	$51,816/yr	Moderate	20.3x
21	Dental Hygiene West Virginia University · Morgantown, WV	74 71–72	$57,102/yr	Moderate	17.1x
22	Dental Hygiene Idaho State University · Pocatello, ID	73 71–71	$53,877/yr	Moderate	17.0x
23	Dental Hygiene Indiana University-Indianapolis · Indianapolis, IN	75 73–73	$64,402/yr	Moderate	14.4x
24	Dental Hygiene Indiana University-Northwest · Gary, IN	75 72–73	$57,654/yr	Moderate	15.5x
25	Dental Hygiene Metropolitan State University · Saint Paul, MN	75 72–72	$60,849/yr	Moderate	14.6x
26	Dental Hygiene University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · Chapel Hill, NC	73 70–72	$54,207/yr	Moderate	17.7x
27	Dental Hygiene Oregon Institute of Technology · Klamath Falls, OR	74 72–71	$66,691/yr	Moderate	13.6x
28	Dental Hygiene Midwestern State University · Wichita Falls, TX	74 72–70	$60,153/yr	Moderate	14.5x
29	Dental Hygiene University of Southern Indiana · Evansville, IN	75 72–72	$61,972/yr	Moderate	14.0x
30	Dental Hygiene Indiana University-South Bend · South Bend, IN	74 71–72	$55,314/yr	Moderate	14.8x
31	Dental Hygiene Augusta University · Augusta, GA	72 69–70	$48,992/yr	Moderate	17.3x
32	Dental Hygiene Purdue University Fort Wayne · Fort Wayne, IN	72 69–69	$51,095/yr	Moderate	15.7x
33	Dental Hygiene Wichita State University · Wichita, KS	74 71–71	$56,798/yr	Moderate	13.4x
34	Dental Hygiene University of Mississippi · University, MS	71 69–69	$51,838/yr	Moderate	14.9x
35	Dental Hygiene University of Missouri-Kansas City · Kansas City, MO	72 70–68	$60,307/yr	Moderate	12.8x
36	Dental Hygiene Old Dominion University · Norfolk, VA	73 71–69	$63,145/yr	Moderate	12.5x
37	Dental Hygiene West Liberty University · West Liberty, WV	73 70–70	$53,420/yr	Moderate	14.3x
38	Dental Hygiene East Tennessee State University · Johnson City, TN	71 68–68	$51,316/yr	Moderate	14.3x
39	Dental Hygiene Texas A & M University-College Station · College Station, TX	73 71–69	$64,394/yr	Moderate	11.3x
40	Dental Hygiene Utah Valley University · Orem, UT	71 68–69	$45,301/yr	Moderate	17.1x
41	Dental Hygiene Virginia Commonwealth University · Richmond, VA	72 72–68	$72,808/yr	Moderate	10.5x
42	Dental Hygiene Northern Arizona University · Flagstaff, AZ	73 71–70	$64,082/yr	Moderate	10.9x
43	Dental Hygiene Ohio State University-Main Campus · Columbus, OH	71 70–67	$61,173/yr	Moderate	11.3x
44	Dental Hygiene Ferris State University · Big Rapids, MI	71 70–68	$62,805/yr	Moderate	9.9x
45	Dental Hygiene University of Minnesota-Twin Cities · Minneapolis, MN	69 68–65	$64,936/yr	Moderate	9.7x
46	Dental Hygiene Herzing University-Minneapolis · St. Louis Park, MN	70 69–66	$58,912/yr	Moderate	10.0x
47	Dental Hygiene Herzing University-Madison · Madison, WI	70 69–66	$58,912/yr	Moderate	10.0x
48	Dental Hygiene Youngstown State University · Youngstown, OH	67 66–63	$48,826/yr	Moderate	11.2x
49	Dental Hygiene West Coast University-Orange County · Anaheim, CA	68 67–65	$73,751/yr	Moderate	7.4x
50	Dental Hygiene Southern Illinois University-Carbondale · Carbondale, IL	67 66–63	$53,559/yr	Moderate	9.8x
51	Dental Hygiene University of Louisville · Louisville, KY	70 69–66	$57,464/yr	Moderate	8.9x
52	Dental Hygiene Weber State University · Ogden, UT	71 68–69	$45,118/yr	Moderate	11.9x
53	Dental Hygiene University of Maryland Baltimore · Baltimore, MD	63 59–63	$72,139/yr	Moderate	—
54	Dental Hygiene University of Oklahoma-Health Sciences Center · Oklahoma City, OK	63 59–63	$75,367/yr	Moderate	—
55	Dental Hygiene Pennsylvania College of Technology · Williamsport, PA	64 64–62	$57,043/yr	Moderate	6.9x
56	Dental Hygiene West Coast University-Los Angeles · North Hollywood, CA	63 61–62	$73,751/yr	Moderate	4.1x
57	Dental Hygiene Loma Linda University · Loma Linda, CA	61 57–62	$67,159/yr	Moderate	—
58	Dental Hygiene Pacific University · Forest Grove, OR	62 59–60	$76,060/yr	Moderate	3.0x
59	Dental Hygiene The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio · San Antonio, TX	61 57–61	$64,535/yr	Moderate	—
60	Dental Hygiene University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences · Little Rock, AR	60 56–60	$58,607/yr	Moderate	—
61	Dental Hygiene Western Kentucky University · Bowling Green, KY	66 65–63	$47,974/yr	Moderate	8.4x
62	Dental Hygiene Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans · New Orleans, LA	60 56–60	$59,772/yr	Moderate	—
63	Dental Hygiene University of Nebraska Medical Center · Omaha, NE	60 56–60	$59,621/yr	Moderate	—
64	Dental Hygiene The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston · Houston, TX	60 56–60	$59,360/yr	Moderate	—
65	Dental Hygiene University of Bridgeport · Bridgeport, CT	61 58–60	$65,025/yr	Moderate	3.3x
66	Dental Hygiene MCPHS University · Boston, MA	60 57–58	$61,374/yr	Moderate	3.2x
67	Dental Hygiene The University of Tennessee Health Science Center · Memphis, TN	59 55–59	$55,109/yr	Moderate	—
68	Dental Hygiene University of New Haven · West Haven, CT	59 55–58	$59,086/yr	Moderate	3.4x
69	Dental Hygiene Careers Unlimited · Orem, UT	58 54–58	$52,423/yr	Moderate	—
70	Dental Hygiene University of Southern California · Los Angeles, CA	58 56–57	$69,479/yr	Moderate	2.0x
71	Dental Hygiene University of New England · Biddeford, ME	58 56–56	$59,851/yr	Moderate	2.6x
72	Dental Hygiene Regis College · Weston, MA	58 55–56	$60,211/yr	Moderate	2.2x
73	Dental Hygiene University of Michigan-Ann Arbor · Ann Arbor, MI	57 55–56	$43,742/yr	Moderate	6.5x
74	Dental Hygiene University of Detroit Mercy · Detroit, MI	57 54–55	$50,234/yr	Moderate	2.6x

Methodology

Programs are ranked by DegreeWorth Score, which combines four equally weighted factors: graduate earnings (Year 1 after graduation), AI automation resilience (based on OpenAI and academic research), job market size (BLS annual openings), and earnings-to-tuition multiple (10-year projected earnings vs. 4-year tuition).

Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, which reports actual median earnings of graduates — not self-reported surveys.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best school for Dental Hygiene?

Based on our DegreeWorth Score, Foothill College ranks #1 for Dental Hygiene with a score of 82/100 and graduate earnings of $81,255/yr.

How much do Dental Hygiene graduates earn?

Across 74 schools, Dental Hygiene graduates earn an average of $60,938/yr in their first year. The highest-earning program reports $81,255/yr.

Is Dental Hygiene a good major for AI resistance?

Dental Hygiene has an average AI task exposure of 31%, rated "Moderate". This field has moderate AI exposure — some career paths are more resilient than others.

Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024–2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Last updated 2025.