As of 2019, 83 percent of dental school graduates had student loan debt, according to the Education Data Initiative.
The Education Data Initiative works to make information on the U.S. education system more accessible. Data on dental school debt was collected from various sources, including the American Dental Education Association, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the American Dental Association.
Note: Statistics are from 2019, the most recent year data was available.
Eleven key statistics:
- Eighty-three percent of dental school graduates in 2019 had student loan debt.
- The average dental school debt owed by graduates was $292,169.
- The average private school graduate debt was $321,184.
- The average public school graduate debt was $261,305.
- Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, had the cheapest program for residents, totaling $115,729.
- The University of Mississippi has the cheapest program for nonresidents, totaling $150,148 for the entire program.
- Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Ill., had the most expensive program for residents at $411,385.
- The University of Illinois in Chicago had the most expensive nonresident program at $436,435.
- Dental school debt has risen by $207,922 since 1996, when the average debt was $84,247.
- More than 70 percent of dental school graduates used a federal student loan to cover their dental school expenses.
- Nearly 19 percent of dental school graduates said their level of debt would influence their careers.