More than 60% of dental students are using loans to fund their education, according to the American Dental Education Association's Trends in Dental Education report for the 2023-24 academic year.
This year's report shows that 82% of respondents are graduating with dental school debt.
The ADEA also received responses from 3,085 students about their sources of funding for predoctoral degrees.
Here are six ways students are paying for predoctoral dental degrees:
Loans: 66%
Financial support from parents, relatives or friends: 19%
Grants and/or scholarships: 10%
Savings from self and/or savings or earned income from spouse: 4%
Part-time employment: 1%
Other: 0.4%