James A. Rhodes State College Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Dental Support Services and Allied Professions
- Public college
- Lima, OH
- About 18 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
James A. Rhodes State College dental hygiene and assisting graduates earn about what dental hygiene and assisting graduates earn nationally, $54,584 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $18,010 in federal loans, close to the national median of $18,589. It is one of the higher-paying dental hygiene and assisting degrees in Ohio.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Ohio and national columns are the medians across all dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, James A. Rhodes State College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $3,932 less than the Ohio median. Several Ohio programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Ohio dental hygiene and assisting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Ohio medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay falls about 8% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $191 a month, or 4.2% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (23 of 24) were working in Ohio one year after graduating. Prices in the Lima area are about 10% below the national average, so a $54,584 salary here buys what about $60,873 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to dental hygiene and assisting, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Dental Assistants
$47,970Median pay in Ohio. 12,150 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
Dental Hygienists
$88,990Median pay in Ohio. 8,630 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 15,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.
Dental Laboratory Technicians
$48,480Median pay in Ohio. 1,160 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About James A. Rhodes State College
Dental Hygiene and Assisting ranks 2nd of 5 associate's programs at James A. Rhodes State College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($62,603), Dental Hygiene and Assisting ($54,584), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($48,543).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $54,584 one year after graduating and $50,139 five years after. The median across dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs in Ohio is $48,562.
The median federal loan balance is $18,010, which ranks 7th lowest of 12 dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs in Ohio. That works out to about $191 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 33% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 36%.
Most do. 96% (23 of 24) were working in Ohio one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Ohio comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the dental hygiene and assisting program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024