Santa Fe College Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Dental Support Services and Allied Professions
- Public college
- Gainesville, FL
- About 23 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Santa Fe College dental hygiene and assisting graduates earn about what dental hygiene and assisting graduates earn nationally, $56,722 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $14,875 in federal loans, close to the national median of $18,589. Several Florida programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida dental hygiene and assisting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $158 a month, or 3.3% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
92% of graduates (33 of 36) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Gainesville area are about 3% below the national average, so a $56,722 salary here buys what about $58,638 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
$47,620Median pay in Florida. 26,620 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$91,980Median pay in Florida. 11,980 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$59,790Median pay in Florida. 2,330 people work in this job in Florida. 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 Santa Fe College
Dental Hygiene and Assisting ranks 3rd of 8 associate's programs at Santa Fe College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($68,611), Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($57,763), and Dental Hygiene and Assisting ($56,722).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $56,722 one year after graduating. The median across dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs in Florida is $57,278.
The median federal loan balance is $14,875, which ranks 3rd lowest of 5 dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs in Florida. That works out to about $158 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 26% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 36%.
Most do. 92% (33 of 36) were working in Florida 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 Florida 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