Which Florida dental hygiene and assisting program has the lowest debt?

Florida National University reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,125, with first-year pay of $20,203.

How much do dental hygiene and assisting graduates earn in Florida?

The median across 14 Florida dental hygiene and assisting certificate programs is $26,280 in the first year after graduating and $31,472 five years after.

Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Certificate) Programs in Florida, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many dental hygiene and assisting certificate programs are in Florida?

14 Florida programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

14 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Certificate in Dental Support Services and Allied Professions

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Florida dental hygiene and assisting certificate program pays its graduates $26,280 in their first year, $208 less than the national median. Daytona State College reports the highest first-year pay ($32,107), and Florida National University the lowest median debt ($7,125).

Median first-year pay$26,280National $26,487

Median pay after 5 years$31,472National $31,114

Median federal debt$9,500National $9,500

Debt-to-earnings39%National 38%

All 14 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Daytona State CollegeDaytona Beach · public	$32,107	$33,018	Not reported	Not reported
2	Meridian CollegeSarasota · private for-profit	$31,980	Not reported	$9,500	30%
3	Manatee Technical CollegeBradenton · public	$28,447	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
4	Fortis College-Orange ParkOrange Park · private for-profit	$28,321	$31,663	$13,000	46%
5	Orange Technical CollegeOrlando · public	$28,220	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Charlotte Technical CollegePort Charlotte · public	$27,852	$31,472	Not reported	Not reported
7	Concorde Career Institute-TampaTampa · private for-profit	$27,152	$33,695	$9,500	35%
8	Concorde Career Institute-JacksonvilleJacksonville · private for-profit	$25,407	$32,076	$9,500	37%
9	Erwin Technical CollegeTampa · public	$24,264	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
10	Concorde Career Institute-MiramarMiramar · private for-profit	$23,606	$27,427	$9,500	40%
11	Compu-Med Vocational Careers CorpHialeah · private for-profit	$22,750	$23,733	Not reported	Not reported
12	Florida National UniversityHialeah · private for-profit	$20,203	$26,215	$7,125	35%
13	Ultimate Medical AcademyClearwater · private nonprofit	$20,029	$30,192	$9,500	47%
14	Praxis InstituteMiami · private for-profit	$18,121	Not reported	$9,080	50%

6 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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 the 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Daytona State College$32,107
Meridian College$31,980
Manatee Technical College$28,447
Fortis College-Orange Park$28,321
Orange Technical College$28,220

Lowest median debt

Florida National University$7,125
Praxis Institute$9,080
Meridian College$9,500
Concorde Career Institute-Tampa$9,500
Concorde Career Institute-Jacksonville$9,500

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$47,620

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $37,800Top 10%: $58,880

Dental Hygienists

$91,980

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $75,960Top 10%: $99,040

Dental Laboratory Technicians

$59,790

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,750Top 10%: $78,010

Common questions

Daytona State College in Daytona Beach reports the highest median first-year pay, $32,107.

Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked198 programs by pay and debt Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Associate's) programs in Florida, ranked12 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the dental hygiene and assisting certificate programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024