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

Carl Sandburg College reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,374, with first-year pay of $51,566.

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

The median across 9 Illinois dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs is $57,717 in the first year after graduating and $52,615 five years after.

How many dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs are in Illinois?

9 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Associate's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

9 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Associate's in Dental Support Services and Allied Professions

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois dental hygiene and assisting associate's program pays its graduates $57,717 in their first year, $3,150 more than the national median. College of Lake County reports the highest first-year pay ($63,080), and Carl Sandburg College the lowest median debt ($10,374).

Median first-year pay$57,717National $54,567

Median pay after 5 years$52,615National $56,201

Median federal debt$13,625National $18,589

Debt-to-earnings25%National 36%

All 9 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	College of Lake CountyGrayslake · public	$63,080	$63,989	$13,000	21%
2	Rock Valley CollegeRockford · public	$59,574	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	College of DuPageGlen Ellyn · public	$59,215	Not reported	$19,871	34%
4	Lake Land CollegeMattoon · public	$58,853	$40,788	$13,625	23%
5	Fox CollegeTinley Park · private for-profit	$57,717	Not reported	$20,000	35%
6	William Rainey Harper CollegePalatine · public	$56,767	$59,677	Not reported	Not reported
7	Lewis and Clark Community CollegeGodfrey · public	$54,276	$52,930	$13,417	25%
8	Carl Sandburg CollegeGalesburg · public	$51,566	$54,300	$10,374	20%
9	Parkland CollegeChampaign · public	$47,133	$52,300	$13,625	29%

Rock Valley College and William Rainey Harper College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois dental hygiene and assisting program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

College of Lake County$63,080
Rock Valley College$59,574
College of DuPage$59,215
Lake Land College$58,853
Fox College$57,717

Lowest median debt

Carl Sandburg College$10,374
College of Lake County$13,000
Lewis and Clark Community College$13,417
Lake Land College$13,625
Parkland College$13,625

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

$48,610

Median pay in Illinois. 13,740 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $37,360Top 10%: $59,910

Dental Hygienists

$96,670

Median pay in Illinois. 8,970 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $74,280Top 10%: $118,410

Dental Laboratory Technicians

$51,380

Median pay in Illinois. 2,030 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $40,120Top 10%: $67,150

Common questions

College of Lake County in Grayslake reports the highest median first-year pay, $63,080. Its median federal debt is $13,000.

Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked180 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 Illinois rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the dental hygiene and assisting associate's 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