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

Kalamazoo Valley Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $9,817, with first-year pay of $52,947.

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

The median across 8 Michigan dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs is $45,788 in the first year after graduating and $45,738 five years after.

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

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

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

8 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 Michigan dental hygiene and assisting associate's program pays its graduates $45,788 in their first year, $8,780 less than the national median. Kalamazoo Valley Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($52,947), and Kalamazoo Valley Community College the lowest median debt ($9,817).

Median first-year pay$45,788National $54,567

Median pay after 5 years$45,738National $56,201

Median federal debt$17,800National $18,589

Debt-to-earnings48%National 36%

All 8 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	Kalamazoo Valley Community CollegeKalamazoo · public	$52,947	$51,974	$9,817	19%
2	Lansing Community CollegeLansing · public	$49,832	$54,469	$14,136	28%
3	Ferris StateBig Rapids · public	$49,748	$46,192	$26,470	53%
4	Oakland Community CollegeAuburn Hills · public	$46,032	$42,646	Not reported	Not reported
5	Grand Rapids Community CollegeGrand Rapids · public	$45,543	$46,454	$17,500	38%
6	Baker CollegeOwosso · private nonprofit	$43,971	$45,283	$25,879	59%
7	Mott Community CollegeFlint · public	$40,544	$37,539	$25,926	64%
8	Delta CollegeUniversity Center · public	$36,828	$44,502	$17,800	48%

Oakland Community College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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

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

Kalamazoo Valley Community College$52,947
Lansing Community College$49,832
Ferris State$49,748
Oakland Community College$46,032
Grand Rapids Community College$45,543

Lowest median debt

Kalamazoo Valley Community College$9,817
Lansing Community College$14,136
Grand Rapids Community College$17,500
Delta College$17,800
Baker College$25,879

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

$48,820

Median pay in Michigan. 11,990 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $37,110Top 10%: $58,900

Dental Hygienists

$83,790

Median pay in Michigan. 8,640 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $77,230Top 10%: $96,970

Dental Laboratory Technicians

$49,570

Median pay in Michigan. 1,180 people work in this job in Michigan. 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%: $37,560Top 10%: $77,420

Common questions

Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Kalamazoo reports the highest median first-year pay, $52,947. Its median federal debt is $9,817.

Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked180 programs by pay and debt Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Certificate) programs in Michigan, ranked7 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 Michigan 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