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

Dakota County Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,000, with first-year pay of $45,418.

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

The median across 8 Minnesota dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs is $47,297 in the first year after graduating and $46,143 five years after.

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

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

Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Associate's) Programs in Minnesota, 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 Minnesota dental hygiene and assisting associate's program pays its graduates $47,297 in their first year, $7,270 less than the national median. Normandale Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($62,751), and Dakota County Technical College the lowest median debt ($11,000).

Median first-year pay$47,297National $54,567

Median pay after 5 years$46,143National $56,201

Median federal debt$20,250National $18,589

Debt-to-earnings40%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	Normandale Community CollegeBloomington · public	$62,751	$50,282	$31,000	49%
2	Lake Superior CollegeDuluth · public	$50,993	$52,053	$20,250	40%
3	Hennepin Technical CollegeBrooklyn Park · public	$47,901	$44,397	Not reported	Not reported
4	Century College (Minnesota)White Bear Lake · public	$47,789	$46,143	$29,300	61%
5	Rochester Community and Technical CollegeRochester · public	$46,805	$51,236	$18,500	40%
6	Minnesota State Community and Technical CollegeFergus Falls · public	$45,942	Not reported	$17,500	38%
7	St Cloud Technical and Community CollegeSaint Cloud · public	$45,787	$43,753	$25,592	56%
8	Dakota County Technical CollegeRosemount · public	$45,418	$43,191	$11,000	24%

Hennepin Technical College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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

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

Normandale Community College$62,751
Lake Superior College$50,993
Hennepin Technical College$47,901
Century College (Minnesota)$47,789
Rochester Community and Technical College$46,805

Lowest median debt

Dakota County Technical College$11,000
Minnesota State Community and Technical College$17,500
Rochester Community and Technical College$18,500
Lake Superior College$20,250
St Cloud Technical and Community College$25,592

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

$65,270

Median pay in Minnesota. 5,980 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $46,960Top 10%: $76,110

Dental Hygienists

$103,970

Median pay in Minnesota. 4,110 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $82,110Top 10%: $120,270

Dental Laboratory Technicians

$56,090

Median pay in Minnesota. 390 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $39,350Top 10%: $76,650

Common questions

Normandale Community College in Bloomington reports the highest median first-year pay, $62,751. Its median federal debt is $31,000.

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 Minnesota 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