Which New York dental hygiene and assisting program has the lowest debt?

Hostos Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $14,400, with first-year pay of $62,426.

How much do dental hygiene and assisting graduates earn in New York?

The median across 11 New York dental hygiene and assisting associate's programs is $57,035 in the first year after graduating and $54,158 five years after.

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

11 New York programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

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

11 programs report first-year pay
9 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 New York dental hygiene and assisting associate's program pays its graduates $57,035 in their first year, $2,468 more than the national median. Orange County Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($64,661), and Hostos Community College the lowest median debt ($14,400).

Median first-year pay$57,035National $54,567

Median pay after 5 years$54,158National $56,201

Median federal debt$19,158National $18,589

Debt-to-earnings36%National 36%

All 11 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	Orange County Community CollegeMiddletown · public	$64,661	$59,353	Not reported	Not reported
2	Hostos Community CollegeBronx · public	$62,426	$56,946	$14,400	23%
3	SUNY Broome Community CollegeBinghamton · public	$60,032	$52,860	$18,876	31%
4	Plaza CollegeForest Hills · private for-profit	$57,819	Not reported	$25,250	44%
5	Farmingdale State CollegeFarmingdale · public	$57,077	$62,672	$20,718	36%
6	NYUNew York · private nonprofit	$57,035	$62,688	$21,241	37%
7	City TechBrooklyn · public	$55,457	$51,549	$15,527	28%
8	SUNY College of Technology at CantonCanton · public	$54,094	$52,747	Not reported	Not reported
9	Monroe Community CollegeRochester · public	$52,231	$55,456	$22,615	43%
10	Hudson Valley Community CollegeTroy · public	$52,151	$52,235	$16,515	32%
11	Erie Community CollegeBuffalo · public	$51,215	Not reported	$18,737	37%

Orange County Community College and SUNY College of Technology at Canton 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 New York dental hygiene and assisting program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 9 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Orange County Community College$64,661
Hostos Community College$62,426
SUNY Broome Community College$60,032
Plaza College$57,819
Farmingdale State College$57,077

Lowest median debt

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

$48,110

Median pay in New York. 19,800 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $36,410Top 10%: $60,490

Dental Hygienists

$106,130

Median pay in New York. 13,660 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $77,680Top 10%: $126,640

Dental Laboratory Technicians

$52,460

Median pay in New York. 1,890 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $38,580Top 10%: $76,010

Common questions

Orange County Community College in Middletown reports the highest median first-year pay, $64,661.

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