Dental Hygiene and Assisting (Certificate) Programs in Texas, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- 8 programs report first-year pay
- 7 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 Texas dental hygiene and assisting certificate program pays its graduates $23,442 in their first year, $3,046 less than the national median. College of Health Care Professions-Austin reports the highest first-year pay ($29,060), and Texas State Technical College the lowest median debt ($6,584).
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.
Lamar State College-Orange reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas dental hygiene and assisting program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas 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 Health Care Professions-Austin$29,060
- Milan Institute-San Antonio Ingram$25,255
- PCI Health Training Center$24,130
- Texas State Technical College$24,017
- Lamar State College-Orange$22,866
Lowest median debt
"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
$45,430Median pay in Texas. 33,230 people work in this job in Texas. 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.
Dental Hygienists
$99,240Median pay in Texas. 16,380 people work in this job in Texas. 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.
Dental Laboratory Technicians
$46,330Median pay in Texas. 1,770 people work in this job in Texas. 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.
Common questions
College of Health Care Professions-Austin in Austin reports the highest median first-year pay, $29,060. Its median federal debt is $9,085.
Texas State Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $6,584, with first-year pay of $24,017.
The median across 8 Texas dental hygiene and assisting certificate programs is $23,442 in the first year after graduating and $29,690 five years after.
8 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.
Related pages
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 Texas 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