DENTAL ASSISTANT SCHOOLS IN PENNSYLVANIA — Federal Data, September 2026
Dental Assistant Schools in Pennsylvania, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
12 accredited institutions in Pennsylvania report enough federal data on this program to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.
See The RankingU.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.
Across the 12 ranked programs in Pennsylvania, the median graduate needs 5.5 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $17,816, against median earnings of $33,393 one year after completion.
That is slower than the national median of 4.6 months for this field, measured across the 398 institutions in our national dental assistant schools ranking. The best performer in the state is Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, at 4.0 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Pennsylvania institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about dental assistant schools in Pennsylvania
The Ranking
12 dental assistant schools in Pennsylvania, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montgomery County Community CollegeBlue Bell, PA | Public | Associate | 4.0 | $16,707 | $49,729 | 28% |
| 2 | YTI Career Institute-YorkYork, PA | for-profit | Certificate | 4.1 | $9,500 | $27,842 | 45% |
| 3 | Luzerne County Community CollegeNanticoke, PA | Public | Associate | 4.2 | $14,750 | $41,650 | 23% |
| 4 | Northampton County Area Community CollegeBethlehem, PA | Public | Associate | 4.7 | $19,690 | $50,692 | 24% |
| 5 | Great Lakes Institute of TechnologyErie, PA | for-profit | Certificate | 5.3 | $10,690 | $24,398 | 64% |
| 6 | Institute of Medical CareersPittsburgh, PA | for-profit | Certificate | 5.5 | $13,166 | $28,910 | 76% |
| 7 | Harcum CollegeBryn Mawr, PA | nonprofit | Associate | 5.6 | $25,049 | $53,534 | 44% |
| 8 | All-State Career SchoolEssington, PA | for-profit | Certificate | 6.5 | $14,666 | $26,998 | 53% |
| 9 | Community College of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PA | Public | Associate | 6.5 | $18,926 | $34,849 | 24% |
| 10 | Manor CollegeJenkintown, PA | nonprofit | Associate | 6.6 | $23,500 | $42,819 | 26% |
| 11 | Fortis Institute-ScrantonScranton, PA | for-profit | Associate | 10.9 | $28,992 | $31,937 | 46% |
| 12 | Miller-Motte College-Berks Technical InstituteWyomissing, PA | for-profit | Associate | 11.9 | $26,779 | $26,998 | 76% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers in this program; earnings are median earnings one year after completion. Where a school offers the program at both certificate and associate level, the shorter payback is shown. Completion is the institution’s published rate, not the program’s.
The Top Five, In Detail
The five fastest payback programs in Pennsylvania, one by one
Montgomery County Community College
Blue Bell, PA
Montgomery County Community College is a public institution in Blue Bell. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $16,707 and report median earnings of $49,729 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.0 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 1.5 months faster than the Pennsylvania state median of 5.5. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 28% completion rate.
YTI Career Institute-York
York, PA
YTI Career Institute-York is a private for-profit institution in York. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,500 and report median earnings of $27,842 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.1 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 1.4 months faster than the Pennsylvania state median of 5.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 45% completion rate.
Luzerne County Community College
Nanticoke, PA
Luzerne County Community College is a public institution in Nanticoke. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $14,750 and report median earnings of $41,650 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.2 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 1.3 months faster than the Pennsylvania state median of 5.5. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 23% completion rate.
Northampton County Area Community College
Bethlehem, PA
Northampton County Area Community College is a public institution in Bethlehem. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $19,690 and report median earnings of $50,692 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.7 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 0.8 months faster than the Pennsylvania state median of 5.5. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 24% completion rate.
Great Lakes Institute of Technology
Erie, PA
Great Lakes Institute of Technology is a private for-profit institution in Erie. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $10,690 and report median earnings of $24,398 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.3 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and right on the Pennsylvania state median of 5.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 64% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
Absence from this page is not a verdict. The Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, so a small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all. Schools that enroll no students on federal aid are outside this dataset entirely.
The measure is a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing inside one state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.
Other States
The same program, another state
Other Programs in Pennsylvania
Comparing a different trade in Pennsylvania
For PENNSYLVANIA School Operators
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