DENTAL ASSISTANT SCHOOLS IN FLORIDA — Federal Data, September 2026
Dental Assistant Schools in Florida, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
17 accredited institutions in Florida 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 17 ranked programs in Florida, the median graduate needs 4.8 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $10,000, against median earnings of $28,321 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 Pensacola State College in Pensacola, at 2.6 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Florida institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about dental assistant schools in Florida
The Ranking
17 dental assistant schools in Florida, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pensacola State CollegePensacola, FL | Public | Associate | 2.6 | $10,000 | $46,690 | 36% |
| 2 | Tallahassee State CollegeTallahassee, FL | Public | Associate | 2.6 | $11,417 | $51,709 | 38% |
| 3 | Santa Fe CollegeGainesville, FL | Public | Associate | 3.1 | $14,875 | $56,722 | 53% |
| 4 | Meridian CollegeSarasota, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 3.6 | $9,500 | $31,980 | 51% |
| 5 | Concorde Career Institute-TampaTampa, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 4.2 | $9,500 | $27,152 | 56% |
| 6 | Florida National University-Main CampusHialeah, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 4.2 | $7,125 | $20,203 | 31% |
| 7 | Concorde Career Institute-JacksonvilleJacksonville, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 4.5 | $9,500 | $25,407 | 47% |
| 8 | Concorde Career Institute-OrlandoOrlando, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 4.5 | $9,500 | $25,407 | 69% |
| 9 | Concorde Career Institute-MiramarMiramar, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 4.8 | $9,500 | $23,606 | 67% |
| 10 | Fortis Institute-Port Saint LuciePort Saint Lucie, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 4.9 | $12,994 | $31,554 | 53% |
| 11 | St Petersburg CollegeSt. Petersburg, FL | Public | Associate | 5.1 | $26,556 | $62,093 | 38% |
| 12 | Miami Dade CollegeMiami, FL | Public | Associate | 5.2 | $18,000 | $41,314 | 46% |
| 13 | ATA Career EducationSpring Hill, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 5.3 | $12,930 | $29,032 | 67% |
| 14 | Fortis College-Orange ParkOrange Park, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 5.5 | $13,000 | $28,321 | 35% |
| 15 | Ultimate Medical AcademyClearwater, FL | nonprofit | Certificate | 5.7 | $9,500 | $20,029 | 55% |
| 16 | Praxis InstituteMiami, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 6.0 | $9,080 | $18,121 | 78% |
| 17 | Fortis Institute-PensacolaPensacola, FL | for-profit | Certificate | 6.5 | $12,330 | $22,821 | 54% |
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 Florida, one by one
Pensacola State College
Pensacola, FL
Pensacola State College is a public institution in Pensacola. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $10,000 and report median earnings of $46,690 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.6 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 2.2 months faster than the Florida state median of 4.8. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 36% completion rate.
Tallahassee State College
Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee State College is a public institution in Tallahassee. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $11,417 and report median earnings of $51,709 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.6 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 2.2 months faster than the Florida state median of 4.8. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 38% completion rate.
Santa Fe College
Gainesville, FL
Santa Fe College is a public institution in Gainesville. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $14,875 and report median earnings of $56,722 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.1 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 1.7 months faster than the Florida state median of 4.8. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 53% completion rate.
Meridian College
Sarasota, FL
Meridian College is a private for-profit institution in Sarasota. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,500 and report median earnings of $31,980 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.6 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 1.2 months faster than the Florida state median of 4.8. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 51% completion rate.
Concorde Career Institute-Tampa
Tampa, FL
Concorde Career Institute-Tampa is a private for-profit institution in Tampa. Its dental assisting graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,500 and report median earnings of $27,152 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.2 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 0.6 months faster than the Florida state median of 4.8. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 56% 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 Florida
Comparing a different trade in Florida
For FLORIDA School Operators
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