Best Dental Assistant programs in Pennsylvania, ranked by enrollment
Perform limited clinical duties under the direction of a dentist.
16 schools in Pennsylvania run programs that feed this job, graduating 234 people a year. The job pays a median of $47,930 in Pennsylvania across about 12,080 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Pennsylvania (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Pennsylvania page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dental Assisting/Assistantmain feeder CIP 51.0601In Pennsylvania → | 234 | 100.0% | 16 | $28,924 | $10,782 |
Top 16 schools in Pennsylvania
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 16 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | All - State Career School Essington, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 48 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $26,998 | 53% | $21,443 | — |
| 2 | YTI Career Institute - York York, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $27,842 | 45% | $17,792 | — |
| 3 | Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | — | 31% | — | — |
| 4 | Central Penn College Summerdale, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | — | 51% | $19,136 | 18% |
| 5 | Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center Altoona, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | — | 68% | — | — |
| 6 | Miller - Motte College - Berks Technical Institute Wyomissing, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $26,998 | 76% | — | — |
| 7 | Great Lakes Institute of Technology Erie, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $24,398 | 64% | $19,736 | — |
| 8 | Institute of Medical Careers Pittsburgh, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $28,910 | 76% | $20,376 | — |
| 9 | Harrisburg Area Community College Harrisburg, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $52,497 | 21% | — | — |
| 10 | Manor College Jenkintown, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $42,819 | 26% | $19,082 | 95% |
| 11 | Harcum College Bryn Mawr, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $53,534 | 44% | $27,244 | — |
| 12 | Luzerne County Community College Nanticoke, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $41,650 | 23% | — | — |
| 13 | York County School of Technology - Adult & Continuing Education York, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | — | 90% | — | — |
| 14 | Lancaster County Career and Technology Center Willow Street, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | — | 91% | — | — |
| 15 | Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology Pleasant Gap, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | — | 95% | — | 96% |
| 16 | Fortis Institute - Scranton Scranton, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Dental Assisting/Assistant | $31,937 | 46% | $26,301 | — |
All 16 schools in Pennsylvania
Every school in Pennsylvania with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All - State Career School | Essington | Private for-profit | 48 | 1 |
| YTI Career Institute - York | York | Private for-profit | 27 | 1 |
| Westmoreland County Community College | Youngwood | Public | 23 | 1 |
| Central Penn College | Summerdale | Private for-profit | 22 | 1 |
| Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center | Altoona | Public | 21 | 1 |
| Miller - Motte College - Berks Technical Institute | Wyomissing | Private for-profit | 21 | 1 |
| Great Lakes Institute of Technology | Erie | Private for-profit | 12 | 1 |
| Institute of Medical Careers | Pittsburgh | Private for-profit | 12 | 1 |
| Harrisburg Area Community College | Harrisburg | Public | 10 | 1 |
| Manor College | Jenkintown | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 1 |
| Harcum College | Bryn Mawr | Private not-for-profit | 7 | 1 |
| Luzerne County Community College | Nanticoke | Public | 7 | 1 |
| York County School of Technology - Adult & Continuing Education | York | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Lancaster County Career and Technology Center | Willow Street | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology | Pleasant Gap | Public | 3 | 1 |
What dental assistants earn in Pennsylvania
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $48,070. Pennsylvania pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Pennsylvania
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Dental Assistants page.
How to become a Dental Assistant
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Pennsylvania
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Dental Assistants1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0601Dental Assisting/Assistant
Common questions
Answers for people weighing dental assistants programs in Pennsylvania.
What degree do you need to become a Dental Assistant?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Dental Assisting/Assistant, which awarded 234 degrees in Pennsylvania in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Dental Assistant?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Dental Support Services and Allied Professions. Together they graduate about 234 people a year in Pennsylvania.
How much do dental assistants earn in Pennsylvania?+
The median is $47,930 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.3% below the U.S. median of $48,070. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for dental assistants growing?+
BLS projects a +6.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 52,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Pennsylvania?+
16 institutions in Pennsylvania reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do dental assistants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Dental Assistant (DA), Certified Dental Assistant (CDA), Registered Dental Assistant (RDA), Expanded Duty Dental Assistant (EDDA) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 31-9091.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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