Searching for a dental assisting program is a strange experience. The first page of results is crowded with lead-generation sites that rank schools by who pays for placement, and the one detail that matters most, whether the program is actually accredited, is easy to miss. We went to program pages and official lists instead and pulled out twelve programs where we could confirm accreditation and a real way to reach a person. They are not ranked, because no honest ranking of “best” exists without outcome data every school publishes the same way. They are a starting list of places worth calling.
Key Answers Before You Apply
Most of the confusion comes from three things: the difference between “accredited” and “approved,” what a certificate versus a diploma means, and where your pay really comes from.
Often no. The BLS says some states have no formal education requirement and assistants learn on the job, while others require education or exams. Check your state dental board before spending money.
Graduating from a CODA-accredited dental assisting or hygiene program qualifies you for DANB’s CDA exam under Pathway I. It is also recognized or required by many state dental boards.
DANB counts 255 CODA-accredited dental assisting programs in the country. This page lists twelve of them with confirmed contacts, so treat it as a sample, not the whole map.
Yes, through Pathway II: a high school diploma or equivalent, 3,500 hours of approved dental assisting work experience, and current CPR or BLS from an accepted provider.
The ones that publish a timeline run about 9 to 12 months. Portland’s is nine months, Pasadena’s and Houston’s are about a year, and Wake Tech’s diploma spans three semesters.
The BLS median is $48,070 a year as of May 2025. Pay was higher, at $55,270, for assistants working for government employers, so the setting matters.
No. Hennepin Technical College states that its diploma and associate degree are CODA-accredited, while its separate certificate is not. Ask which credential carries the accreditation.
Use the locator in the next section. It runs entirely in your browser and shows the three nearest programs on this list with tap-to-call contacts.
Find the Nearest Program
Tap the button and your browser will ask for permission to use your location. We calculate straight-line distance on your device, and nothing is sent to a server. Straight-line miles understate real driving time, so treat the number as a rough guide.
Your location stays in your browser.
The outline is simplified and not drawn to survey accuracy. Numbers match the program list below.
The 12 Programs and How to Reach Them
In our check of each program’s own pages, we found wide differences in what is published. Some list a direct phone line for the dental program, others route you through a general admissions office, and one lists email only. We show exactly what we could confirm and nothing more. Call before you travel, because application windows, class sizes, and credit loads change.
| # | Program | Credential and length | Entry notes | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washtenaw Community College Ann Arbor, MI |
Certificate, 35 credits; associate degree option; CODA | Advanced-standing path for working assistants with 2+ years and the CDA | 4800 E Huron River Dr, 48105 |
| 2 | Citrus College Glendora, CA |
Registered Dental Assisting; about one year; CODA and Dental Board of California | Mandatory information session before applying | 1000 W Foothill Blvd, 91741 |
| 3 | Pasadena City College Pasadena, CA |
Certificate of Achievement, one year; CODA and Dental Board of California | Eligible for the CDA and California RDA exams | 1570 E Colorado Blvd, 91106 |
| 4 | Portland Community College Portland, OR |
Certificate, nine months; CODA | Limited entry; first 45 qualified applicants each year are guaranteed seats | Sylvania Campus, 12000 SW 49th Ave, 97219 |
| 5 | Ozarks Technical Community College Springfield, MO |
Certificate and A.A.S., 43 credit hours for the program; CODA | Selective, points-based admission; cohorts up to 20 | 1001 E Chestnut Expy, 65802 |
| 6 | Hennepin Technical College Brooklyn Park and Eden Prairie, MN |
Diploma (49 credits) and A.A.S.; CODA. The separate certificate is not CODA-accredited | High school diploma or GED; CPR required; two campuses | Phone not confirmed on the program page |
| 7 | Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC |
Diploma, three semesters, full-time day, fall start; CODA | Graduates classified as Dental Assistant II in North Carolina | Perry Health Sciences Campus, 2901 Holston Ln, 27610 |
| 8 | Houston Community College Houston, TX |
Certificate and A.A.S.; 12-month program; CODA | Applications open in set windows; online info session required first | Coleman College for Health Sciences; district office 3100 Main St, 77002 |
| 9 | South College Nashville, TN |
Certificate, 48 quarter hours; CODA | Private college with a public student dental clinic on campus | 616 Marriott Dr, 37214 |
| 10 | Delaware Area Career Center Delaware, OH |
Career-tech dental assisting; on the Ohio Dental Association’s accredited list | Confirm that the adult program, not only the high school course, holds the accreditation | Delaware, Ohio |
| 11 | Butler Tech Butler County, OH |
Career-tech dental assisting; on the Ohio Dental Association’s accredited list | Ask for the adult schedule and cost sheet | Butler County, Ohio |
| 12 | Great Oaks Career Campuses Cincinnati area, OH |
Laurel Oaks and Scarlet Oaks campuses; on the Ohio Dental Association’s accredited list | Confirm adult program dates and which campus teaches it | Greater Cincinnati |
We kept a program only if its own page or an official directory confirmed accreditation and we could verify at least a way to reach it. We left out schools whose accreditation we could not confirm. The list leans toward public community and technical colleges, plus one private college, because those publish the most checkable detail. It is not a ranking, and it skips excellent programs we simply did not verify. The BLS and DANB figures in this page are national, not specific to any one school.
Credit counts come from each program’s catalog and are not directly comparable across quarter and semester systems. Use them to compare workload within one system, not as a cost proxy.
Three Paths to the CDA Credential
DANB, the national certifying board, runs the Certified Dental Assistant exam, and which path you use decides whether a program is worth the money. The table below summarizes the eligibility rules as DANB lists them.
| Path | Who it fits | Requirements | Time cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathway I | New to dental assisting | Graduate of a CODA-accredited dental assisting or dental hygiene program, plus current hands-on CPR, BLS, or ACLS | The length of the program |
| Pathway II | Already working in a dental office | High school diploma or equivalent, at least 3,500 hours of approved work experience, plus current CPR credential | About 1.7 years of full-time work, by our math |
| Pathway III | Former CDA holders, dental students, and certain foreign-trained dentists | Former CDA status or enrollment or graduation in qualifying dental degree programs, plus current CPR credential | Varies |
3,500 hours spread over a 40-hour week works out to about 87.5 weeks, roughly a year and eight months of full-time work. That makes Pathway II a real option for someone already on the job but a slow one for a career changer starting from zero. A program in the nine-to-twelve-month range reaches the same exam sooner, which is the trade you are paying for.
What It Costs and How Hard It Is to Get In
Few programs publish a clean total price, and the ones that do rarely count the extras. When we looked for numbers, the spread between public and private options stood out.
California community colleges list resident tuition and fees around $1,100 to $1,200 a year at Pasadena and Citrus, before books, scrubs, and a program kit. A state job-training listing in New Jersey shows a private dental assistant program at $23,392 total, with tuition alone near $20,700. Programs differ in length, so the comparison is not perfect, but the order of magnitude is the point. Ask any school for an all-in figure.
Several of these programs cap seats. Ozarks Tech takes up to 20 students per cohort through a points-based system. Portland guarantees seats only to the first 45 qualified applicants. Houston opens applications in set windows and expects you to attend an information session first. If you are working around a deadline, call early and ask when the next window opens.
Program kits, DANB exam fees, immunizations, background checks, scrubs, and a CPR card are common extras. One Minnesota catalog listed a dental assistant program kit in the hundreds of dollars plus the national exam fee, though that figure came from an older catalog and has likely changed. Ask for current numbers in writing.
What to Do in Your Situation
Start with the shorter programs: Portland at nine months, Pasadena and Houston at about a year, Wake Tech’s three-semester diploma. Check start dates first, since several begin only once a year.
You may not need a program at all. If you are near 3,500 hours, Pathway II could get you to the CDA exam without tuition. Washtenaw also offers an advanced-standing option for assistants who already hold the CDA, which turns existing certification into college credit.
Approved by a state board is not the same as CODA-accredited, and some paths accept one but not the other. Ask the school for its CODA status in writing, then confirm it with CODA directly. Walk away from vague answers. DANB also keeps a searchable list of accredited, accepted, and board-approved programs.
The list covers only a slice of the 255 accredited programs. Use DANB’s school search to browse by ZIP, then ask each school the five questions below. The twelve here are a model of what a good answer looks like, not an exhaustive directory.
Is this exact credential CODA-accredited, and can you show me the notice? What is the total cost including kit, exams, and fees? When is the next application window and how many seats are there? What was your last class’s DANB pass rate and job-placement rate? Does the program include supervised clinical hours, and where?
This page is educational, not an endorsement or ranking, and it does not replace advice from a school’s admissions office or your state dental board. Contact details, program lengths, and accreditation statuses come from program pages, published directories, and the Ohio Dental Association list as of October 9 and may change, so verify by phone before you visit. Distances in the locator are straight-line estimates between approximate campus-area points, not driving directions. National wage and growth figures are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and are not specific to any school or state. This site is independent and is not affiliated with any program listed.
Key sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook · Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) · Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) · Program pages of the colleges listed · Ohio Dental Association