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What Dental School Will Cost in 2030, School by School
In this guide 4 sections
If you are a sophomore reading this, you will not enter dental school at today’s prices. Cost of attendance in dentistry has compounded at roughly 4% a year for two decades, and there is no mechanism in sight that reverses it. This guide projects every school in our model forward to a student entering in 2030, using that rate, so that a first- or second-year undergraduate can plan against the number they will actually face rather than the one on this year’s brochure.
A projection is not a prophecy. If tuition growth slows, these are high; if the federal loan cap forces schools to discount, some will be; if it does not, a few will be higher. What a projection is good for is the shape: which seats stay cheap, and how far the median drifts from the federal cap.
On the figures in this guide: dollar amounts from our cost model are estimates built from published cost-of-attendance data circa 2022, and unless a row says in-state they are out-of-state or private figures. Where we say “projected” we have grown the 2022 figure at 4% a year to 2026. Federal loan rules, interest rates and program terms are quoted as published for 2026–27 and can change; confirm anything you plan around with the school’s financial aid office and at studentaid.gov. Nothing here is financial advice.
Every school, projected to a 2030 entrant
Four-year cost with in-school interest: as modelled (2022), projected to 2026, and projected to 2030 at 4% a year.
| # | School | 2022 model | 2026 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M / Baylor (out-of-state) | $343,312 | $401,641 | $469,846 |
| 2 | SIU (out-of-state) | $349,857 | $409,298 | $478,803 |
| 3 | UT San Antonio (out-of-state) | $350,880 | $410,495 | $480,204 |
| 4 | UTHealth Houston (out-of-state) | $365,520 | $427,622 | $500,239 |
| 5 | Michigan (in-state) | $394,218 | $461,196 | $539,515 |
| 6 | Marquette (out-of-state) | $437,692 | $512,056 | $599,012 |
| 7 | Meharry (private) | $465,807 | $544,948 | $637,489 |
| 8 | LECOM (private) | $467,217 | $546,597 | $639,419 |
| 9 | Pitt (out-of-state) | $473,701 | $554,183 | $648,293 |
| 10 | UAB (out-of-state) | $483,017 | $565,082 | $661,042 |
| 11 | Temple (out-of-state) | $500,845 | $585,939 | $685,441 |
| 12 | Stony Brook (out-of-state) | $500,995 | $586,114 | $685,646 |
| 13 | DCG / Augusta (out-of-state) | $501,304 | $586,476 | $686,069 |
| 14 | UF (out-of-state) | $505,158 | $590,984 | $691,344 |
| 15 | Iowa (out-of-state) | $505,206 | $591,040 | $691,409 |
| 16 | UNE (private) | $507,009 | $593,150 | $693,877 |
| 17 | Michigan (out-of-state) | $507,939 | $594,238 | $695,150 |
| 18 | CU (out-of-state) | $510,028 | $596,682 | $698,009 |
| 19 | Northstate (out-of-state) | $510,733 | $597,507 | $698,973 |
| 20 | Buffalo (out-of-state) | $513,888 | $601,198 | $703,291 |
| 21 | UMKC (out-of-state) | $514,248 | $601,619 | $703,784 |
| 22 | Creighton (private) | $515,675 | $603,288 | $705,737 |
| 23 | Touro (private) | $516,241 | $603,950 | $706,511 |
| 24 | LSU (out-of-state) | $517,493 | $605,415 | $708,225 |
| 25 | WVU (out-of-state) | $525,761 | $615,088 | $719,540 |
| 26 | Case Western (private) | $526,340 | $615,765 | $720,333 |
| 27 | Louisville (out-of-state) | $529,989 | $620,034 | $725,327 |
| 28 | VCU (out-of-state) | $534,030 | $624,762 | $730,857 |
| 29 | UTHSC (out-of-state) | $537,617 | $628,958 | $735,766 |
| 30 | UMMC (out-of-state) | $539,182 | $630,789 | $737,908 |
| 31 | UCSF (out-of-state) | $540,497 | $632,327 | $739,707 |
| 32 | BU (private) | $547,147 | $640,107 | $748,808 |
| 33 | UK (out-of-state) | $547,351 | $640,346 | $749,088 |
| 34 | UNC (out-of-state) | $549,354 | $642,689 | $751,829 |
| 35 | Detroit Mercy (private) | $549,705 | $643,100 | $752,309 |
| 36 | Rutgers (out-of-state) | $557,892 | $652,678 | $763,514 |
| 37 | UConn (out-of-state) | $559,920 | $655,050 | $766,289 |
| 38 | OHSU (out-of-state) | $560,715 | $655,980 | $767,377 |
| 39 | Utah (out-of-state) | $561,036 | $656,356 | $767,817 |
| 40 | WesternU (private) | $566,831 | $663,136 | $775,747 |
| 41 | Harvard (private) | $567,668 | $664,115 | $776,893 |
| 42 | ATSU-MOSDOH (private) | $575,036 | $672,735 | $786,976 |
| 43 | IU (out-of-state) | $580,570 | $679,209 | $794,550 |
| 44 | Loma Linda (private) | $582,877 | $681,908 | $797,707 |
| 45 | Columbia (private) | $589,047 | $689,126 | $806,151 |
| 46 | OU (out-of-state) | $590,713 | $691,075 | $808,432 |
| 47 | Tufts (private) | $591,817 | $692,367 | $809,942 |
| 48 | NSU (out-of-state) | $597,017 | $698,450 | $817,059 |
| 49 | USC (private) | $598,825 | $700,565 | $819,533 |
| 50 | MUSC (out-of-state) | $600,621 | $702,667 | $821,991 |
| 51 | Penn (private) | $603,716 | $706,287 | $826,227 |
| 52 | Roseman (private) | $617,509 | $722,424 | $845,104 |
| 53 | Minnesota (out-of-state) | $621,551 | $727,153 | $850,635 |
| 54 | UNMC (out-of-state) | $621,869 | $727,525 | $851,071 |
| 55 | Ohio State (out-of-state) | $629,008 | $735,876 | $860,841 |
| 56 | UIC (out-of-state) | $638,468 | $746,944 | $873,788 |
| 57 | Pacific / Dugoni (private) | $638,967 | $747,527 | $874,470 |
| 58 | ATSU-ASDOH (private) | $649,454 | $759,796 | $888,823 |
| 59 | NYU (private) | $658,132 | $769,949 | $900,699 |
| 60 | UNLV (out-of-state) | $661,026 | $773,334 | $904,660 |
| 61 | UW (out-of-state) | $661,221 | $773,562 | $904,927 |
| 62 | Maryland (out-of-state) | $677,760 | $792,911 | $927,561 |
| 63 | Midwestern AZ (private) | $699,444 | $818,280 | $957,237 |
| 64 | Midwestern IL (private) | $710,942 | $831,731 | $972,973 |
What changes by 2030, and what does not
The median seat crosses $749k. 20 schools cross $800,000. And the federal loan cap is fixed in statute at $200,000, with no indexation, so the share of a dental education that federal loans can cover falls every year: from roughly 40% of the median seat’s borrowing need today to about 34% in 2030. Everything else is private money, scholarships or service.
What does not change is the order. The cheap seats in 2022 are the cheap seats in 2030, because inflation is multiplicative: Texas A&M / Baylor stays at the bottom, Midwestern IL at the top, and the spread between them grows from $367,630 to about $503,127.
What a sophomore should do with this
- Establish residency somewhere with a cheap public school if your life allows it. Residency is the biggest discount in the table and it has to be real years before you apply.
- Protect the GPA now. It is the one number you cannot fix in eight weeks later.
- Treat the DAT as the financial event it is. The spread above is decided by admissions, and on a finished application the DAT is what still moves. Plan the eight weeks for it the way you would plan a job that pays six figures, because it does.
- Read the service programs early. HPSP and NHSC decisions are easier at 19 than at 22 with an offer letter in hand.
FAQ
How much will dental school cost in 2030?
Projecting our model at 4% annual growth, a student entering in 2030 faces a median four-year cost of about $749,088 with in-school interest, ranging from roughly $469,846 to $972,973. These are projections, not quotes.
How fast does dental school tuition increase?
Roughly 3% to 5% a year at most schools, which our model captures as 3.5% tuition growth and about 4% total cost-of-attendance growth.
Will the federal loan cap increase with tuition?
No. The $200,000 aggregate cap for professional students is set in statute without inflation indexing, so it covers a shrinking share of dental school cost each year unless Congress changes it.