Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many dental hygiene/hygienist graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	5,673
Bachelor’s Degree	2,516
Basic Certificate	177
Master’s Degree	106
Undergraduate Certificate	51
Graduate Certificate	1

What Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to dental hygiene and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Dental Hygiene Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Skills for Dental Hygiene Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to dental hygiene:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.

Abilities for Dental Hygiene Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a dental hygiene student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

What Can You Do With a Major?

People with a dental hygiene degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Dental Hygienists	19.7%	$74,820
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This major is dominated by women with about 95% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of dental hygiene majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	237
Black or African American	135
Hispanic or Latino	347
White	1,568
International Students	28
Other Races/Ethnicities	201

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Dental Hygiene, too. About 1.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Dental Hygiene majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $75,500 to $122,320 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some careers associated with dental hygiene require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for dental hygiene careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	53.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	18.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.5%
Master’s Degree	12.6%
Doctoral Degree	8.7%
Post-Doctoral Training	6.7%

Online Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	8	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	7	0
Associate’s Degree	285	5
Bachelor’s Degree	2	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	18	3
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a dental hygiene grad is $75,500 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 89% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $712,000 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to dental hygiene.

Major	Number of Grads
Dental Assisting/Assistant	17,068
Dental Laboratory Technology/Technician	323
Other Dental Services & Allied Professions	109

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.