College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is an Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Grad cert., aggregated across 16 colleges (16 of 16 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$175,189

Graduates only, early career.$169,894 two years out.

Median federal debt

$241,666

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

1.50×

150% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt roughly equals or exceeds a first year's pay — weigh the time-to-payoff.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Grad cert. programs in Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences report early-career pay between $145,024 and $202,596 — a spread of $57,572 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $145,024 median $175,189 75th pct $202,596

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Master's 5 colleges $189,764 $155,250 0.79×

Grad cert. 16 colleges $175,189 $241,666 1.50×

Where an Grad cert. in this field reports the highest early-career pay

The 15 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $248,696 —

University of Illinois Chicago IL $224,715 —

Boston University MA $223,140 —

Tufts University MA $210,928 $244,730 debt

Texas A&M University-College Station TX $199,818 $68,728 debt

University of Missouri-Kansas City MO $196,454 —

University of Iowa IA $186,575 $91,409 debt

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio TX $176,150 $104,188 debt

University of California-San Francisco CA $174,228 —

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston TX $168,168 $80,791 debt

University of Alabama at Birmingham AL $158,993 —

Harvard University MA $151,371 $278,414 debt

Loma Linda University CA $125,982 $260,371 debt

Nova Southeastern University FL $122,573 $238,601 debt

Columbia University in the City of New York NY $110,949 $320,742 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard