The new schools have continued to be…new. Since 2021, 4 new dental schools have opened their doors to 1st year students. Before this, the last new Dental School to open was Touro University of NY in 2016. Path32 wanted to take a look at how these 4 new dental schools were doing. How hard are they to get into? Are students applying to them? Are they willing to accept anyone that will write them a check and agree to be the honorary guinea pig first class?
Texas Tech University is a public university that opened in 2021-22. Texas Tech joins the University of Texas at Houston, Texas A&M, and UT Health San Antonio as public schools in Texas. We have 3 years of admission’s data from Texas Tech to help us evaluate how they fare. Among the 70 dental schools, they have held steady toward the bottom of the pack- ranking between 44th and 55th the last 3 years. More critically, they are ranked 39th out of 40 among the public schools, with only the University of Louisville ranking lower.
Their DAT scores have stayed constant at about 20 for the Academic, Science, and Perceptual Ability section. The average GPA for their 1st year students has also stayed about the same, in the 3.5-3.6 range. These scores are below average but still on the meaty portion of the bell curve. Not too bad.
As the school has become more established, are more students applying? No. Applications have stayed steady at roughly 950 applicants a year. They had to accept more students this past year to fill their class, a worrying sign.
Lincoln Memorial University is a private university in Tennessee that opened it’s doors in 2022-23. Within Tennessee, it is competing with the public University of Tennessee and the private Meharry Medical College. The 2 years of admission’s data we have on Lincoln Memorial is not encouraging. They have ranked in the 60’s both years.
It seems that the main issue is that no one is applying to their school. In 2022-23, they only had 386 applicants to fill 80 spots. In 2023-24, they only had 328 applicants to fill 79 spots. This ratio (Applicants to Enrollees) was the lowest of all 70 schools. What does this mean? They had to accept everyone that applied. Their Acceptance Rate ranked dead last in both years. The average DAT and GPA scores for incoming students have been amongst the worst among all dental schools.
California Northstate is a private university in California that opened it’s doors in 2022-23. It joins a crowded list of dental schools in California. California already has 2 public schools (UCLA and UCSF) and 4 private schools (USC, University of Pacific, Loma Linda University, and Western University). The 2 years of data we have on California Northstate are as equally discouraging as Lincoln Memorial’s. They have ranked 68th both years.
On the positive side, their DAT scores fall closer to the middle than the bottom (DAT-Academic of 20.6, DAT-Science of 20.2). Unfortunately, this is where the good news ends. Their GPA scores, Acceptance Rate, and Enrollment Rate land California Northstate at the bottom. Of the 172 students they accepted, only 43 enrolled. This Enrollment Rate of 25% was absolutely last among all 70 dental schools in 2023-24.
Kansas City University College of Dental Medicine is the newest dental school, with it’s first class in 2023-24. Within Missouri, it is competing against the public University of Missouri Kansas City and the private Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health. We only have 1 year of admission’s data available to us.
While their DAT scores ranked 69th out of 70, their GPA was only below average (49th). Their Acceptance Rate and Enrollment rate, while not terrible, were well below the mean. Overall, they ranked 67th out of 70. This is consistent with the other new private dental schools in their 1st year.
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