The California Dental Schools

It is a crowded field in California with 7 dental schools. The only other state to come close is New York with 5 schools. In California, there are 2 public schools (UCLA and UCSF) and 5 private schools (UPacific, USC, Loma Linda, Western, and California Northstate).

UCLA and UCSF are 2 of the top public dental schools in the nation. They are able to attract top candidates (high DAT scores/GPA averages). UCLA and USCF offer very affordable tuition/fees to in-state students, about $290K. This is significantly lower than the alternative of attending a private school.

University of Pacific has also been able to attract top level applicants despite its status as private. University of Pacific is the only 3-year dental school in the US. To many candidates, this makes it highly desirable. Finish dental school and enter the workforce 1 year earlier. The tuition/fees for U Pacific is on the higher side for private schools, $423K. The evidence shows that candidates are willing to pay this steep price to get their degree in 3 years.

The next 3 private California schools can be grouped together as below average- USC (#40), Loma Linda (#49) and Western (#53). Despite USC having a higher price tag ($469K) than Loma Linda ($398K) and Western ($395K), they have attracted more competitive applicants. The DAT scores for these 3 schools (USC, Loma Linda, Western) are distinctly lower than the top tier California schools (UCLA, UCSF, U Pacific).

California Northstate comes in at a distant last (#68) among the 7 California dental schools. In the 2 years of admission’s data that we have available, it has had very little success attracting competitive candidates. It is by far the easiest of the 7 California schools to gain acceptance to. It’s current tuition is middle of the road for private schools.

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