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Dental assistant schools in Illinois
Illinois has 13 accredited campuses awarding dental assisting credentials. If you finish and work as a dental assistant in Illinois, expect to start around $37,360–$40,390 and reach a median of $48,610 with experience; the top quarter earn $56,860 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Illinois). Graduates of these Illinois programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $22,483 in their first year, against $24,225 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What dental assistants earn in Illinois
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 13,740 employed in Illinois. National median: $48,070.
Campuses in Illinois, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: CartervilleCentraliaChicagoChicago HeightsCrystal LakeElginGodfreyGurneeNormalOak LawnOglesbyRockfordSpringfield
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Institute of Travel, Inc. | Crystal Lake | for-profit | 25 | $24,253 | $9,500 | 72% | $24,945 |
| Midwest Technical Institute-Illinois | Springfield | for-profit | 81 | $20,714 | $9,500 | 69% | $33,634 |
| Elgin Community College | Elgin | Public | 36 | not reported | not reported | 41% | not reported |
| Lewis and Clark Community College | Godfrey | Public | 24 | not reported | $6,500 | 44% | not reported |
| Heartland Community College | Normal | Public | 23 | not reported | not reported | 54% | not reported |
| Northwestern College | Oak Lawn | for-profit | 18 | not reported | $12,667 | not reported | not reported |
| Kaskaskia College | Centralia | Public | 16 | not reported | not reported | 49% | not reported |
| Stautzenberger College-Rockford Career College | Rockford | for-profit | 13 | not reported | not reported | 66% | not reported |
| Illinois Valley Community College | Oglesby | Public | 12 | not reported | not reported | 42% | not reported |
| John A Logan College | Carterville | Public | 4 | not reported | not reported | 46% | not reported |
| Prairie State College | Chicago Heights | Public | 3 | not reported | not reported | 21% | not reported |
| State Career College | Gurnee | for-profit | 2 | not reported | not reported | 74% | $33,771 |
| Midwestern Career College | Chicago | for-profit | 1 | not reported | not reported | 54% | $24,216 |
Earnings are median wages and self-employment income reported to the IRS (W-2 and Schedule SE) for graduates who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled, measured in the calendar year after finishing. They are pay only: health insurance, retirement contributions and other benefits are not included.
Ranked by median earnings of this program's graduates one year after completion (College Scorecard field-of-study, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2022-23 Completions survey; College Scorecard June 2026; Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), September 2026); campuses without a reported figure follow, by credentials awarded. "Program debt" is the median federal loan debt for graduates of this program at this campus. Completion is the campus-wide 150%-of-time rate. "Not reported" means the federal file suppresses the value for privacy.