Best Online Dental Hygiene Degree Completion Programs for 2027

East Tennessee State moved this degree online in 2001 and reports a graduation rate above 80%, a useful sign when coursework has to fit around a full clinical schedule. Every course is asynchronous and there is no fieldwork or internship. The degree totals 120 credits with 30 taken at ETSU, and the school says students can expect to need between 30 and 75 credits depending on what transfers. Coursework leans on research and writing, with units on supportive periodontal therapy, geriatric and underserved patients, rural health program design and teaching strategies. Tennessee residents pay $487 per credit hour, and out-of-state students taking only web courses pay the $558 eRate.

Before you apply: ETSU admits one class a year, in the fall, with a July 1 application deadline and a required three-hour Zoom orientation each August. Your transferable credits need a 2.5 GPA.

Wichita State asks for 32 credit hours of dental hygiene coursework and applies up to 28 hours of retroactive credit to the degree, which keeps the remaining work lean. Courses run in eight-week or sixteen-week blocks, so you can finish in as little as 15 months or spread the program over six years of part-time study. Topics include educational methodology, special care populations and population health management. The program says it prepares licensed hygienists to become dental hygiene educators, and CODA requires faculty to hold a baccalaureate or higher, with clinical faculty hired before July 1, 2022 grandfathered in. Every online student pays in-state tuition.

Before you apply: You need a current license, an associate degree in dental hygiene from a regionally accredited school and a 2.5 cumulative GPA before an advisor builds your individual plan of study.

Minnesota State Mankato accepts all of your dental hygiene credits at transfer, so what remains is eleven dental hygiene courses totaling 32 credits plus general education. A standard track and an accelerated track let you finish the dental hygiene courses in one to two years, and a full-time student could complete them in three semesters. Two courses are hands-on: Oral Health Promotion Practice and Educational Practice in Dental Hygiene, where you try community and classroom teaching. Care planning, periodontal decision making, oral medicine and oral health technology fill out the rest. You can start in fall, spring or summer alongside classmates who are all licensed hygienists.

Before you apply: General education depends on your associate degree: AS and AAS graduates need 40 credits of it, while an AA degree or the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum needs none. Each practice course carries a $12 malpractice insurance fee.

Old Dominion opens a new class six times a year, so a wait for the next start rarely lasts long, and the program has no clinical requirements. The degree is 120 credits with at least 30 completed at ODU. A qualifying associate degree may cover the lower-level general education requirements, and credits earned in the last 20 years can be considered. Qualified students may apply up to 12 graduate credit hours toward both the BSDH and the Master of Science in dental hygiene, a real saving if college-level teaching is the goal. Tuition is $443 per credit hour for Virginia residents and $453 for everyone else, and full-time students typically finish in three to four semesters.

Before you apply: Applicants apply through the ADEA Dental Hygiene Centralized Application Service as well as to ODU. ODU states that the program is not intended to lead to a specific state-level license.

Texas Woman’s University takes up to 90 transfer credit hours, including 84 lower-division community college credits, toward a 120-hour degree, and full-time students can finish in as little as a year. The 30 hours taken at TWU split into 18 hours of dental hygiene courses and 12 hours of core or electives. Courses are non-clinical and fully online. Two graduate-level courses can substitute for upper-division classes, and grades of B or higher count toward the TWU MS in Health Studies with a dental hygiene focus. That structure suits a hygienist whose real goal is a master’s degree and who wants the bachelor’s to double as a first step.

Before you apply: TWU looks for a 3.0 on transferable college work, though provisional admission is possible, and a C or higher in every TWU dental hygiene course. The Texas core curriculum must also be complete before graduation.

Oregon Tech grants 86 credits for passing the dental hygiene national board exam, so your board result counts toward the degree alongside any college credit you transfer. The degree totals 186 quarter credits, and 45 of them (15 courses) come from Oregon Tech: six dental hygiene courses, six general education courses and three electives you can aim at teaching, public health, business, psychology or management. Older courses have no cut-off date. You can start in any term, take one course or several at a time and visit campus only to walk at graduation. Online undergraduate tuition is $348 per credit with no out-of-state surcharge.

Before you apply: These are quarter credits, so 186 is not comparable to a 120-credit semester degree; 45 quarter credits equal 30 semester units. Each online course also adds a $65 technology fee.

Northern Arizona accepts a block of up to 64 units from your associate program and up to 26 more units for your license, which leaves 30 units to finish at NAU, 18 of them upper-division. The 21-unit dental hygiene core includes a writing course and DH 474C, the senior capstone. Nine units of electives let you lean toward teaching, research, corporate work or public health administration. Classes follow a semester calendar with assignment deadlines, so the pace is more structured than at schools with rolling starts. The department also calls this the only bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene in Arizona.

Before you apply: All dental hygiene coursework must be finished within 7 years of acceptance. Statistics (STA 270 or its equivalent) needs to come early because it is a prerequisite for two required courses.

Vermont State publishes a two-year sample map of four semesters at 12 to 15 credits each, starting with evidence-based decision making and ending with research methods and practice management. Upper-level courses include advanced periodontics, methodology and leadership, and advanced community oral health, with psychology and bioethics added as general education. The program itself is accredited by CODA, no campus visits are required and you have up to six years to finish. Tuition for 2026-27 is $402 per credit plus $31 per credit in fees.

Before you apply: If your associate program has no articulation agreement with Vermont State, your transcript is checked against all 112 credits of the major. A grade of C (73) or higher is required in every OHS, CHEM and BIO course.

St. Petersburg College moves one cohort through the degree in 24 months, one course at a time for six to eight weeks with a week off in between. The last course is a 14-week capstone shaped around your own goals through teaching, mentoring, interning and observing, which gives you concrete experience to point to when applying for education or public health roles. Coursework covers leadership and management, educational concepts and research methods. If you are still finishing an associate degree, concurrent enrollment is possible through partner colleges that include Valencia, Santa Fe, Florida SouthWestern and Florida State College at Jacksonville.

Before you apply: Classes begin in fall and spring only. A 36-credit general education requirement applies, A.S. graduates may need 15 to 21 more of those credits, and students without a language background need 8 credits of foreign language.

Penn College charges every online student the in-state tuition rate and sets no minimum GPA beyond its academic probation policy. Up to 47 dental hygiene credits transfer from the associate degree as a block, and 36 credits must be completed at Penn College during the final four semesters. You can study part time or full time with no campus visits. The capstone project can include an internship, and online-friendly minors in business, leadership, accounting or psychology add a second focus to the degree. Courses older than 10 years are evaluated against current course requirements.

Before you apply: Entry requires a passing score on the National Board exam, a dental hygiene degree from an accredited program and a current license in any one state. You also need a laptop with a webcam and microphone, and Chromebooks are prohibited.