Dental School Scholarships
Dental School Scholarships
Aug 24, 2010 Jacqueline Gonzales
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the field of dentistry is expected to grow 16 percent from 2008 to 2018. At the same time, dentistry is a very lucrative career, with the median salary in May 2008 being $142,870 annually. Dentistry requires attending dental school. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), in 2008, 79 percent of dental school graduates had over $100,000 in student debt and more than 50 percent had over $175,000 in debt. Fortunately, there are resources available to take some of the sting out of going to dental school.
National Associations
Several national dental associations have scholarships and grants available to dental students. The American Dental Association Foundation offers the Dental Student Scholarship Award and the Underrepresented Minority Dental Student Scholarship.
The International Association of Dental Research (IADR) offers the John Gray Fellowship, which awards $10,000 to a dental student who is in an accredited dental school and sponsored by a faculty adviser. IADR also offers the Norton Ross Fellowship for $2,800 with the same requirements.
Minority Scholarships and Grants
According to the ADA, only 12 percent of students entering dental schools are minorities while minorities make up 25 percent of the general population.
Several minority associations offer scholarships for dental schools. The Japanese American Citizens League offers the Dr. Kiyoshi Sonoda Memorial Scholarship to dental students who are members of the Japanese American Citizens League.
The Chinese American Medical Society has three scholarships available to either dental or medical students. While it does not specify that you must be of Chinese ancestry, the application does ask for information leaning toward Chinese-American students, including if you or a family member is part of the Chinese American Medical Society. Two of the three scholarships go to students with documented financial hardship. Also, a letter from the dean students , two letters of recommendation, a personal statement including career goals, and personal vitae are needed to apply.
Read on
The Indian Health Service is a section of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services focused on Native Americans and Alaska Natives, which has a grant available to students for dental school for federally recognized Native Americans or Alaska Natives. You are required to pay this back in the form of service to a Native American or Alaska Native group. You must give one year of service for every year of funding, up to four years.
School-Specific Scholarships
Dental schools often are granted money from alumni or through the federal government to use as aid for students to attend. In order to find out more about these programs, you will need to contact the financial aid department of the school you are attending.
The University of Florida offers over 10 different scholarship programs for dental students. All are based on academic performance and most on financial need. To apply, you must include your financial information, including that of your parents.
The University of Pennsylvania offers a grant to those who show financial need and a scholarship given to the top students based on college grade point average, Dental Admission Test scores, and associated documents. The scholarship will cover half of the dental student's yearly tuition.
These two programs are not the only schools to offer aid, so check with the financial aid office in your school for information about school specific scholarships.
Copyright Jacqueline Gonzales. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.