Entry-Level Track

Foothill College Dental Hygiene program has been accredited from the inception of the program in 1964. The Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) is nationally recognized by the United States Department of Education as the sole agency to accredit dental and dental-related education programs conducted at the post-secondary level. CODA's mission is to serve the oral health care needs of the public through the development and administration of standards that foster continuous quality improvement of dental and dental related educational programs. The last CODA accreditation site visit for Foothill College Dental Hygiene Program was 2018, with the status: "approval without reporting requirements". The next accreditation site visit will be in 2026.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of dental hygienists is projected to grow 9 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations.  This projected growth ranks dental hygienists among the fastest growing occupations, in response to increasing demand for dental care, and the greater use of dental hygienists.

The student tuition and fees for the Bachelor's Degree program is approximately $9,600 for the two years of dental hygiene courses (junior and senior years). Additional expenses for the dental hygiene program include the cost uniforms, textbooks, the dental hygiene instrument kit, national board exam fee, clinical exam fee and other miscellaneous fees, which totals approximately $10,000. See the estimated expenses breakdown.

Enrollment Fees and Tuition: Upper Division Coursework Fee (California Education Code (CEC), 78042(g)(5); CCR, title 5, section 58520) – additional upper division course fee of $56/unit for quarter system colleges charged on all upper division courses that are part of an approved Baccalaureate Degree Program.

For the most current fees, please see Student Fees and Tuition.

Scholarship and Financial Aid Programs are available at Foothill College. Call 650.949.7245 or see foothill.edu/financialaid.

Students who wish to apply for a Board of Governors Fee Waiver pursuant to Education Code Section 76300 shall be required to complete and submit either a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or a California Dream Act application in lieu of completing the California College Promise Grant (formerly known as the BOG [Board of Governors] Fee Waiver) application.

The Dental Hygiene Program includes two years of dental hygiene coursework, with two short summer sessions. Prior to entering the Dental Hygiene program, completion of general education requirements and prerequisites are required to be accepted to the program. The general education and prerequisite courses may be completed at Foothill College, or another accredited college. Please refer to the Dental Hygiene curriculum sheet for an outline of the required courses.

Since 2018 Foothill College has awarded students with the Bachelor of Science Degree in Dental Hygiene upon successful completion of all courses and program requirements. We are no longer offer the Associate Science Degree. 

Please use the Transfer Equivalency System (TES) as a tool to help you assess which credits earned from previous college-level regionally accredited institutions will transfer to Foothill College. It is important to note that this TES is used as an initial tool for providing you with an unofficial transfer evaluation and does not replace an official transcript evaluation, so it is strongly advised to meet with a counselor to help determine how your transfer credits apply to your degree plan. Courses not listed, must be petitioned through our Counseling Department.

Yes, students may earn credit for AP Tests (ENGL 1A, Psychology and Statistics) with a score of 3, 4, or 5.

A grade can be filled out as 5=A, 4=B, and 3=C

The Waiver DCA-20-88 Waiving Wet Laboratory Admission Standard for Dental Hygiene Educational Programs was initial approved on 7/13/20 and expired on 3/31/22. If anatomy, physiology, chemistry, biochemistry and microbiology courseworks are taken during this time, the program will accept them. Otherwise, we don't accept online lab. 

Yes, if a course is repeated, the program admission will look at the highest grade earned for that course.

No, it is not. 

As stated in the BDP Program Handbook, regardless if the student has completed a prior Bachelors degree or not, the student will be required to complete additional lower division general education courses to meet the baccalaureate general education requirements which are either a CSU General Education Breadth or Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum. Upper division general education courses cannot be used to satisfy (lower division) CSU General Education Breadth or Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum.

It is strongly advised to meet with a counselor to help determine how your transfer credits apply to your degree plan. You can schedule an appointment to see a Foothill counselor through our Counseling Department

Unfortunately, it cannot be used. 

The Foothill College Dental Hygiene Program is part of the Bachelor Degree Pilot (BDP) Program which allows some community colleges to award Bachelor degrees in California.  We are required to follow specific guidelines set by the Academic Senate for accepting coursework toward completion of general education.  Completion of foreign credits cannot be used for transfer general education within the state. 

As stated in the BDP Program Handbook, regardless if the student has completed a prior Bachelors degree or not, the student will be required to complete additional lower division general education courses to meet the baccalaureate general education requirements which are either a CSU General Education Breadth or Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum. Upper division general education courses cannot be used to satisfy (lower division) CSU General Education Breadth or Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum.

Previous coursework should be evaluated by a counselor to verify that you have met all pre-requisites and general education requirements for the program even if you already have a Bachelor’s or Associate Degree. General Education requirements for the Bachelor's Degree in Dental Hygiene do not have a recency requirement attached to them. However, the required science courses for the Dental Hygiene Program must be taken within six years of the current application. The information and content learned in sciences courses such as anatomy and physiology, nutrition, pharmacology, and microbiology are critical to the practice of dental hygiene.

Application is opened from October 1 through February 1. It's recommended that you read the application instructions carefullly before fill in the application.

The first two years of preparation/prerequisite courses may be taken at Foothill College, or another accredited college. The course DH 200L and PHT 58 must be taken at Foothill College, as there is not an equivalent course. DH 200L offered every quarter in a convenient online/hybrid format. PHT 58 (Pharmacology) is offered in-class only in fall and spring quarter. Applications for admission to the dental hygiene program should be made after the majority of preparation/prerequisite courses are completed. A limited number of prerequisite coursework may be in progress at the time of the application. However, all prerequisite coursework must be completed before an applicant begins the Dental Hygiene program. Applications may be turned in any time from October through the February deadline. Application filing procedures must be followed carefully.

Complete ALL the prerequisites courses before applying is highly recommended. 

Yes, a limited number (1-3 courses) of prerequisites may be in-progress at the time of applying; however, it will reduce the chance of acceptance into the program. All in-progress courses must be completed before starting the Dental Hygiene Program.

No, the Dental Hygiene program is a full-time program of study for two years. Students typically enroll in 14 to 21 units per quarter.

The Dental Hygiene program holds classes Monday through Friday. While the hours each day may vary from quarter to quarter, generally the courses run from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There are some online/hybrid courses in the program. There are occasional evening activities.

The Bachelor of Science degree in Dental Hygiene (BS-DH) is a 2+2 program: two years of prerequisite courses, including the required general education, science courses and social sciences courses; then following an application and acceptance to the dental hygiene program, there are two years of dental hygiene core courses and upper division general education. The BS-DH degree requires completion of one of the following general education patterns: CSU General Education Breadth Requirements or the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC). Completion of the pre-program courses and general education do not guarantee admission to the dental hygiene program. It is strongly recommended that students meet with a counselor to create an education plan.