Prospective dental hygiene students have until Jan. 5 to apply for Texas A&M University College of Dentistry’s bachelor’s-level program.
Students recently headed back to class for the current academic year, but Texas A&M College of Dentistry is looking ahead as deadlines approach for the dental Class of 2031 and the dental hygiene Class of 2029.
Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service’s admissions portal for dental students closes Oct. 1, meaning all applicants for the dental Class of 2031 must submit all materials to be considered. Interviews began earlier this month.
“Applicants should do as well as possible in their upper division science courses before entering dental school,” said Dr. Alicia Spence, A&M Dentistry Class of 2012 dental alumna, clinical associate professor in comprehensive dentistry and director of recruitment and admissions. “Volunteering experiences, dental shadowing, and a strong record of leadership are also important.”
Each dental class at A&M Dentistry is capped at 106 students, and more than 1,200 have applied so far for the next class, said Janet Pledger, senior administrative coordinator in student affairs. Nearly 1,500 dental students applied to A&M Dentistry last year, and applicants had a 3.8 grade-point average overall.
UTHealth Houston, UT Health San Antonio and the Texas Tech Health El Paso Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine are the state’s other dental schools.
Applicants can apply to any or all Texas dental schools through a single application. The application fee is $235, and it’s the same whether a student applies for one or four schools.
“Students should apply as early as possible,” Spence said.
A&M Dentistry also requires a secondary application, available for electronic submission through the Texas A&M Health Science Center Application. After TMDSAS receives the application, each applicant will receive an emailed invitation to complete the secondary application.
Ninety percent of the students accepted must come from Texas, Spence said. Dental colleges will begin extending offers Dec. 15.
More information about A&M Dentistry’s dental college admissions process is available on A&M Dentistry’s website.
A&M Dentistry’s dental hygiene program has its own application portal, and more information is available on A&M Dentistry’s website. The application process begins June 1 every year. Each class is capped at 30 full-time students, and some students may stretch the two-year program to three years; decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
“As applicants prepare for admission to the dental hygiene program, their first priority should be achieving the strongest GPA possible in prerequisite coursework, as academic performance remains the most important factor in the admissions review process,” said Maureen Brown, clinical assistant professor and interim executive director in the dental hygiene program. “Candidates should also demonstrate readiness for the rigor of clinical education by pursuing meaningful service opportunities, leadership experiences and exposure to the dental profession.”
Brown, dental hygiene A&M Dentistry Class of 2003, said students should complete 20 credits of science prior to applying. Interviews begin in late January/early February each year, and decisions are announced soon after all interviews are completed.
Ten people had submitted complete applications as of Aug. 25, and 50 had begun the process. That’s typical, Pledger said.
“Most wait nearer to the end of the fall semester,” she said.
The deadline is Jan. 5, and the application fee is $35. There were more than 90 applicants last year.
There were more than 200,000 dentists in the U.S. in 2025, according to new statistics from the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute. There are more than 220,000 dental hygienists in the U.S., according to the American Dental Hygienists’ Association.