Money · Tuition
What dental assistant school really costs (no surprises)
Real numbers, real payment options, and the questions worth asking any program before you hand over a deposit. No phone call required to read this.
Here's something we noticed while helping families figure out how to pay for this: most dental assistant school websites make you work for the price. You fill out a form, someone calls you back, and you finally hear a number three days later — sometimes after a bit of a pitch. We think that's backwards. If you're deciding whether this career is worth it, you deserve the real numbers up front, in writing, right now.
"What's the total, out the door, before I give you my phone number?" If a school can't answer that in writing, that tells you something too. A real program should be able to hand you a number without a sales call first.
What Premier Dental Academy costs (updated July 2026)
These are the same numbers our checkout uses — nothing softened for marketing, nothing left out.
| Program | Price | Format |
|---|---|---|
| In-Person | $3,000 paid in full, or $3,500 on a plan ($500 down + $3,000 balance) | Live, hands-on at our Longview campus |
| Online | $397 (currently discounted from the regular $997 price) | Self-paced, same curriculum, from home |
We don't run "act now" discount games on the In-Person price. The price you see is the price — if your situation is unusual, talk to us directly and we'll figure it out with you, but we're not going to manufacture urgency to get you to sign faster. That's not how we want to earn your trust.
What's actually included (so the "total" doesn't creep up later)
Tuition creep is real — a program looks affordable until you discover the kit fee, the exam fee, and the "materials charge" that show up later. Here's everything included in the price above:
- ✓ Live instruction at the Longview campus, or the same curriculum fully online
- ✓ Full access to PDA Practice Pro (front-desk/practice-management trainer) and ChairSide (clinical charting trainer)
- ✓ Infection control and radiology training
- ✓ A PDA Certificate of Completion
- ✓ Job placement help with our East Texas hiring partners
There are two optional add-ons if you want extra prep — the Dental Assistant Study Pack ($19) and the RDA Exam-Prep Mini-Course ($97). Both are opt-in. Neither is required to finish the program or get your certificate.
Compare cost per hour, not just the sticker price
Here's a trick that cuts through confusing pricing fast: divide the total price by the real hands-on training hours you'll actually get, not just the number of weeks on a calendar. A program that looks cheaper on the homepage can quietly cost more per hour of real training if it packs fewer contact hours into that same span — and a program that looks pricier up front can be the better value if it delivers far more repetition, tool access, and instructor time for that price.
Our In-Person program is $3,000 across roughly 12 weeks of daytime training, with full access to Practice Pro and ChairSide for extra practice beyond class time. Take whatever total price any program quotes you and divide it by their real weekly hands-on hours — not just "weeks" — and the actual value shows up a lot more clearly than the sticker price alone ever will.
Why we publish all of this instead of making you call first
We could gate this page behind a "request pricing" form — a lot of programs do, and it works well for them because it gets your phone number into a follow-up sequence before you've even decided if this career is right for you. We'd rather earn your trust the slower way: tell you everything up front, let you compare it honestly against anyone else, and only talk to you once you actually have a question. If you read this whole page and still want to call, we'd genuinely love to hear from you — just not before you've had the real numbers in hand.
Funding and payment help that's actually real
The state funds short-term healthcare training for eligible Texans, and dental assistant programs qualify. We wrote a full walkthrough of who to call and what to bring — see Texas Workforce Solutions Vouchers: Step by Step.
If a voucher doesn't cover the whole cost, our own payment plan is $500 down to hold your seat, then the $3,000 balance in simple weekly or monthly payments — no big lump sum. We also accept Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm at checkout if you'd rather split it that way.
The refund and transfer question nobody asks until it's too late
Life happens — a job changes, a schedule falls apart, a family emergency comes up. Ask any school what happens to your money if you need to stop. Here's ours, plainly:
- ✓ Online ($397): non-refundable, but 100% transfers as credit toward In-Person tuition within 90 days.
- ✓ In-Person ($3,000, or $3,500 on a plan): pro-rated per our published Terms.
If a school won't put their refund policy in writing before you enroll, ask twice. It's your money.
A 7-question checklist for any dental assistant program
Use this on us or on anyone else you're considering. A program that's confident in what it offers will answer all seven without flinching.
- What's the total price, in writing, before I give you my phone number?
- Is that the full cost, or are there separate kit, exam, or materials fees?
- What happens to my money if I need to stop or transfer programs?
- Is there a payment plan, and what's the down payment?
- Do you help with state funding, like Workforce Solutions vouchers?
- What exactly do I get for that price — hours, tools, and a certificate?
- Can I get all of this in an email, not just a verbal quote?
Why we lay it out this way
Amanda built this school to be the kind of place she'd want to enroll in herself — and that means no games with the money conversation. If you're comparing programs, use the checklist above on every single one, including us. The schools that answer easily are usually the ones worth trusting with your tuition and your time.
Frequently asked questions
How much does dental assistant school cost in Longview, TX?
Premier Dental Academy's In-Person program is $3,000 paid in full, or $3,500 on a payment plan ($500 down, then the balance in weekly or monthly payments). The Online program is currently $397 (regularly $997).
Is there a payment plan for dental assistant school?
Yes. Our plan is $500 down to hold your seat, then the remaining $3,000 balance in simple weekly or monthly payments, up to 12 payments. Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm are also accepted at checkout.
Does financial aid or state funding apply to dental assistant training?
Texas Workforce Solutions offers vouchers that can cover short-term healthcare training, including dental assistant programs, for eligible residents. See our step-by-step guide linked below to find your local office and what to bring.
What's the difference between the online and in-person tuition price?
Online is $397 and self-paced from home. In-Person is $3,000 (or $3,500 on a plan) and includes live, hands-on training at the Longview campus. Both use the same curriculum and lead to a Certificate of Completion.
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