Dental Support Services and Allied Professions at Cabrillo College

California's dental support programs cluster in an unusually high earnings band, and this program appears positioned right in the middle of that pack. Based on comparable programs statewide, graduates typically earn around $70,500 in their first year—substantially more than the $55,000 national median for this field. The estimated debt of $17,000 creates a manageable 0.24 ratio to first-year income, meaning graduates would owe roughly three months' salary.

The challenge here is uncertainty. Because this program is too small for the Department of Education to report actual outcomes, we're relying on what similar California programs produce. Those peer programs show a wide range: Chabot College graduates earn $85,000 while others hover near $70,000. Without knowing where Cabrillo's graduates specifically land in that spectrum, it's hard to assess the program's true performance. The debt estimate comes from national data rather than state figures, adding another layer of approximation.

For parents, the key question is whether you're comfortable making this investment based on statewide patterns rather than verified outcomes from this specific program. The California dental support market clearly pays well compared to other states, but connecting directly with recent Cabrillo graduates—if the program can facilitate introductions—would provide the certainty these estimates cannot.