General Assembly Report Highlights Value of Virginia’s Allied Dental Education Programs

In a Sept. 2 report to the Virginia General Assembly, the Virginia Community College System highlighted the impact of G3 Program funding on student outcomes in dental hygiene and dental assisting educational programs.

The Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back (G3) program offers tuition assistance to Virginia residents who qualify for in-state financial aid, have a family income below an identified threshold, and are enrolled in an education program at an associate degree-granting public institution of higher education that leads to an occupation in a high-demand field. The Virginia Dental Association is the only healthcare association in Virginia that serves as a G3 Program Ambassador, promoting these paths to rewarding, in-demand careers.

Among healthcare professions, dental hygiene educational programs lead to the highest median salary of any G3 eligible high-demand field at $83,311, according to the Virginia Office of Education Economics. That annual salary comes with a comparatively high hourly rate, as most dental hygienists work 30-39 hours a week, compared with 40-49 hours a week for a typical registered nurse. The state report found that pre-enrollment income for G3-eligible students enrolled in healthcare programs was $23,188.

(Source: Virginia Office of Education Economics 2024 High Demand Occupations Dashboard)

G3 funding provides financial assistance to a significant cohort of dental hygiene and dental assisting students, according to the report, and they have far more positive retention and graduation rates than other areas of study. 62 dental hygiene students and 44 dental assisting students currently benefit from G3 Funding. With 27 enrollees, Northern Virginia Community College has the most G3 Program beneficiaries in its dental hygiene program, followed by Virginia Western, with 24.

The annual G3 enrollee retention rates for VCCS dental hygiene students are 94.4 percent, well-above the system-wide retention rate of 76.2 percent. The annual retention rate for G3 enrollee dental assisting students was 93.6 percent.

Speaking about the new report, Virginia Dental Association CEO Ryan Dunn said, “The G3 Program plays a meaningful role in making rewarding allied dental careers available to more Virginians, which opens up incredible opportunity for those students, and better access to essential healthcare for patients. Allied dental programs boast strong retention rates and some of the best career outcomes of any program available through our community college system. The VDA will continue to work to expand these programs to meet our present-day and future workforce needs in Virginia.”

The full G3 Program Annual Report is available at https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2025/RD493/PDF