FOCUS | ISSUE 6 | 2010
emphasizes community and public health through- out its curriculum. It is the only dental school that requires graduates to obtain a Certificate in Public Health in order to graduate. Its clinical education is unique in that fourth-year students obtain more than half of their clinical education in community and public health settings.
The Missouri school would expand on this model by delivering the same first- and second-year cur- riculum and placing the entire third- and fourth- year clinical education within Community Health Centers where the need for oral health services is greatest.
5) Information about tuition costs has caused concern in regard to the large financial burden to new dentists ($50,000 tuition X 4 years = $200,000; add costs of living and the “customary fees”). How will the students handle this amount of debt as a practicing dentist in Missouri?
Private dental school tuition for the 2010-11 school year ranges up to $73,000 in the U.S. ATSU intends to set tuition rates based on the cost of delivering the same high quality education as provided by our Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health. ASDOH graduates (who practice in many different states) have not expressed dissatisfaction regarding the cost of their education. ATSU is not a state-sup- ported institution; thus tuition rates are well within the range of privately—rather than publicly—sup- ported dental schools.
While tuition is set annually by the University, we estimate that the Missouri dental program’s tuition
will be near the mean for private dental schools, approximately $45,000 to $50,000 per year (plus customary fees such as fees for labs and equip- ment; these fees are assessed in all private and most public dental schools).
Currently most ASDOH students have federal loans up to the cost of attendance (rather than private loans). In addition, 22 students are on full-ride mili- tary scholarships and will serve in the armed forces upon graduation, and 23 others receive other external awards and scholarships up to $22,700 per year. We expect these types of assistance to be replicated for our dental students in Missouri.
ASDOH graduates have a 100 percent loan repay- ment rate; no ASDOH student has ever defaulted. We anticipate the same from our Missouri gradu- ates. ATSU overall has an excellent default rate of just 0.2 percent, by far, the best in the state of Missouri.
6) It has been stated that the admissions for den- tal student (in terms of the GPA requirements) are lower? If that is correct, that is of concern.
The GPA requirements are not necessarily lower for acceptance into the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health. ASDOH utilizes an acceptance process that emphasizes a student’s history of volunteer- ism and community involvement. For example, a student with a GPA of 4.0 with no evidence of long- standing involvement in community and altruistic activities might not be accepted, while another student with a GPA of 3.0 or 3.5, whose past actions demonstrate a giving spirit, might be accepted.
Because of these important non-cognitive factors supporting our mission, the average entering cumulative GPA for all classes to this point is 3.4; if we ignored these factors, the GPA would be higher. ASDOH can and does choose the very best stu- dents who meet academic requirements because of the high number of applications received annu- ally for an incoming class size of approximately 70 students, as indicated by the following data:
Class of 2010 Applications Received: 2,915 Applicants Interviewed: 349 Acceptance Letters Sent: 93
Class of 2012 Applications Received: 2,929 Applicants Interviewed: 422 Acceptance Letters Sent: 99
Class of 2014 Applications Received: 3,182 Applicants Interviewed:416 Acceptance Letters Sent: 118
Class of 2011 Applications Received: 3,396 Applicants Interviewed: 377 Acceptance Letters Sent: 86
Class of 2013 Applications Received: 3,199 Applicants Interviewed: 481 Acceptance Letters Sent: 96
# of States Represented 2010 Class: 17 2013 Class: 22 2011 Class: 21 2014 Class: 22 2012 Class: 24
Another criterion for acceptance is the “Hometown Applicant Strategy.” Community Health Centers can identify a community-minded, service-oriented applicant and submit a “Hometown” letter of recommendation for that applicant. Hometown applicants who meet basic academic requirements are automatically granted an interview. The follow- ing data indicate the success rate for the Home- town Program:
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