Dental assistant school in Arizona takes 12–13 weeks and costs $5,500–$7,500 at the fast-track academies, or about $6,500 over two semesters at Phoenix College. Medical assistant programs run 4–10 months and cost $5,046 at a Maricopa community college up to $18,000–$20,000 at private colleges.
Arizona dental assistants earn a median $49,000 and medical assistants $45,440 (BLS, May 2024). Neither job requires a state license, but Arizona has rules most school lists never mention — they’re below, and they change which school you should pick.
If you’re looking at assisting programs in Arizona right now, you’re looking at a list of 18 schools spread from Sun City to Tucson, with program lengths that range from 12 weeks to two years and sticker prices that differ by $15,000 for what is, on paper, the same entry-level certificate. The school websites won’t help you compare — each one is built to enroll you, not to line itself up against the academy down the street.
This page does the lining-up. Every address, program length and price below was pulled in August 2026 from the school’s own site or its listing on the Arizona Job Connection Eligible Training Provider list (the state database that WIOA-funded schools must report into). Where a number came from a third-party source instead, it says so. Where I couldn’t confirm a number, the table says “call for tuition” rather than guessing.
Dental Assistant Schools in Arizona: The 12–13 Week Academies
Arizona’s fastest route into a dental office is a private, state-licensed academy running a 12- or 13-week certificate. Six of them operate in the Valley and Tucson. They all teach chairside assisting, sterilization, impressions and radiography, and most bundle the two exams that matter in Arizona — the DANB Radiation Health & Safety exam (for your Arizona radiography certificate) and the Arizona Coronal Polish exam — into the tuition. Prices cluster tightly: $5,500 to $7,500 all-in.
| School | City | Length | Total cost | What’s included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dental Assisting School of Arizona | Tempe | 13 weeks | $5,500 | Books, scrubs, X-ray cert fee, 50-hr externship |
| Arizona School of Dental Assisting | Glendale | 12 weeks | $6,050 | Books, scrubs, externship, lifetime job placement |
| Desert Dental & Health Academy | Goodyear | 13 weeks | $6,500 | Scrubs, books, CPR, RHS + AZCP exam fees |
| Altrain Dental Assisting Academy | Sun City | 13 weeks | $7,500 | Books, uniforms, RHS + AZCP exams, Dentrix training, ortho track |
| American Institute of Dental Assisting (AIDA) | Mesa & Phoenix | 13 weeks | $7,500 | Scrubs, textbook + tablet, DANB exam fees, live patient clinic |
| Tucson Dental Assistant School | Tucson | 12 weeks | Call for tuition | Online coursework + in-person labs, externship |
Sources: each school’s published tuition page and its Arizona Job Connection ETP listing, checked August 2026. Tuition changes; confirm before enrolling.
Dental Assisting School of Arizona — Tempe
2233 W Baseline Rd Ste 104B, Tempe 85283 · (602) 388-0028
The cheapest verified fast-track option in the Valley at $5,500 total, and the only one run by a dentist — Dr. Michael Dickerson, DMD, is the chief instructor. The format is built for people who are already working: 13 weeks at roughly six hours a week of class and lab, plus a 50-hour externship with a practicing dentist. Classes run Monday through Thursday, two of them evening sessions. Minimum age 17 with a high-school transcript or GED. Tuition includes the $270 X-ray certification fee and can be split into four interest-free installments. Sits off Baseline just west of I-10, an easy drive from Ahwatukee, Chandler and south Tempe.
Arizona School of Dental Assisting (ASDA) — Glendale
4915 W Bell Rd Ste F200, Glendale 85308 · (602) 678-7061
Operating since 2001, which makes it one of the oldest private dental assisting schools in the Phoenix metro. The 12-week program meets two days a week for three hours (plus some Saturday sessions), includes the externship, and runs a hybrid option with self-paced theory online and small-group clinical rotations. $6,050 covers books, scrubs, materials and lifetime job-placement help. One thing to ask on your tour: whether the radiography exam fee is in the current tuition or separate — a past graduate noted it wasn’t included at the time. Convenient to Peoria, Arrowhead and the whole northwest Valley.
Desert Dental & Health Academy — Goodyear
15605 W Roosevelt St Ste 111, Goodyear 85338 · (623) 234-1121
The only fast-track dental academy in the West Valley, which matters if you live in Goodyear, Buckeye, Avondale or Litchfield Park and don’t want to drive to Tempe four days a week. The 13-week program is $6,500 flat with no add-on fees — scrubs, textbooks, CPR certification and both the DANB Radiation Health & Safety and Coronal Polish exam fees are in the price. Average class ratio is one instructor to six students, and the curriculum puts 100-plus hours into procedure setup and back-office work. They also run a four-week phlebotomy course and an orthodontic-assistant add-on. Licensed by the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education.
Altrain Dental Assisting Academy — Sun City
13000 N 103rd Ave Ste 97, Sun City 85351 · (602) 595-7289
Established 2005, Altrain runs dental assisting in 13 weeks, medical assisting in four months and a paralegal program in five. Total program cost on the state ETP list is $7,500, which includes the RHS and Arizona Coronal Polish exams, Dentrix software training and an orthodontic assisting component — the ortho angle is why Valley orthodontists recruit from here. The hybrid schedule is four virtual lectures a week with Saturday labs from 8:30 to 3:00. WIOA-funded students can get up to a $3,500 scholarship. Note the address: Sun City, not Phoenix, off 103rd Ave near Thunderbird.
American Institute of Dental Assisting (AIDA) — Mesa & Phoenix
2500 S Power Rd #127, Mesa 85209 · 2421 W Peoria Ave #100, Phoenix 85029 · (480) 209-1392
AIDA’s differentiator is that the school is a working dental clinic. Licensed dentists treat real patients while students assist — the Mesa location has over 200 Google reviews, a good share of them from patients, not students. Two campuses: Power Road in east Mesa (handy for Gilbert, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley) and Peoria Avenue in north Phoenix. The program is 13 weeks at $7,500, with scrubs, the textbook on a tablet and DANB exam fees included. Requirement worth knowing: no felonies within five years. Evening hours run to 9:30 p.m. Monday–Thursday, which is rare in this group.
Tucson Dental Assistant School — Tucson
1575 N Swan Rd #100, Tucson 85712 · (520) 201-0250
Southern Arizona’s fast-track option, sitting in midtown Tucson near Swan and Grant. The format is the same hybrid model the Valley academies use — weekly online modules, in-person labs and an externship — and graduates describe it as a 12-week course. Small classes, and instructors who help line up interviews before you finish. Tuition isn’t published on the site as of this update; ask for the all-in figure including the radiography exam fee when you call.
CODA-Accredited and College Dental Assisting Programs
The second route is longer and, at the community colleges, not much more expensive. What you’re buying is accreditation by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) — the ADA’s accrediting body — which opens the door to DANB’s full Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) credential and, in Arizona, to the Expanded Functions Dental Assistant (EFDA) programs that pay more.
| School | City | Length | Total cost | Accreditation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix College | Phoenix | 2 semesters (certificate) | $6,497 | CODA |
| Pima Community College | Tucson | Certificate (approx. 1 yr) | $11,485 | CODA |
| Pima Medical Institute | Phoenix, Mesa, Tucson | 30 weeks / 720 hrs | Call for tuition | ABHES (institution) |
| Arizona College | Glendale, Mesa | 38 weeks + 8-wk externship | Call for tuition | ABHES (institution) |
| Carrington College | Phoenix, Mesa | Approx. 9 months | Call for tuition | ABHES (institution) |
| UEI College | Phoenix | Approx. 10 months | Call for tuition | Check program-level status |
| EVIT | Mesa | High-school CTE + adult | Public / low cost | Public district |
Phoenix College Dental Assisting — Certificate of Completion
1202 W Thomas Rd, Phoenix 85013 · Maricopa Community Colleges
Here’s the number that should change how you think about the whole list: Phoenix College’s CODA-accredited dental assisting certificate costs $6,497 all-in per the state ETP listing — about $437 of that is textbooks — which is less than two of the 13-week academies. It takes two semesters instead of three months, but you graduate from a CODA-accredited program at community-college pricing, prepped for both the Arizona Radiologic Proficiency Certificate and the Coronal Polish certificate, and eligible to apply to an EFDA program. Maricopa’s in-county tuition is $97 per credit hour, and students from every Arizona county except Apache and Greenlee get the in-county rate. If you can afford the extra months, this is the best dollar-for-credential deal in the state.
The other names here are national career colleges. Arizona College (Glendale at 4425 W Olive Ave and Mesa at 163 N Dobson Rd) runs a four-quarter, 38-week dental assistant program followed by an eight-week clinical externship, starts a new cohort every five weeks, and will reimburse a passed RHS exam. Pima Medical Institute (13430 N Black Canyon Hwy in Phoenix, plus Mesa and Tucson campuses) runs a 720-hour, 30-week dental assistant program with day and evening tracks. Carrington College (2421 W Peoria Ave in Phoenix; 1001 W Southern Ave in Mesa) and UEI College (9215 N Black Canyon Hwy) both offer dental assisting alongside medical assisting. These schools publish tuition only through their admissions offices, so the table says “call.”
For high-schoolers in the East Valley, EVIT (1601 W Main St, Mesa) runs a dental assistant program as part of its public career-and-technical curriculum — the lowest-cost entry point in the state if you qualify.
⚡ AZ INSIDER TIP: What Arizona actually requires of a dental assistant
Arizona does not license dental assistants. But under the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners, a dental assistant cannot take X-rays without an Arizona radiography certificate (earned by passing the DANB Radiation Health & Safety exam) and cannot polish teeth without the Arizona Coronal Polish certificate. An assistant who can’t take X-rays is much harder to hire.
That’s why “is the RHS exam fee included?” is the first question to ask any school, and why the $5,500 program that includes it can beat a $7,000 program that doesn’t. Expanded functions (placing restorations, for example) require a separate Board-approved EFDA course — which is where CODA-accredited graduates have the advantage.
Medical Assistant Programs in Arizona
Medical assisting has a wider price spread than dental assisting because the community colleges compete directly with private colleges for the same certificate. A Maricopa community college MA certificate runs about $5,000. The private-college version of the same credential runs $15,500–$20,000. The private schools sell speed, hybrid scheduling and rolling start dates; the community colleges sell price and, in some cases, a waitlist.
| School | City | Length | Total cost | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix College (MA certificate) | Phoenix | 2 semesters | $5,046 | In-person, credit-based |
| GateWay Community College | Phoenix | Clock-hour, year-round starts | $5–6 per clock hour | In-person Mon–Thu + practicum |
| Altrain Medical Assisting Academy | Sun City | 4 months | Call for tuition | Hybrid, MA + phlebotomy |
| Pima Community College | Tucson | Certificate | Call for tuition | Downtown Campus |
| Allen School of Health Sciences | Phoenix | 34 weeks | Call for tuition | Hybrid |
| Pima Medical Institute | Phoenix, Mesa, Tucson | 32 weeks / 800 hrs | $15,574 (Tucson) – $18,459 (Mesa) | Day or evening, ABHES |
| Carrington College | Phoenix, Mesa | 36 weeks | ~$20,116 (reported) | Hybrid |
| Arizona College (MA + Phlebotomy) | Glendale, Mesa | Diploma, approx. 9 months | Call for tuition | Starts every 5 weeks |
| Brookline College | Phoenix | Certificate | Call for tuition | Hybrid |
| UEI College | Phoenix | Approx. 10 months | Call for tuition | Hybrid |
Phoenix College and Pima Medical Institute figures are total program cost from Arizona Job Connection ETP listings. The Carrington figure is from a third-party program directory, not the school, and is marked accordingly.
GateWay Community College — Washington Campus, Phoenix
108 N 40th St, Phoenix 85034 · (602) 286-8000
GateWay is Maricopa’s health-sciences college, and its medical assisting program is a clock-hour program rather than a credit program — that’s why it can start year-round instead of on semester dates, and why Maricopa quotes it at $5–6 per clock hour. Classes meet Monday through Thursday, the practicum runs Monday through Friday, and enrollment is first-come, first-served. Graduates sit for a national certification exam. The campus is just off the 202 near 40th Street and Washington, two light-rail stops from Sky Harbor. Competition for seats is real; apply the day the window opens.
Allen School of Health Sciences — North Phoenix
15650 N Black Canyon Hwy Unit 210, Phoenix 85053 · (623) 385-8150
A medical-assistant-only school, which is unusual in this list — no nursing or vet-tech divisions pulling resources. The 34-week hybrid program mixes online coursework with on-campus labs, and the student reviews are among the most consistently positive in this category. It sits on the I-17 frontage road at Greenway, on the same stretch as Pima Medical Institute and UEI, so you can tour all three in one afternoon. Tuition is quoted by admissions.
Pima Medical Institute — Phoenix, Mesa and Tucson
13430 N Black Canyon Hwy, Phoenix 85029 · 2121 N Craycroft Rd, Tucson 85712 · (800) 477-7462
PMI is the largest private allied-health school in Arizona and the one whose costs are most transparent on the state ETP list: the Mesa MA program is 32 weeks and 800 hours at $18,459 total (tuition $17,152 plus books, uniform, registration and tech fees); Tucson is $15,574. ABHES-accredited, which matters under Arizona’s MA rules (next section). Day and evening tracks, four-hour class blocks, and GI Bill accepted. The Craycroft campus in Tucson is a five-minute drive from Tucson Medical Center.
⚠️ The Arizona medical assistant rule that decides which school you can afford
Under Arizona Medical Board rule R4-16-401, a physician or physician assistant may only employ a medical assistant who has either completed an approved program — one accredited by CAAHEP, ABHES or another U.S. Department of Education–recognized accreditor — or completed an unapproved program and passed a national MA certification exam (CMA, RMA, CCMA or NCMA).
Translation: a cheap, fast program is fine if you then pass a national exam. A cheap, fast program where you don’t pass the exam can leave you unable to work in a doctor’s office in this state. Ask every school two questions: “Is this program CAAHEP or ABHES accredited?” and “What was last year’s certification exam pass rate?” Arizona doesn’t license MAs, so nobody at the state will check this for you — your employer is the one required to verify it.
Dental Assistant vs Medical Assistant in Arizona: Which Pays More and Which Is Faster?
Dental assisting pays more in Arizona and trains faster; medical assisting has more openings and more places to go afterward. Arizona dental assistants had a median wage of $49,000 in May 2024 versus $45,440 for medical assistants, and the fast-track dental programs finish in 13 weeks while most MA programs take 8–10 months. But BLS projects medical assisting to grow 12% nationally through 2034 against 6% for dental assisting, and an MA certificate stacks toward LPN, RN and health-administration degrees in a way a dental certificate doesn’t.
The honest local read: Arizona’s dental market is unusually dense — the Lake Havasu City–Kingman area has the highest concentration of dental assistant jobs of any metro in the country per BLS, and the Valley’s dental service organizations (Aspen Dental and the like) hire continuously. Medical assisting’s big Arizona employers are Banner, HonorHealth, Mayo Clinic Phoenix and Maricopa County itself, and those systems tend to require the national certification regardless of what the state says. If you’re deciding purely on the next 12 months, dental wins. If you’re deciding on the next 12 years, medical gives you more exits.
How to Choose an Assisting School in Arizona: Four Questions
- Is the exam fee in the price? For dental: the DANB RHS exam (about $270) and the Arizona Coronal Polish exam (about $295). For medical: the CMA, RMA, CCMA or NCMA exam. A school that includes them is a school that expects you to pass them.
- Is the program on the Arizona ETP list? Search the school at azjobconnection.gov. If it’s there, it has reported its total cost, hours and credential to the state, and you may qualify for WIOA funding through ARIZONA@WORK that covers most or all of the tuition. Altrain, AIDA, Desert Dental, Dental Assisting School of Arizona, Phoenix College, Pima CC and PMI are all listed.
- Where is the externship, and who places you? The Tempe school externs you with a practicing dentist for 50 hours; AIDA runs its own live clinic; the colleges use clinical partner sites. Ask for the list of offices that took last year’s graduates.
- Does the schedule survive your commute? Sun City to Tempe is an hour each way in monsoon-season traffic. There’s a fast-track dental school in every quadrant of the Valley now — Goodyear, Glendale, Sun City, Tempe, Mesa, north Phoenix — so nobody should be crossing the whole metro four days a week.
✅ Paying for it: three Arizona-specific options
WIOA through ARIZONA@WORK funds ETP-listed programs for eligible adults — Altrain advertises up to $3,500 in scholarship on top for WIOA students. Maricopa’s $97/credit in-county rate applies to residents of every Arizona county except Apache and Greenlee, and Maricopa County residents 65+ pay half. Interest-free installment plans are standard at the 13-week academies — four payments over the program is typical, with the first due at enrollment.
Once you’re working, you’ll spend your days alongside the practices on this site. Browse Arizona dentists listed on AZ Charged or the best dentists in Phoenix to see the kind of offices hiring assistants, and if you’re leaning medical, the family physicians in Phoenix and family doctors directory are where MAs get hired. For context on how big the dental market here is, see how many dentists are in Arizona. And if healthcare isn’t the fit, the trade schools in Arizona guide covers the other fast-certificate routes.
Arizona Assisting Schools FAQ
How long does it take to become a dental assistant in Arizona?
Twelve to thirteen weeks at the private academies in Tempe, Glendale, Goodyear, Sun City, Mesa and Tucson. The CODA-accredited certificate at Phoenix College takes two semesters. Career colleges like Arizona College and Pima Medical Institute fall in between at 30–46 weeks including externship.
How much does dental assistant school cost in Arizona?
$5,500 to $7,500 for the 12–13 week academies, all-in. Phoenix College’s CODA-accredited certificate is $6,497 including books. Pima Community College’s is $11,485. Private career colleges don’t publish tuition, but expect the high teens.
Do you need a license to be a dental assistant in Arizona?
No. Arizona has no dental assistant license. You do need an Arizona radiography certificate (via the DANB Radiation Health & Safety exam) to take X-rays and the Arizona Coronal Polish certificate to polish teeth, both issued through the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners. Employers treat the radiography certificate as mandatory.
How much do dental assistants make in Arizona?
The BLS median for Arizona was $49,000 a year (about $24 an hour) in May 2024, with the typical range $39,010 to $60,480. That’s above the national median of $47,300. DANB reports that CDA-certified assistants earn roughly $2 an hour more than the median.
How long does it take to become a medical assistant in Arizona?
Four months at Altrain in Sun City is the fastest verified program. Most private programs run 32–40 weeks (Allen School 34 weeks, PMI 32 weeks, Carrington 36 weeks, UEI about 10 months). The community-college certificates take two semesters, and GateWay’s clock-hour program starts year-round.
How much do medical assistants make in Arizona?
The BLS median for Arizona was $45,440 in May 2024, and $46,090 in the Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale metro. Flagstaff was lower at $44,410. The national median was $44,200. Medical assistants with the CMA or RMA credential generally sit at the upper end of the $37,840–$50,580 state range.
Do you need to be certified to be a medical assistant in Arizona?
Not by the state — but under Arizona Medical Board rule R4-16-401 a physician can only employ you if you completed a CAAHEP/ABHES-accredited (or otherwise USDE-recognized) program, or completed any program and passed a national exam such as the CMA (AAMA), RMA (AMT), CCMA (NHA) or NCMA (NCCT). In practice, Banner, HonorHealth and Mayo all require the credential anyway.
Are there free dental assistant programs in Arizona?
Not free outright, but WIOA funding through ARIZONA@WORK can cover all or most of the tuition at any school on the state ETP list, and Altrain adds up to $3,500 in scholarship for WIOA students. EVIT’s dental program is tuition-free for East Valley high-school students. Some dental service organizations also run paid on-the-job training, though that path won’t give you the radiography certificate on its own.
Which is harder, dental assisting or medical assisting?
Dental assisting is narrower and more hands-on — four-handed chairside technique, impressions, radiography — and the short programs are intense. Medical assisting covers more ground (phlebotomy, EKG, injections, coding, EHR) over a longer program, with a national exam at the end. Most people find the dental program harder per week and the medical program harder in total.
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