Dental Assisting

The addendum prints a total of $15,655 for tuition and the registration fee; the lab fees and books are listed separately and are added here. Book prices are set by the publisher and can change. Students also furnish scrubs and approved tennis shoes, estimated at about $150.

Financial aid. Midwest Institute takes part in the federal student aid programs: eligible students can receive Federal Pell Grants and Federal Direct Loans. The school is approved for VA education benefits, including the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and eligible students may also qualify for military tuition assistance, scholarships or Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding. The school does not publish its federal school code. Tuition can be paid without interest while you attend, and the balance must be paid in full before your diploma or transcripts are released. Use the school’s net price calculator for a personal estimate.

Cancellation and refunds. You can cancel within three working days of signing the enrollment contract and making a first payment, by letter postmarked within that period or in person, and receive everything you paid within 30 days. If the school does not accept your application, all money paid is refunded. After the three-day period and before classes begin, cancelling forfeits the $75 registration fee. Once classes start, a student who withdraws within the first 10 percent of the days is charged 10 percent of the tuition, within 25 percent is charged 25 percent, and before 50 percent is charged 50 percent; there is no refund after half of the program or academic year. Tuition is charged per academic year: certificate programs have one academic year and the associate degree has two.

Dental assistants work in general dental offices, orthodontic and pediatric practices, and public health settings, assisting chairside, running laboratory tasks and managing patient records and appointments. Certification is not required to work in Missouri; the school has not determined whether the program meets other states’ licensure or certification requirements.

Published rates. For July 2024 to June 2025, Midwest Institute reports an 81 percent graduation rate and a 76 percent placement rate for Dental Assisting, calculated with the ABHES formula.

Placement help includes resume and interview coaching, employer networking and job referrals, and it continues after graduation. The school cannot guarantee placement.

Midwest Institute has trained medical, dental, veterinary and massage professionals in the St. Louis area since it opened in Kirkwood in 1965. Its Earth City campus, off the Earth City Expressway near I-70, has classrooms, medical and dental exam rooms, massage therapy rooms, laboratory classrooms with microscopes, centrifuges, electrocardiograph and IV equipment, a surgical operatory lab, a complete veterinary clinic and a farm. The campus is accessible, and administrative offices are generally open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.

Attendance is taken seriously: an absence is an absence, whether excused or not, and arriving late or leaving early takes 2 percent off each course grade, up to 10 percent. Blended students attend their remote classes in real time on the residential schedule and must come to every scheduled lab on campus; missing more than two lab days in a module means withdrawal. Students wear scrubs and approved tennis shoes. To graduate, students complete all assignments, hold at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA, and settle their accounts. One-on-one tutoring, help finding housing and placement assistance are available, and graduates can return for placement help at any time, although the school cannot guarantee a job.

Midwest Institute of Massage Therapy in Belleville, Illinois, is a different school and is not affiliated with Midwest Institute.

About Surgical Technology. The catalog also lists a Surgical Technology Associate of Applied Science degree. ABHES withdrew that program’s approval from the school’s grant of accreditation in August 2022 and the school did not appeal; the January 2026 catalog says the program is in the process of approval for initial programmatic accreditation through ABHES. It is not listed here until that approval is confirmed.