U.S. Dental School Applicants and Enrollees, 2008 Entering Class

Abstract

Over two decades, interest in dentistry in the United States has shown a steady period of growth. Nearly 12,200 individuals applied to the 2008 entering class of U.S. dental schools, while the number of first-time enrollees was 4,794, the highest figure since 1990. Men continue to comprise the majority of applicants; however, the percentage of women applicants continues to increase. Underrepresented minority appli cants comprised 12 percent of both the applicant and first-time enrollee pools. The largest number of applicants came from states that are among those with the largest populations in the United States: California, New York, Florida, and Texas. Nearly four out of five enrollees earned a baccalaureate degree in biological science, chemistry/ physical sciences, or pre-dentistry. Regardless of major fields of study, the percent rates of enrollment generally exceeded 34 percent. The majority of applicants and enrollees placed in the upper GPA and Dental Admission Test (DAT) percentiles. The average age of 2008 enrollees was twenty-four years.

The Role of Women in Dental Education: Monitoring the Pipeline to Leadership

“…The following major U.S. data sources from the American Dental Association (ADA) and ADEA were evaluated in this study: the ADA's recruitment and retention reports for active licensed dentists—all dentists, 1999–2010, 11 the ADA's recruitment and retention reports for active licensed dentists—women dentists, 1999–2010, 11 the ADA's annual survey center reports on predoctoral education, 12 – 15 ADEA's reports on U.S. dental school applicants and enrollees, 16 , 17 ADEA Center for Educational Policy and Research databases, 18 and ADEA's directories of institutional members and association officers 19 – 22 . The data were organized into six domains, and each domain was analyzed.…”

Minority Dental Faculty Development: Responsibility and Challenge

“…The URM percent composition trends of the first‐year dental school enrollments are similar to the URM applicant percentages: Hispanic/Latino students comprised 7.0 percent of the first‐year enrollment in 1990, declining to 5.8 percent in 2008; Black/African American students comprised 6.6 percent of the first‐year enrollment in 1990, declining to 5.8 percent in 2008; and American Indian composition during this time rose from 0.2 percent to 0.9 percent. Dental school faculty percent compositions have been similar to the URM applicant and enrollment trends of the past several years 3 , 6 , 7 . American Indian faculty representation between 2001–02 and 2007–08 has remained unchanged at 0.3 percent.…”

“…More recently, ADEA has supported and administered programs designed to increase URM applicants, enrollments, and numbers of faculty members. Still, despite these efforts and efforts of individual dental schools, over the last almost two decades, there has been no growth in the URM percentage composition of dental school applicants and first‐year enrollments 6 . In 1990, Hispanic/Latino applicants were 6.9 percent of the dental school applicants.…”

Practice plans of and factors influencing graduating dental students in China

“…Dentistry is an attractive career option for women worldwide. Data from other countries show that the increasing numbers of female applicants and female students in dental schools and the steadily increasing number of female dentists are a major ongoing dental workforce trend. In many countries, female dentists choose to leave work or to work on a part‐time basis after marriage or childbirth.…”