First professional · Stony Brook, New York

Is Dentistry at Stony Brook University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 6 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $83,568; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $172,546; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $291,645; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $309k (likely $309k – $309k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $105k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in NY; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 6 years (likely 5.0–7.2); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $176k (likely −$35k – $406k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $1.42M (likely $976k – $1.98M); Today's dollars
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: ≤ 20% / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.