First professional · Morgantown, West Virginia

Is Dentistry at West Virginia 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 3.6 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $138,465; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $217,531; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $231,740; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $246k (likely $246k – $246k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $156k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in WV; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 3.6 years (likely 3.1–4.2); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $795k (likely $580k – $1.03M); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $2.61M (likely $2.12M – $3.19M); Today's dollars
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: not reported / ≤ 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.