Dental Schools in Kentucky (3): DAT Averages, GPA & True Cost

Kentucky has 3 dental schools, 2 of them public. Below is every one of them with its published DAT academic average, GPA average, and — the number none of them print on the admissions page — what four years there actually costs once the interest that accrues while you are still in class is counted.

If you are a resident, this page is the most important cost decision you will make. Residency is the single largest lever on the price of a dental degree, and it is decided long before your DAT. What your DAT decides is how many of these doors are open.

Every dental school in Kentucky

School	City	Type	Avg DAT (AA)	Avg GPA	True 4-yr cost
University of Louisville School of Dentistry	Louisville	Public	20	3.55	$529,989
University of Kentucky College of Dentistry	Lexington	Public	—	—	$547,351
University of Pikeville Tanner College of Dental Medicine	Pikeville	Private	—	—	—

Cost figures are estimates modelled from cost-of-attendance data published circa 2022, assuming the full cost is financed with federal loans and interest accrues in school. With one exception (Michigan) every row in the model is an out-of-state or private figure — so if you are a Kentucky resident applying to a public school here, your real number is likely to be meaningfully lower. See the full model and all 64 schools →

The cheapest dental school in Kentucky

On the modelled figures, University of Louisville School of Dentistry is the lowest four-year cost in Kentucky: $529,989 including in-school interest ($417,540 before it), or roughly $620,034 once you project it to today at about 4% a year.

Read that gap carefully. $112,449 of that total is interest — money you never borrowed and never spent, accruing on year-one loans while you sit in year-four clinic. It is the part of the price nobody quotes you, and it is the part that a cheaper seat eliminates outright.

What in-state residency is worth in Kentucky

We will not invent a number here. Our model carries exactly one measured in-state row across all 64 schools — the University of Michigan — and there the gap between the in-state and out-of-state price of the identical degree, in the identical building, is $113,721.

That is the honest scale of the residency lever, and it is why the cost column above is a ceiling rather than a quote for Kentucky residents at public schools. What it means practically: if you have residency somewhere, a public school in that state is almost always your cheapest path to the same license — and your DAT is what decides whether they take you.

What DAT score do you need for a Kentucky dental school?

Published academic averages at Kentucky schools run 20 on the 1–30 scale. The highest of them sits at roughly the 47th percentile of all test takers.

Be careful how you read those numbers: an average is the midpoint of an admitted class. About half of the students admitted scored below it. It is not a cutoff, and clearing it does not mean you are in — committees weigh GPA, experience, interviews and residency alongside it. What a higher score reliably buys you is optionality: more schools whose average you clear, and therefore more chance to choose the cheaper seat instead of taking the only one offered.

Put your own score into the ROI calculator → and see which of these schools open up — and what the next point is worth in dollars.

FAQ

How many dental schools are in Kentucky?

Kentucky has 3 accredited dental schools, 2 of which are public. They are: University of Louisville School of Dentistry, University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, University of Pikeville Tanner College of Dental Medicine.

What is the cheapest dental school in Kentucky?

On our modelled figures, University of Louisville School of Dentistry has the lowest four-year cost of any dental school in Kentucky at roughly $529,989 including the interest that accrues while you are still in school. These are estimates from circa 2022 data, and almost every row is an out-of-state or private figure — in-state residents at a public school will typically pay meaningfully less.

Which Kentucky dental school has the lowest DAT average?

Of the Kentucky schools that publish one, University of Louisville School of Dentistry has the lowest academic average at 20. An average is the midpoint of an admitted class, not a minimum — roughly half of that class scored below it, and meeting it does not imply admission.

Is it easier to get into dental school as a Kentucky resident?

At public dental schools, residency is usually a significant advantage in both admission and price. Many public schools reserve most of their seats for residents, and the tuition difference is large: at the one school in our model with both figures (Michigan), in-state costs $113,721 less over four years than out-of-state for the same degree. Check each school's own residency policy, as they vary.

Dental Schools in Kentucky