Money · Choosing your program
The $397 online course: who it's right for — and who should wait for in-person
We sell both. That means we have no reason to talk you into the wrong one. Here is the honest breakdown of who the online course actually serves well, who it does not, and what happens to your $397 if you change your mind.
What the online course is
The online course is the same curriculum as our in-person program, delivered fully online and self-paced. You start any day — there is no cohort to wait for — and you move at whatever speed your life allows. Terminology, anatomy, charting, infection control, radiology theory, front-office workflow, the whole classroom side of dental assisting.
What it is not is hands-on lab time. You are not in an operatory, you are not doing tray setups with real instruments, and there is no instructor standing beside you correcting your grip. That is not a knock on it — it is just what a self-paced online course is. Being clear about that is how you make a good decision.
Online is $397 right now as a limited-time sale; the regular price is $997. In-person is $3,000 paid in full, or $3,500 on a payment plan ($500 down, then the $3,000 balance in simple weekly or monthly payments). No promo codes, no countdown gimmicks. See /enroll for the current numbers.
Who the $397 course is genuinely right for
You are testing whether you actually like this field. This is the single best use of it. Four hundred dollars to find out whether dental terminology and tooth anatomy hold your interest is a far better bet than three thousand — and if the answer is yes, your money follows you into the in-person program.
Your schedule genuinely cannot hold a fixed class. Night shift, rotating shifts, a newborn, caregiving for a parent. Our classes are daytime now, and daytime does not work for everyone. Self-paced does.
You are already working in a dental office. If you are at the front desk or in a sterilization role and you are getting hands-on exposure at work every day, the online course fills in the book knowledge you are missing without duplicating what you already do.
You live too far to commute to Longview. We have students commuting from Tyler, Marshall, Kilgore, Henderson, Gladewater, and further. But if you are three hours out, online is the realistic option.
You are building toward Texas requirements over time. Texas RDA registration through the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners has its own requirements and its own timeline. Starting the coursework now while you sort out the rest is a reasonable path — just verify current requirements directly with TSBDE, since they set them, not us.
Who should wait for in-person
You learn by doing, not by reading. If you already know that about yourself — if lectures slide off you and you only really get something once your hands are on it — the online course will frustrate you. Wait.
You want to be job-ready in about 12 weeks. Self-paced means you set the pace, and "self-paced" quietly becomes "never finished" for a lot of people. A cohort with a start date and classmates creates the pressure that actually gets people across the line.
You have zero dental exposure and no office to practice in. Reading about instrument transfer and doing it are different skills. If you have no way to get hands on equipment, the in-person program in Longview is what puts you in an operatory.
You are counting on placement help. Our job placement help with East Texas offices is built around students we have actually trained in the room. That relationship is harder to build at a distance.
The online course is non-refundable — but 100% of what you pay transfers as credit toward in-person tuition within 90 days. So if you buy the online course in August and decide in October that you want to be in the room, your $397 comes with you. That is the whole reason we suggest it as a test drive.
Answer four questions and see where you land
This is a simple guide based on your own answers — not a scored assessment or a promise about your results.
The question nobody asks but should
"Which one gets me hired?" Neither, by itself. What gets you hired is being able to walk into an office and be useful in week one — knowing the instruments, knowing the charting, not panicking at the schedule. Both of our programs give you access to the same practice trainers: Practice Pro for charting and scheduling, the free Texas RDA practice exam, and the Skills Lab. The in-person program adds the part a screen cannot: real equipment, real instruments, and someone watching your hands.
If money is the thing standing in the way rather than the format, read how WIOA and Workforce Solutions funding works in East Texas — we accept Texas Workforce Solutions, GI Bill, and WIOA — and build your exact payment schedule with the tuition planner.
What happens next either way
Online: you start the day you enroll. In-person: the next Longview cohorts start August 17 and August 25, 2026, with September and November after that — the full list lives on the calendar. Classes run in the daytime; call or text (903) 913-6444 for exact hours. Classes are capped at 8 students, so seats in a given cohort are limited by the room, not by a sales tactic.
Start where you actually are.
Online at $397 today, or hands-on in Longview this month. Applying is free, and it does not commit you to either one.
Apply now →Keep reading: What you get in the $397 online course · Online vs. in-person training · WIOA funding in East Texas