Dental Assisting Programs in Washington
Washington has 5 CODA-accredited dental assisting programs, in Lakewood, Olympia, Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma.
Each is listed below with its address, website, and current accreditation status, pulled directly from the Commission on Dental Accreditation's own program directory.
This list covers only CODA-accredited programs — what Washington itself requires before you can work chairside is a separate question from accreditation, covered on our Washington requirements page.
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At a glance
In Washington
Programs
5
With a program
Cities
5
Approval without Reporting Requirements
Fully approved
4 of 5
Every CODA-Accredited Program in Washington
Source: CODA program directory, index dated 2026-09-09. Status terms (“Approval without Reporting Requirements,” “Approval with Reporting Requirements,” “Initial Accreditation,” “Discontinued,” etc.) are CODA’s own.
Reading the List
CODA uses a few specific status terms. "Approval (without reporting requirements)" means the program meets or exceeds CODA's basic accreditation standards. "Approval (with reporting requirements)" means CODA found specific deficiencies the program must correct within a set timeframe — it is not a warning to avoid the program, just a compliance step in progress. "Initial Accreditation" applies to a program that hasn't yet graduated its first class.
The last- and next-visit years shown are CODA's own accreditation-visit schedule, not the program's academic calendar.
For admissions, cost, and current status, contact the program directly and check CODA's own directory, which is the definitive, up-to-date source.
Why Accreditation Matters for Your Credential
Whether Washington requires formal dental assistant training at all — and for which duties — is a matter of state law, covered on our Washington dental assistant requirements page rather than anything here.
What CODA accreditation does affect is your national certification path: the DANB Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) credential's General Chairside component requires either graduating a CODA-accredited program or documenting roughly 3,500 hours of on-the-job experience.
If you're still weighing which route to take, see our school vs. on-the-job training comparison, our step-by-step guide to becoming a dental assistant, and our breakdown of what's tested on the DANB CDA exam.
After Graduation in Washington
Once you've completed a program — or an on-the-job path, where the state allows it — the next questions are what the job pays and where the openings are.
Our Washington dental assistant salary guide covers current pay data for the state, broken out against the national figures, so you can see how Washington compares before you negotiate an offer.
From there, our dental assistant job listings show open positions you can apply to directly, wherever you trained.
Where Washington's Programs Are
Washington's five programs sit in five different cities: Lakewood, Olympia, Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma.
Four are on the west side of the state, around the Puget Sound corridor, and one — Spokane Community College — serves the eastern part of the state.
Wherever you're located, contact the nearest program directly to ask about its current admission cycle and clinical-site partners; the CODA status shown for each reflects its last accreditation visit, not its distance from you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many CODA-accredited dental assisting programs are in Washington?
Washington has 5 CODA-accredited dental assisting programs, in Lakewood, Olympia, Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma.
Each is listed above with its current CODA accreditation status, address and website.
CODA's own directory is the definitive, up-to-date list — confirm a program's status directly with CODA before applying.
Does an out-of-state CODA-accredited program count in Washington?
Yes.
CODA accreditation is a national standard, not a state one, so a program accredited by CODA counts regardless of which state it's located in.
What varies by state is licensure and any credentialing rules the state itself sets — see our Washington requirements page for that side of the picture.
What does "Approval with Reporting Requirements" mean for Spokane Community College's program?
It means CODA identified specific deficiencies or weaknesses in one or more areas of the program that must be corrected within a set timeframe — it is not a warning to avoid the program.
The program remains CODA-accredited while it works through that compliance process.
Confirm the program's current status directly with CODA before applying, since status can change between accreditation visits.
Do I have to attend a Washington program to work as a dental assistant in Washington?
No. Washington registers dental assistants based on the state's own rules, not on attending a program located within the state — see our Washington dental assistant requirements page and our school vs. on-the-job training guide for how the state's options compare.
CODA accreditation is most relevant to the DANB CDA certification's eligibility requirements, not to state law generally.
Is every program on this list accredited?
Every program above is shown with the CODA accreditation status CODA had published for it as of 2026-09-09, the date this directory was last pulled from CODA's own program search. "Approval without Reporting Requirements" is CODA's standard fully-accredited standing; other status terms on this page — such as "Approval with Reporting Requirements," "Initial Accreditation," or "Discontinued" — mean something different, and a status can change after that date.
Confirm a program's current status directly with CODA before applying.
More Washington & Dental Assistant Resources
Sourced from the CODA program directory (index dated 2026-09-09). Verified September 2026. Program details change. Confirm accreditation status, admission requirements and costs with the program and with CODA before applying.