Why are so many dental colleges closing?

Expenses > Tuition: The cost of running the educational component as well as the overhead costs of equipping and running a dental clinic where students can get experience treating patients, has lead most universities with budget problems to look at closing the dental school to save money and regain the space for other programs that cost less to provide.

Funding: Medical schools have a very easy time getting grant money and donations. It's east to convince someone to donate money to a clinic treating diabetes or childhood cancers. It's very difficult to get someone to donate money to teach people how to fill teeth. I say this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but truthfully, dentistry just isn't as 'sexy' as other areas of medicine.

Expense: Dental schools are probably a bit more expensive to run than medical schools due to equipment and clinics that most dental schools have had to build themselves. Medical students go to hospitals to do their training. However, in recent years, more dental schools are opening up.

Cost/benefit: It costs a University very little to build a few classrooms and a law library, and no special equipment is needed to fill a mock courtroom. To educate 100n dental students requires at least 100 dental chairs/units/x-ray marines/special instruments/a dental libraruy/classrooms/etc., at a cost of about $350,000 per student. You figure out the economics.