Unisa PhD in Finance

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by conjecture, Feb 22, 2011.

Loading...
  1. conjecture

    conjecture New Member

    Is the unisa PhD in Finance worth doing? I have heard people doing their OR/Math PhD degrees but I have never heard of anyone doing a PhD in Finance in unisa.
    Does anyone who did PhD in Finance in unisa can share?
     
  2. BizProf

    BizProf New Member

    I didn't think UNISA offered a PhD in Finance. They offer a few finance doctorates, but to my knowledge, not one called a "PhD".
     
  3. Lukeness

    Lukeness Member

    There are none listed on their website. All are "Doctor of ...." degrees, the closest are the Doctor of Literature and Philosophy degrees.
     
  4. BizProf

    BizProf New Member

    After checking on their site to check on it, I can't find any doctoral-level qualifications in Finance. Perhaps they sue a different name for it. The closest I could find, which might well be the South African translation for finance, is "Quantitative Management" That sounds like finance to me. The offer a Doctor of Commerce in that field. To my knowledge, the South African doctorates for the most part are the equivalents of PhDs, just given different nomenclature.
     
  5. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I enrolled a while ago in the Doctor of Commerce degree (about 12 years). The program looked fine and it was mainly research based. It was really cheap compared to other options (about 2K a year). I decided to quit the program as I got some financing to pursue an Australian degree.

    There is nothing wrong with UNISA, but people here in Canada are more familiar with USA, UK and Australia so it would be more difficult to the sell a SA degree.

    Any doctorate from USA, UK or Australia is going to cost you more than 40K USD. The UNISA degree can be completed withe less than 10K.

    UNISA can work for some people but bear in mind that is not Harvard, it might help in some situations but in a competitive environment might not be the best option.
     
  6. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    For business, I recall D.Adm, D.Comm and DBL but not a PhD. However, as the D.Adm and D.Comm are researched based, are comparable to the PhD and might be translated this way by foreign evaluators like WES.
     
  7. friartuck

    friartuck New Member

  8. bpreachers

    bpreachers New Member

    Partially off topic but on the topic of UNISA itself. From what I have read on their site (ps their site is not easy to maneuver at least not for me) they require you to be on campus for certain parts of your PhD/Doctorate. Is this true for their online students? Many people suggest schools like UNISA for your Doctoral degree but I can certify that I would not have the time or funding to be able to fly my happy rear to South Africa lol. Thanks.
     
  9. Tireman 44444

    Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member

    Not for mine. I do not have to go to Pretoria.
     
  10. Lukeness

    Lukeness Member

    UNISA is a 100% DL university. The only reason for something like this would be to defend your thesis.
     
  11. conjecture

    conjecture New Member

    How about the response time from mentors? Usually, how long does it take? Are they helpful?
    I heard from this forum that it takes a week to response to your questions. If they can give quality responses or helpful suggestions, the price is more than reasonable.
     
  12. Delta

    Delta Active Member

    Wow! That's news to me! I always thought UNISA had a "brick and mortar" campus in South Africa and a few of their degree programs are 100% DL.
     
  13. Tireman 44444

    Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member

    Once you are in the program, the replies are within a good amount of time ( within two days)
     
  14. GeneralSnus

    GeneralSnus Member

    UNISA has several campuses, but they seem to be administrative centers.

    Unisa Online - our campus
     
  15. okydd

    okydd New Member

    Few programs do required mandatory on campus attendance. Also UNISA have fulltime professors on staff.
     
  16. okydd

    okydd New Member


    Below is an extract about compulsory attendance.

    Applicants applying should also ensure they comply with the following criteria:
    Full-time employment in an Industrial Psychology environment, or being able to make alternative arrangements to work in such an environment, and working in all the mayor fields of the subject including psychometrics. This aspect is especially important for the internship year which follows after successful completion of the master’s degree.
    Ability to attend 20 days of compulsory practical work at Unisa’s Muckleneuk Campus in Pretoria.
     
  17. Lukeness

    Lukeness Member

    The large amount of buildings and campuses is largely due to UNISA merging with both Vista DL University and Technikon SA. Together their admin and faculty facilities are fairly extensive. There were probably some residual classrooms from Vista too (Vista had campuses all around the country which have all now merged with other universities). There are also some pre-1946 buildings from when UNISA was an examining agency for Oxford and Cambridge.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 26, 2011
  18. conjecture

    conjecture New Member

    I found that there is not many PhD staffs in UNISA. Now, I am worried about whether they have enough experience in research.
    Unisa Online - Staff members
     
  19. Lukeness

    Lukeness Member

    These are the staff that would direct the courses and assist you during the process, as a DL university they cannot really justify a huge permanent faculty when no lectures are given. Usually much of the panel who will judge your thesis will be made up of staff from other universities. This is common practice at many SA universities and also ensures objectivity.
     
  20. conjecture

    conjecture New Member

    I don't know whether NCU, NOVA or TUI are similar to UNISA. In my opinion, a PhD degree should have a mentor who have a lot of experience on the research topic. He will give you valuable direction or some research papers which are worth to read......
     

Share This Page