Reasonable Ed.D (or Ph.D) from a school with a solid reputation, any advice?

I have been looking into a doctoral degree for quite some time now. My Masters is in Ed Leadership and that's primarily what I would like to focus on for a doctoral program. I am looking to keep the cost down. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind paying a little more if the school had a great reputation, but I have yet to find a distance learning program that meets that criteria. Any degree I pursue must be from an RA institution for obvious reasons, as well as offer Fed Financial Aid.

I'm in Chicago and would like to become an administrator. I am also interested in possibly teaching at the college level, but if that doesn't happen- I wouldn't be heartbroken as its not a main goal of mine. Some of the schools I've become interested in seem to be a bit conservative. I am wondering if this would have an effect on me in the program since I might share a difference in views. Also, I'm wondering what impact this might have on my resume later on.


I have looked into the following schools;

Walden- Accepted, but expensive
GCU- Accepted, reasonably priced. Mixed reviews about the school posted online.
Liberty- Accepted, reasonably priced, perhaps too conservative?
Univ of the Cumberlands- Great tuition, unsure of reputation, perhaps too conservative?
NCU- Acceptance was too easy. Also, overpriced (tuition going up again in 2014).
NovaSE U- Expensive
Capella- Expensive



Looking to get started ASAP, so any advice about the schools listed would be greatly appreciated. Any other schools I am missing?

 

I'm currently enrolled at Northcentral University in the EdD program with Organizational Leadership specialization. The tuition is a bit higher than some (as I am finding out on the boards) but I can say that I do like the class structure. The online learning format is ancient (looks like someone built it in Excel) but they (the school) said they were updating to a new system which is in the testing phase right now and should go live in the next month or so. So I'm hoping for that. The courses are really self guided. I've found the instructors easy to reach and talk with. They always respond quickly. The course work is challenging (5-7 pg. papers weekly) but workable if you manage your time. I was looking at transferring to Aspen University (for the price), because I am three courses in at NCU. Not sure yet if I will stay or go.

 

I just got accepted into the Ed.D program at the American College of Education for educational leadership. They are very cheap as the program launched fairly recently. Tuition is very inexpensive but that also due to the fact that applicants accepted prior to June 2014 recieve a 10k reduction off their tuition enrollment. It comes of to about 200-250 per credit.

I looked into NCU, Walden, GCU, Liberty, and Concordia University.