Need Help Deciding if a DL is for me?

I am trying to decide if I want to earn my phd/dba through a distance learning program or not. By the way I am new to the boards.

First of all a little background info on me. I currently have an undergraduate degree in accounting from Devry University and an MBA with a finance concentration from the University of Michigan. I have been working in an accounting/finance capacity for many years. I have also taught before (business math and excel) at a community college. I just started teaching for the University of Phoenix online. I will be teaching undergraduate and graduate accounting courses.

I want to earn a doctorate in accounting or finance (or business admin with an accounting/finance minor):

1. Because it's a personal dream and goal of mine.
2. Because I like teaching and although I really dont want to do any indepth massive research (therefore I don't need a job at a large research institution) I want to be able to continue to teach, hopefully do it full time, and be able to make more money since I will have earned a doctorate.

I hadn't realized until a friend mentioned it (he is getting his doctorate from Kennedy Western) that you can earn a doctorate through DL. I really don't have the energy or time right now to actually sit in a traditional classroom. Nor do I want to quit working full time. Most of the brick and motar programs I considered are full time only (ie Ga State, Emory, etc). I also want to attend some place where I can get financial aid, I don't care if its loans but I don't want to have to foot the bill out of pocket immediately. I came accross this board via yahoo search engine by the way. Another good point towards getting a DL degree is I get a big discount at UOP for being faculty, and I get discounts at other schools, ie Walden, Nova...for being UOP faculty.

One thing that is floating through my mind is the fact that I don't want to have trouble getting a job because I have a DL degree and not a degree from an AACSB school. Another friend who has a doctorate in communications/mass media told me don't do it, go to a traditional school, because my degree won't be respected anywhere.

So I want some opinions from others before I make my decision. I kind of don't want to have to take the GMAT again either but if I have to oh well. My scores I used to get my MBA are now over 5 years old so I have to retake.

Sorry so long, looking forward to your comments!

 

two things. First do a search on Kennedy-Western in this forum. Second do a search on DBA/PHD you will find that many of the folks here are pursuing exactly the degree you discuss and some are at AACSB institutions.

Many others more cognizant than me can provide some thoughts on acceptance and/or utility of a DL degree. My two cents, a DBA/PHD is a considerable amount of work and worthy of respect regardless of the method used to earn an accredited degree.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome to the boards.

Here is my 2 cents.

You will need an AACSB degree, only if you want to teach at an AACSB school. If you want to continue at UoP, a RA degree is sufficient. There are several out there that are RA, and I will let other tell you about that (or a search), but I did a great deal of research on AACSB schools.

The ones out there are :

Grenoble – 3 years part time, requires a visit to New Orleans, then Grenoble at 6 months and 1 year, then again in year 2, then finally in Grenoble for defense of dissertation.

Henley – Requires visits each semester. (Look up my issues with them on a search, I won’t rant about them here).

Case Western – They say they are DL, but they require a visit every 4 weeks, that is right, 4 weeks!

Ashton I heard has a good program, but I couldn’t get any response from them.

One thing though, you really need to have a drive to start (and complete) this degree. A 70-80 thousand word dissertation will kick you pretty hard in the rear and you need the drive to finish it.

You can get financial aid at Grenoble, not sure about the others.

If you have further questions, post them! Good luck!

 

Thanks

Kristie, Fed...thank you for your input.

 

Kristie,

You must be referring to Aston University instead of Ashton University. This school is AACSB. This link tells you that it can be completed part-time within 4 years:

http://www.aston.ac.uk/pg/pros/absrpdba.htm

Also, I emailed the school and asked them if they require any residency. Below was their reply:

"As a distance learning student you are only required to see your
supervisor about once a year and to attend a residential study week at the end of your first year. It is obviously essential that you stay in regular contact with your supervisor via e-mail and/or telephone."

They also offered to send me an information packet, which
I am awaiting.

mbastudent
BSIT - UOP
MBA - AIU
PHD - Attending NCU

 

Yes, that is the one. I waited and waited for a packet. About 3 months went by and I got it, but had already started my program by then. Disappointing, becuase it looked good.

If you are at NCU, why are you looking for another school (if you don't mind me asking)?

 

If you are at NCU, why are you looking for another school (if you don't mind me asking)?
______________________

I am just undecided on what the correct direction to go is. I have a good job in Information Technology as a manager. In this position I do both IT and business work.

Since my employer has a very liberal tuition reimbursement policy (100%), I have been taking full advantage of it for the last 3+ years. It's how I got my bachelor and masters. Well I now want to be prepared in case I get layed off to work in a University as a professor. Problem is that I would like to work in both Business and/or Information Technology. NCU has the best program because their PHD in Business has a Management Information Systems Concentration. So I enrolled their last September and I am enjoying it.

However, I keep worrying about the fact that NCU doesn't have AACSB accreditation. As you well know, there aren't any real good options in the United States. I also don't want to have to go to Europe for a great length of time. That is why I am still looking, while I attend NCU. Worst case situation is that if I leave NCU for an AACSB school, I will still have up to 21 credits of graduate work in the Information Systems field, which is close to the equivalanet of a masters in Information Technology. That would look good to have a dual Masters. First as an MBA and second in IT.

mbastudent
BSIT - UOP
MBA - AIU
PHD - Attending NCU