Touro or Northcentral Education PhD

I am ready to enroll in an education PhD program and have a fork in the road that I hope the board can help me with. NCU has received accreditation and will start offering applications for a PhD in education in a few weeks. Touro just opened their application process for the first time in quite awhile. The schools are almost exactly the same price and both are RA and all online. I searched the posts and there was some talk of trouble with TUI’s accreditation, but NCU’s is completely new. I am a school administrator in California interested in obtaining the PhD and probably won’t teach at the university level. What does everyone think out there?

 

thinktank,

you can do a search on the forum for both of these schools. However I believe the University of Nebraska has the EdD.

http://extended.unl.edu/student/degrees/index.html

The things that appealed to me about NCU have been mostly done away with for new students. NCU has become more traditional in semesters to stay in line with federal student funding guidelines.

 

I'm in the dissertation stage in the TUI Ph.D. BA program. One difference between Touro and NorthCentral is that Touro is non-profit and the background of the school is congruent with my philosophy, which were important considerations to me. That is, Touro is not driven by shareholders who expect an aggressive financial return on their investment. As to the content of the programs, I can't comment.

Best wishes,

Dave

 

All other factors being equal, I think I would go with Northcentral. It still remains to be seen how Touro with fare with WASC, both in the short run and long run.

 

I disagree. The risk with Touro is nonexistent in comparison to when Northcentral seeks re-accreditation given its background and pedigree...

Dave

 

Re: Re: Touro or Northcentral Education PhD

If they are both the same price, it would seem that perhaps NCU is doing a poor job as a "for profit" institution in aggressively seeking that return on investment for their shareholders. I wonder if NCU is low-balling their ROI or Touro is overcharging. I mean, what’s the benefit of being an aggressive for-profit if those philanthropic non-profit guys are raking in the same dough?

 

You probably will be proven correct regarding TUI. But WASC is borderline corrupt organization that's difficult to predict.

I don't think TUI is non-profit in the traditional sense. It appears to be a partnership or joint venture between Touro College and a profit making California organization.

I found this in the public records:
DBA Name: INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ADMISSION CENTER

Owner(s):
YORAM NEUMANN
ROBERT J. KOESTER

I understand that Dr. Neumann effectively runs TUI. Nothing improper with such a venture. Just don't assume that just because an school is considerd "non-profit" that they don't place a high value on cash flow.

 

Paul,

Public organizations tend to much higher levels of cost than do private organizations. This is made evident by the fact that public organizations for the past 20 or so years have been trying to be more like private companies....not to mention my past 15 years as a costing and economic analyst working with many many public organizations where I have not come across one public org that would have to be cut less than 40-50 to be equal in costing and efficiency of a private org....not to mention that many contracts out for bid will not even consider your services unless you can promise a cost decrease and associated efficiency increase of at least 30%.

something to think about

 

I don't know exactly what you are implying but the question at hand is whether TUI as a branch campus of Touro College operates according to the Touro College mission statement:

"THE GOALS OF THE COLLEGE ARE:
To perpetuate and enrich students’ appreciation of the Jewish heritage through Jewish studies and scholarship;
To promote traditional study of liberal arts and sciences and foster programs with promote academic excellence and a high level of scholarship;
To enhance critical thinking and foster communication skills;
To promote development of student’s analytical and quantitative competencies and to foster their ability to succeed in a technological society;
To develop leadership skills and foster ethical values;
To further the professional career interests and aspirations of students in a broad range of liberal arts, pre-professional and professional studies.
To provide quality educational opportunities for diverse segments of the Jewish and general population that otherwise might not receive them, enabling them to realize their fullest potential;
To foster a richer understanding and appreciation of our students’ own heritages and a respect for the heritage of others, and to work towards more harmonious relationships between different groups, particularly in the greater New York metropolitan community.
To establish international programs that help foster amity and cultural ties among the people of the United States, Israel, and other nations;
To create an environment which enhances learning in an atmosphere that demonstrates a sense of community, which promotes respect and caring for students, faculty and staff. "

Source: http://www.touro.edu/general/mission.asp

These seem like non-profit objectives to me and are highly congruent with my personal goals and philosophy.

Dave

 

And that partnership is going to seperate next year altogether, right?

I would wait to see what happens.

 

Fed's advice is good. University of Nebrasksa is an established institution with a good reputation. As a state university, it will likely be cheaper and you can pursue either a PhD or and EdD.

Tony Pina
Northeastern Illinois University

 

Why do you claim that WASC is borderline corrupt?

Also what is the WASC connection with TUI (a MSACS institution) and NCU (a NCACS institution)?

Thanks.

 

Dave Wagner,

I am not trying to stir up trouble, but what do you mean about Northcentral University when you state" the risk with Touro is nonexistant in comparision to when Northcentral seeks re-accreditation given its background and pedigree..........
1. Is there something you know, we dont? Is there something wrong with the school?
2. Do you have any information that would lead you to say this? As my history professor at A&M would, where did you get this information and who are you speaking for.

Please take this as a discussion, not a flaming of you . Thank you

 

No problem. I didn't take it as a flame...

I have no special knowledge of NCU other than knowing a couple of students there. I'm working on my dissertation at Touro, so that is my general orientation to the subject (i.e., slightly biased toward Touro but sympathetic to all online doctoral programs). What I was referring to was all the chatter on this board about both schools. Let's suffice it to say that in the case of Touro, a mole hill was made into a mountain. Moreover, from what I've read about NCU and heard second hand I'd say that a mountain was made into a mole hill... Perhaps my hunches are wrong, but then perhaps not.

Dave

 

I agree with Tony's assessment about the University of Nebraska, having worked for them full time and attending as a half-time undergrad student for ~4 years. Full disclosure also requires me to tell you that my mom has worked there also recently. Great experience. Go Big Red! Runza's!

All disclaimers aside now...

While the cost may be cheaper, only a small group of graduate students can be accomodated for in a B&M school. At the risk of stating the obvious, virtual universities like TUI and NCU do not have the restrictions on the graduate student headcount as UNL would. When applying for a graduate slot at UNL, I am competing with many other potential graduate students. I only compete against myself (GRE exam scores vs. college standards) when applying to TUI or NCU.

 

Missed the edit window. Here's the rest of my thoughts

In my opinion, I would stand a better chance of getting into TUI or NCU than UNL due to competition with other graduate students. I'm a B+ student in a world full of A+ graduates.

In the end, I rejected UNL as a candidate because I didn't want to make the move back to Nebraska. I rejected TUI because at the time, it was twice as expensive as NCU. Not so now. At the time TUI was accredited and NCU was about to be. I rolled the dice and went with NCU. So far, the journey has been worth it.

Rick

 

I completed my MS from TUI and I am enrolled in the NCU PhD. I would say the quality of course work is comparable. I think the NCU class is very boring but this is my first class.

I think your hunches are wrong, but what do I know (except first hand knowledge of both schools) ?

 

Dave Wagner:

Just a note of correction: Touro College is an "Independent" Non-profit that means they can make lots of money from tuition but don't have to pay corporate taxes. All their tax-free tuition income can be spent on salaries, bonuses, and other school related operating expenses. As far as I know, for-profit organizations do pay taxes (income, property, etc).
JayBrad

 

I'm glad that NCU is working for you and I hope there is no accreditation hassle for them down the road relative to no residency and faculty ratios...

Dave

 

I woud assume if TUI did not have any problems NCU would not.