Northcentral EdD/PhD??

I am looking at this program. Can anyone who is doing it tell me how they like it?

I realize the current issue with financial aid but after having paid an arm and a leg at UOP the tuition at NCU actually looks pretty decent. From what I have read online you have to come up with 1500 dollars every 16 weeks at the doctoral level. I am assuming you pay half that up front and then the rest in two payments over the course of 16 weeks. Is that correct? I am used to taking those really short classes at UOP that only last about 4-6 weeks so one class every 16 weeks is pretty spaced out.

I wonder if they do not offer financial aid if you can still get your previous loans from the Masters deferred. I can pay out of pocket for NCU but would like to have my other loans deferred if possible.

The main question, however, is whether the program there is a good one. My goal is to be able to use a doctorate to teach at the college level as adjunct faculty but NOT on a full time basis. I'm not looking to be full time faculty or make my career in academia. I just want to teach a class here and there either for distance learning schools or at the local commnity college in the Education department.

They offer and EdD and a PhD. From what I understand one is more theoretical and one more applied. I am looking specifically at the program called "Teacher Leadership". I just don't know which particular "title" to seek--the EdD or the PhD. Anyone "in the know" on this one? Does it matter?

 

Hi Holly.

I am in the Ph.D. program for Business Admin. It is an excellent program. I have never had one problem with student services. You are assigned a learner affairs advisor to assist you with non-academic issues and an academic advisor to assist you with academic issues. The school is committed to your success.

The course work is demanding but flexible. You have 16 week semesters but may accelerate your studies. If you have any specific questions I am here to help. Additionally, I am teaching at an RA school with an MBA from NCU so their degrees have value. I hope this helps.

From the learners site is some tuition payment info:

NCU Payment Plan Guidelines

Policy
Northcentral University offers an interest-free, monthly payment plan.

Procedures
Step 1: Student requests courses and pays 20% of course cost and a $50 processing fee when the course is approved by their Academic advisor.

Step 2: Equal monthly payments are made between the 10th and 13th of each month for the following four consecutive months.

Step 3: Credit cards will be charged automatically each month until courses are paid in full. Payments by check must be received each month until courses are paid in full.

Step 4: Courses must be paid in full before additional courses can be approved.

Step 5: Each month that a payment is not received on time a late fee of $25 will be assessed. If a credit card is declined or a check returned NSF in any month a $25 processing fee will be assessed.


Per Term
Payment Amount
At course request 20% + $50 fee
1st Month 20%
2nd Month 20%
3rd Month 20%
4th Month 20%
Total 100%

 

Holly,

I started NCU in the PhD in Education program and switched over to the PhD in Business Administration program. The reason for my change was because my career fits in the business program better that the education program.

The person you should ask this question to is Mrs. Levitch. She is the academic advisor for the education program. Her email address is [email protected] and her phone number is 888-327-2877 extension 8086.

Another good point of contact is Dr. Santin. She is the Dean of the School of Education. Her email address is [email protected] and her extension is 8006.

I think your best bet would be to start with either of them.

 

The decision as to whether to pursue the Ph.D or the Ed.D has everything to do with your future employment goals. There are several points to keep in mind. Primarily, many individuals who pursue these degrees are already employed in a university setting and need a doctorate in order to keep their positions or for promotional opportunities. For someone seeking to break into college teaching the situation will probably be quite different. As we know, the competition for academic teaching positions is highly competitive. The fact that NCU does not have a residency requirement may pose a strong obstacle for being seen as a viable candidate for such jobs.

In terms of the type of degree that would be most appropriate, the Ph.D, which is more research oriented, is generally preceived as being much more consonant with academia than the Ed.D. This does not imply that one cannot find employment with an Ed.D but that due to its practical application and lessened research emphasis, the Ph.D is generally a more viable choice.

 

Simon makes a good point about the utility of an NCU doctorate. Being that it is a 100% DL doctorate, it’s not a proven product for landing university positions. Since I work for the government and NCU is RA; it’s fine for my purpose.

Dr. Santin came to NCU from Nova Southeastern. She may be a good place to start since you are also looking at Nova Southeastern.

 

You all are incredibly helpful. I really do appreciate all the input and I look forward to hearing more. Thank you so much!

 

I did a search a while back, and found quite a few people out there teaching at RA universties that hold a NCU Ph.D. Even some that hold Full-time Tenured Positions.

If all your looking to do is teach part-time at a small 4 year college or a community college, than the NCU degree should work out just fine for you.

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I would say the Ph.D. would have more utility for teaching positions. I've always thought of the Ed.D as a degree geared more towards administration type positions in academia.

 

Re: Re: Northcentral EdD/PhD??

Originally posted by Dan Cooper

I did a search a while back, and found quite a few people out there teaching at RA universties that hold a NCU Ph.D. Even some that hold Full-time Tenured Positions.

RESPONSE: The question that needs to be answered is whether these people were already in their teaching positions prior to obtaining their NCU PhD's or if they found these jobs after receiving their NCU degrees. Merely finding individuals listed with NCU doctorates in RA universities does not answer this question. What is needed is corroborated data that demonstrates that these individuals obtained these positions after obtaining their degees and were not already employed in teaching positions at these universities.

If all your looking to do is teach part-time at a small 4 year college or a community college, than the NCU degree should work out just fine for you.

RESPONSE: If this is your opinion thats fine. However, If you are stating this as fact I don't believe your conclusion can be made unless you can substantively demonstate the basis on which you came to this conclusion.

Personally, I would be thrilled to see that the NCU doctorate would open employment opportunities for teaching positions in universities.

 

The theoretical differences between the Ph.D. in Education and the Doctor of Education degrees doesn't seem to pan out in the real world. We see holders of the Ed.D. teaching in full professorships. Curricular differences tend not to exist. While some schools (NCU is one, perhaps) offer different approaches to each degree, there isn't a lot of practical difference.

 

Northcentral Ph.D or Ed.D.

Hi. I am enrolled in NCU and I am taking my first class. My degree is currently set up to as Ed.D. If I decide I want to change it, I must add at least one more class because the requirements are slightly different. I really like the way NCU is organized (so far anyway). The current financial aid changes are unsettling, but I do not rely on Title IV aid and hopefully, this will be ironed out. Without Title IV, we can move through courses as quickly as we can, which I think, realistically, for me, could mean earning my degree a full year earlier than I would be able to otherwise so unless there is some secret we are not being told, dropping Title IV is a good thing for me. I already teach part-time for two online universities. I will admit that I hope my doctorate will allow me to work as a full time professor at just one school. I know if I stay in the "online world" my NCU degree should be fine, but one of my goals is to try to get the truth out to the rest of the world....online learning is as good or better than the rat race of brick and mortar...boring lectures, expensive travel or room and board expenses, inconvenient schedules and last but not least, nowadays, it is getting so more and more brick and mortar professors post assignments online so their courses are practically online anyway! I've "learned" both ways and distance learning is better!

 

Re: Northcentral Ph.D or Ed.D.

 

"" did a search a while back, and found quite a few people out there teaching at RA universties that hold a NCU Ph.D. Even some that hold Full-time Tenured Positions. "

hmmm ... I did a search using google and could not find a single instance of a regular faculty member with a Northcentral degree. Plenty of folks with degrees from the different North Central University though.

Some specific examples would be great ...

lifelonglearner

 

North Central University does not offer graduate level degrees. Northcentral University offers graduate level degrees.

 

North Central University does not offer graduate level degrees. Northcentral University offers graduate level degrees.

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Not the point really. Are there graduates of Northcentral who are regular faculty at B&M schools?

Some specific examples would be nice.

Also,

Why doesn't Northcentral list any of their faculty and the institutions they graduated from? The web site only says:


"Who are the NCU Faculty Mentors?
NCU Faculty Mentors have academic credentials (masters and doctorates from regionally accredited universities) and practical experience in their fields of study. Therefore, our Learners benefit from the academic knowledge and professional experience they bring as your course Mentor."

curious .....

lifelonglearner

 

I think 1) Dr. Nieman, 2) Dr. Smith, 3) Dr. Azuaje, and 4) Dr. Schee all would disagree. This is not to say that their NCU degree got them the job, but they appear to be regular faculty members. I'm sure there are more, but in conducting a quick search, I came up with four.

1) http://www.devry.edu/uscatalog/general_admin_fremont.html
2) http://www.lasalle.edu/academ/sba/faculty/smith/smith.pdf
3) http://business.ollusa.edu/faculty/azuar/default.htm
4) http://www.upb.pitt.edu/academics/programs/business_manage_maj/faculty.htm

 

This question comes up routinely and here is the problem I see with it. NCU has only been accredited for something like 1.5 - 2 years. They have only actually awarded a handful of RA doctorates (16 as of 8/27/04). Because of this, I don't see why people expect to be able to google up a list of NCU PhDs serving in faculty positions. It just hasn't been around long enough for this to happen. The number of graduates is just too small. This is a question for 5-10 years in the future.

 

Huh? Are you talking about this list of 166 mentors? (Taken from the NCU website)

http://www.ncu.edu/mentor_list/pub/

 

One thing I"m beginning to notice is that a LOT of faculty at distance learning schools also graduated from DL programs. Perhaps being a DL graduate is in itself preparation for being a DL instructor. Could it be that DL programs also prefer to hire one of their "own" so to speak and open up the door where some B&M schools might close it in favor of traditional learners? With DL becoming as big as it has in the last few years perhaps the tide will end up turning at some point and traditional learners will have to find ways to get some DL experience on their record before they can get hired instead of the other way around? One can hope .....

 

Huh? Are you talking about this list of 166 mentors? (Taken from the NCU website)

This is a question for 5-10 years in the future.

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Both of these comments are right on. Thank you for the feedback.

I looked hard for the faculty (mentor) list, but couldn't seem to find a link anywhere. Thanks for the URL.

I did do a disseration search and found 31 listed from 2003 & 2004.

lifelonglearner

 

The more I look at NCU the more I like it. I know Nova Southeastern might be a better route to go in some ways b/c it has a brick and mortar component but at the end of the day I'm just looking to teach part time as adjunct faculty or even online. In fact I'd love to teach online and I'm beginning to think that perhaps in that respect a DL degree is better. If you are trying to break into brick and mortar academia then obviously a DL degree could work against you but if you're trying to break into DL academia perhaps it could work for you. At this point I find that the NCU process feels easier to navigate and fits the schedule for my life at this point which is very hectic with 4 little ones at home. I have zero desire to go to residencies. At one point in time the thought of going to Miami every summer for a conference with Nova would have been fantastic but right now it only brings about nightmarish thoughts of who will babysit for me during the day. NCU is also much cheaper and it lets me pay as I go. I also like the idea of working independently, not dealing with any more learning teams like I did at UOP. I went ahead and applied to NCU so we'll see what happens. I am pretty happy with the choice if I get in. I hope others concur it's a good option for me so I don't feel too badly about not pursuing Nova Southeastern.