This weekend I made the decision and completed the Northcentral PhD application, sent for transcripts, paid the app fee, and sent in my resume. After much thought, and a still unconvincing coin flip, I decided on NCU. I had the choices down to Touro, NCU, and Union. Union was a good deal more expensive and I could not quite convince my employer on the free formness of the program. Had I persisted they would have done it but then it would have exceeded the amount of tuiton reimbursement they would have given. This left Touro and NCU. I'd like to come out of this thing pretty much debt free. The thing that put me over with NCU was that they had a Homeland Security program that will go on the transcript. I can then do something of great interest to me and combine it with what my employer thinks is a good investment for them...computer security. When I showed them the Touro program they did not see the word "COMPUTERS" on the course listings which bothered them a bit(but they would have still done Touro with me). NCU had such in their Homeland Security program. I figured both programs to be around 25-26K. My employer would pay nearly all of it. I did like that you did not have to buy books with the Touro program, too. For me, it's easier to lug around a CD and read that during the day than a book. I think I like the dissertation approach at NCU a bit better. It seemed more disciplined than Touro. I could have done the DBA program but decided that the PhD would have more utility for me. Although, my company was willing to do the DBA at 100% because they thought it was database administrator. I also liked the fact that at NCU I could go about at my own pace for coursework. I will keep everyone informed as my journey progresses.
What is your current job titles? what current degree's do you have? What current computer certifications do you have? I was just wondering!
bing, My company pays $5250 a year - that's it. How did you work towards getting your employer to pay more? I assume you will be completing the program in 3 years ... so that leaves around 10 grand unaccounted for. I am very interested in how you "framed" your proposal to your current company. I want to start the NSU program and am in a similar situation in getting additional co-operation from my company... In short, I want them to; 1. Recognize my desire to pursue a PhD and 2. Want some additional funding for my education in exchange for X. Thank you, Steve
Sure... Degrees... -BSCE, Civil Engineering -BS, Business(Accounting Conc.) -MBA, General Management Current Certs... -Certified TAP Internal Auditor -Certified Rational Unified Process -Certified Administrator Rational ClearCase -Microsoft Certified Application Developer Current Job Titles(due to cuts )... -Configuration Group Manager(main job) -Area Architect(other main job) -Internal Auditor -External Collaborations, Security Lead
My company normally pays 75% for tuition if the program fits within the job. My company will pay up to 7800/yr(plus up to 1K for dissertation expenses) for programs when a person enters into programs that the company has identified as critical areas. So, $7,800/year comes very close to filling the tuition bill. It was not an extreme sale for me. I have made a great reputation for myself globally in the group and have worked a lot of OT in light of cuts made. With the advent of the European Union privacy laws it makes a program like the one I requested support for fairly timely. Not to mention we are starting to work with the government more on security issues. My company looks at the PhD as an effective calling card because we deal with universities, governments, and research institutions on a daily basis. Many of my co-workers have PhD's...and raises do come with higher degrees. I don't think I work directly with anyone that doesn't have a master's at minimum. Most of my team's customers have PhD's.
Bing, Congratulations on you decision. Since Northcentral is becoming ever more established as an accredited option for higher educaitonal at a distance, it should be a good choice. Please keep the rest of us informed about your experience. Quite a few Degreeinfo participants are struggling with the same decision that you have made. Tony
IIRC, the $5250 is tax-related. If they pay more, the amount is subject to personal income tax. There are limited provisions for amounts above that: "Payments above $5,250 may also be tax-free, if they represent a working condition fringe benefit. This means that if you had paid for the expenses, you would have been able to deduct them as an employee business expense. " Found at http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/tax.phtml
Rich's comments are very true. My tuition reimbursement is going to be taxed like it was bonus pay because of this limit.
Thank you Rich / Bing. I have read that before. I was going to see if I could just expense some of the classes and maybe throw them into our training budget. This would occur outside of HR ($5250) and be done at a dept. level. Fun stuff. I started a thread on this last night; however it is a dead fish! : )
I am also going to be taxed for school costs. The great thing about where I work is that they have no limit to how much you can spend to get an associates, bachelors and masters. They do not fund PHd however
Tony, Since so many have said that they loved the doctoral program experience, I am seriously considering starting a blog to document my own experiences. I'll keep everyone up to date, though.
Bing, A blog would be a great way to document your experiences. You could certainly link to it from within Degreeinfo. Tony
