Aspen announces Doctorate in Education

FYI,

http://www.aspen.edu/edd/index.htm


Abner

 

Has there been any data yet on the utility of NA doctorates?

 

September 27th, 2153

Oh, that doesn't help?

 

$6,000 for a DETC-accredited Ed.D. is a very good deal.

 

Sweet deal!

Too bad is not in line with my interest areas *darn*
Anyway my hands are full now!

 

I'm not sure where you saw $6,000. The announcement email says;

Aspen University’s online degree programs are accredited, easy to fit into a busy lifestyle, and provided at a cost that makes sense. The Ed.D program may be earned for as little as $9,300 in tuition*.

* Pay for 4 courses at the course-by-course tuition and subsequent additional courses required to complete your degree program are charged at only $300 per 3-credit course ($100 per credit) tuition plus books, materials and fees.*

 

Not a steal but maybe a deal.

 

It wasn't very long ago that the Columbia Southern DBA and the Harrison Middleton EdD were authorized by the DETC. Have NA doctoral programs even existed long enough to produce any graduates, much less conducted any studies on their utility?

 

I think it's been long enough that there should be some graduates in the pipeline. I hope I'm proven wrong, but I can't see the utility of a NA doctorate except for teaching positions at other NA schools.

 

An NA doctorate might be useful in the corporate world. For example, an EdD, would be a nice resume builder for corporate trainers. With the low tuition price (and no MEd required), it could prove tempting for some.


Tom

 

As a corporate trainer who has been a consultant, I would agree with this.

Military and federal government workers would stand to benefit, too.

I'm concerned, however, whether or not these schools will engage in serious research. (I have the same concern for some RA schools like TUI, NCU, and UoP.) Or will they just conduct legitimate and adequate degree programs?

 

I think that may end up being the niche of NA doctoral programs; providing legitimate education but not setting the world on fire with research.

 

In Texas, public school k-12 teachers are paid more when they have a doctorate. No word as to if these schools will recognize a DETC doctorate but I'll bet since the state has recently changed their view of NA acceptability they probably will.

 

In Virginia everything MUST be RA. I could get a NA degree, but it wouldn't really mean anything. Shame too... one school had a good looking MEd in Multiple Intelligence Theory that I would have considered had it been RA.

 

Actually... I just realized it was Aspen that had that program

 

Probably not, but it would be a fascinating thesis or dissertation topic. I can think of a few scenarios where an NA dotorate may be useful:

1) For careers in which one would not be expected to possess a doctorate.
2) For authors and media/pop culture "experts" to put on their book covers or television talk show teleprompters.
3) In any situation where one might consider obtaining a state-approved, but not accredited, doctorate.
4) For personal enrichment and to hang on the wall and impress friends and family.

 

These all applied to me (except #2 but maybe some day) and I decided to go for the RA PhD.

 

Well for teaching, you theoretically only need an RA Masters so, if you had that PLUS an NA Ed.D it might give you some kind of edge perhaps when searching for adjunct positions.

 

In some cultures, this is a fundamental difference between colleges and full fledged universities. Like universities, colleges provide an education (maybe even an excellant education) but a university is expected to add to the world's fund of knowledge. DL schools provide education. It makes little difference whether they are NA or RA. Very few promote research for it's own sake although it might be a biproduct of education. Although research isn't a requirement for RA school accreditation, and many RA universities contribute little to the world's fund of knowledge, the stereotypes of the RA research university and the DL results oriented learning programs still prevail. As DETC only accredits DL schools, I think that this contributes to the prejudice against DETC accredited institutions.

 

I’m a DETC fan, but made the same choice when it came to the doctorate. I was actually I think the first person accepted into the Columbia Southern DBA program, but got cold feet and enrolled in the NCU DBA program instead. I stared at the Colsouth acceptance letter for a week straight trying to make this decision.

However, I instantly felt disloyal and enrolled in a DETC accredited DA program, as that area held tremendous personal interest for me.

DETC schools can compete today only on price all other things equal. For example Aspens Ed.D. is $9k, NCU’s is $24k, others I see that are RA are like $40k++. This will get them students. This isn’t bad, it is good. But it also isn’t the end state of things.

Over time, as there emerge a larger number of DETC school credentialed people, coupled with the work some of us are doing around building a community of DETC graduates, the current inequities will balance out. My guess is 5 to 10 years.

There is a TRIZ engineering law of evolution that states parallel system will harmonize over time. DL has many parallel systems working in the market now, a visible one mentioned here often is accreditation. Over time, these different systems will harmonize, it really is pretty inevitable.