Doctoral with generous credit transfer

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Tarbuza, Feb 3, 2009.

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  1. Tarbuza

    Tarbuza New Member

    Is there any doctoral programs that allow liberal credit transfer from MBA or MS in Information Assurance for PhD or Doctorate in Information Security/Computer Science or Information Technology etc?

    Thanks.
     
  2. PaulC

    PaulC Member

    I think there is a general misconception about what transferring MS credits into a doctoral program means (for most US doctoral programs). The confusion is aggravated by the fact that you can typically enter a doctoral program straight from a bachelor's program (if you meet the admission criteria). But, in most cases, these doctoral programs essentially include the equivalent of a Masters program in credits prior to the doctoral courses. So, if you already have completed a Masters program, they may accept all the credits for that MS equivalent portion, but you still would have the full number of required doctoral courses (often around 10) and the dissertation.

    That is the long answer, the short answer is that there are many programs, such as Capella, that will take 100% of either of the MS credits/degrees you mention in transfer, but it will not limit the number of doctoral courses you would still need to take.
     
  3. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Northcentral University has the most liberal transfer policy that I'm aware of. For a doctorate, they require 81 graduate-level credits, above and beyond the Bachelors. They will accept up to 30 graduate-level credits from another college and, thus, you only have to complete 51 more graduate-level credits from them (24 of those credits are the dissertation).
     
  4. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I'm thinking they're both right.
     
  5. PaulC

    PaulC Member


    That's pretty standard. NCU is basically saying, if you only have a Bachelors you will need to complete the equivalent of a Master's first (30 credits) before you take the 51 doctoral credits. The NCU program requires 9 courses above the 30 master's level credits that they "transfer" in. It is not so much a transfer, as it is an acknowledgment that you need a Master's degree worth of credits completed prior to the doctoral work. If you have the MS already, then that suffices for the 30 credits they would have made you take if you hadn't already had the Masters.

    Capella is the same as are many, many other brick and mortar doctoral programs.
     
  6. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I think that Paul has nailed it. I have only one small comment. This is all based on the idea that your Bachelors/Masters is in the same general area as your prospective doctoral degree. Otherwise you can reasonably expect that you'll have to make up some credits somewhere along the line.
     
  7. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I thought there was a school that took 50 credits - I think it is good for dual masters graduates or PhD graduates. Some one told me but I don't remember who told me or what school it was.
     
  8. Tarbuza

    Tarbuza New Member

    How about Nova Southeastern University? Do they accept transfer credits?

    So far, it seems like NCU is the one that accepts 30 credits.
     
  9. PaulC

    PaulC Member

    For Nova, a master’s degree in any liberal arts, science, education or applied science field with a GPA of 3.25 is required for entry into their doctoral program. They do accept your MS credits, but not towards the doctoral courses. You still have to take the doctoral courses no matter what.

    A very large number of doctoral programs transfer all of your Masters degree credits into their doctoral programs. But no amount of MS credit transfers will reduce the number of courses required of the doctoral portion of the program.

    The most normal process is:

    Bachelors degree (120 cr)
    Masters degree (30-36 cr +/-)
    Doctorate degree (50 cr +/-)

    If you go straight to a doctoral program for a bachelors, the program will be 80-86 semester credits (as you can see, approx 30-36 of those credits are the missing MS degree)

    If you go from an MS degree, then the program will be approx 50 cr.

    So, there is no mystery to the "transfer" of MS credits.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 6, 2009

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