Regionally Accredited Ph.D. in 8-12 Hours per Week with No Weekends?

Hello, everyone. I have several master's degrees, including one from an online university. I am now looking to enroll in a Ph.D. program. My short list is Northcentral, Walden, and Capella.

I want a Ph.D. for two following reasons:

(1) I'm interested in the subject area

(2) I want to be called Doctor (I'm being honest). While the title is the primary motivating factor for me, there are several benefits that flow from it:

- I want credibility in my career field (I know that the title will help; that's not an issue)
- I want to publish short articles independently (for professional, not academic, publications; once again, the title will help with credibility)
- I may want to teach online courses (yes, I know I can do this with my master's degrees, but I think I'd be more credible with a doctorate)

For me, the decision to pursue a Ph.D. is a now-or-never one, as the Ph.D. option will be closed to me once I get married, have kids, and advance in my career (I will have to work at least an additional 10 hours per week in a few years).

I don't want to burn out, and I want to ensure that I have time to relax and pursue other hobbies.

I'm wondering if I can spend 1-2 hours a day Monday-Friday plus 2-4 hours on a Saturday. Ideally, I would spend 2-2.5 hours per day Monday-Friday and not work at all on the weekend. Is this feasible during both the Ph.D. coursework and dissertation phase? Historically, I have spent very little time on my prior coursework.

Thank you in advance for all your comments.

 

The assumption is that you will spend 3 hours of study time for every 1 hour of in-class time for undergrad and 5 hours of study time for every 1 hour of in-class time for grad school. Your ideal of 2-2.5 hours a day with no weekends comes to 10-15 hours a week while your allowable 1-2 hours a day plus 2-4 hours on Saturday comes to 7-14 hours. Thus, 14-15 hours a week would be sufficient for 3 credit hours a semester. Northcentral is more generous about doing courses at your own pace.

 

The assumption is that you will spend 3 hours of study time for every 1 hour of in-class time for undergrad and 5 hours of study time for every 1 hour of in-class time for grad school. Your ideal of 2-2.5 hours a day with no weekends comes to 10-15 hours a week while your allowable 1-2 hours a day plus 2-4 hours on Saturday comes to 7-14 hours. Thus, 14-15 hours a week would be sufficient for 3 credit hours a semester. Northcentral is more generous about doing courses at your own pace.

EDIT: Northcentral requires 27 hours of coursework and 24 hours of dissertation (assuming you already have the master's). Therefore, at 3 hours a semester, 3 semesters a year (assuming you go summer semesters), you will accumulate 9 hours a year and take 3 years to finish the coursework phase. Then, the next relevant question is: How long will the dissertation take?

 

Here is a shorter answer - that should be no problem

 

Walden, Capella, and Northcentral? Business, Education, or Psychology?

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

I would like to do an Education Ph.D. with a specialization in training and performance improvement. Northcentral is at the top of my list due to the low cost and lack of residencies.

Randall, how long did it take you to get where you're at today, and how many hours per week did you spend?

In another thread, I read of "Dr. Lady" (not sure of the exact name) completing all Ph.D. coursework in one year by spending only 15-20 hours per week.

 

Also, NCU has 12-week terms for the coursework phase. I was thinking of doing four courses per year.

 

Let's see here now. Four courses per year. 12 hours per year. Two years plus one semester for the coursework phase.

 

Let's see here now. Four courses per year. 12 hours per year. Two years plus one semester for the coursework phase.

EDIT: Not sure what NCU's maximum time in program is, but usually they allow up to seven years (post-master's) for the doctorate. If you're going to complete the coursework in two years plus one semester, that leaves you with almost five years to finish the dissertation. That is eminently do-able. As a matter of fact, those who get a full-time professorate while on ABD status typically take five years to complete the dissertation by submitting one chapter per semester.

 

They are 12 week terms, but you can go as fast as you want. You could finish a lot more than four courses in a year, assuming you don't have family obligations that would get in the way. However, once you get to the dissertation phase, you are no longer allowed to go at the accelerated rate; conversely, you'll need every bit of the term to successfully fulfill the dissertation requirements. I can't speak for Walden or Capella because I've never been through their programs, but most of those who have speak highly of them. They are all RA.

 

What is that?

It sounds consistent with maybe taking one 3-semester-unit graduate class per semester. If you are looking at 60 semester units, then that's 10 years, plus the dissertation which will be very time consuming. You are probably going to have to devote more time to this project.

If each one is 3 semester units, then that's the equivalent of 6 units a semester. That's not insignificant at the graduate level. If you propose to put in 8-12 hours a week, that's about 4 to 6 hours per class per week. And in an accelerated format too. That's ambitious.

It sounds to me like you are pre-setting all the parameters like the prestige that you desire and the time that you are willing to devote, and then kind of pouring in the content as if you were molding a casting.

It might be a better idea to treat the content as the primary consideration and then to devote however much time and effort that you find that you need to master it. This is going to be a very demanding undertaking from any perspective. It's hard to see how you can realistically escape that.

 

I would echo others in terms of time spent on coursework; 8-12 hours would be suitable for one class a quarter/semester.

But let me tell you, that would all change once you hit comp exams and then the dissertation. You'd never get it done at that rate. I'm writing my dissertation proposal now, and I'm probably averaging 20-25 hours a week (most of which is on weekends -- I have very little time to do it during the week). Yes, it's insane, and it's a crazy amount, and I have no social life anymore, but keeping to this schedule is the only way I think I'll be able to complete my dissertation phase in a little over a year (I've set myself the goal of finishing by the end of 2010). And this is even considering that I've known, pretty much, what my topic would be since 2004, and so every class paper I've had to write has mostly been towards going into a section of the literature to start prepping.

So I guess you'd also need to ask yourself how soon you want the degree. If you're content to wait for the completion many years from now, then yes, you can put 8-12 hours in and no weekends. But if you want it sooner, it'll take a lot more time than that, imo.

Just my two cents.

Cheers,
Adrienne

 

Don't use me as any indicator. I started in the fall of 2004 and have been taking 2-3 classes per year. I have been going really slow. As far as the number of hours per week/month. I have no idea. In the traditional classes, they are pretty easy, in the Reseach classes and the Concept Paper/Dis Prop. classes, I have spend 30 hours in one week working on it!

 

Give up now. You don't have sufficient motivation to complete a doctoral program.

A doctoral program is for research and teaching in college settings, which seem to be tertiary objectives in your own words.

Who cares if a bunch of people who don't understand your research call you "Doctor"? What is meaningful is for someone smarter than you to acknowledge that you are doctor of the university.

Dude, you ain't going to make it!

Instead, take 50K of your money and 500K of your time and donate it to a worthwhile cause. Suggestion: there are kids of color who are struggling with elementary school math and there are adults who have ruined their lives with drugs. Don't be a narcissist. Help somebody else.

 

That's why I'm asking the question. You can see that I don't want to devote "too" much time to this endeavor.

When I publish professional articles about training and performance improvement, they will not be "academic" or "scholarly" articles. They will be written for the professional audience. I'm hoping that the Dr. title would increase my credibility. I'm also hoping that the combination of the Dr. title and my professional publications (along with the credibility from both) will help me in my career, which will also be backed by years of experience.

 

What do you think about my motivation? It's mainly driven by...

1. The Dr. title & the ability to sign my articles as Dr. Doctor
2. My interest in the material (training and performance improvement)
3. The fact that this is a now-or-never proposition for me
4. I have a fall back as an adjunct professor at a community college or online university for when I retire or if I get injured in the line of duty

Also, I wouldn't mind spending 20-25 hours a week for the first year if I could finish my coursework during that time period, similar to what "Dr. Lady" (?) did.

 

I see you got that crystal ball back from the shop and it is working just fine again. Any stock tips?

 

You can do anything you want regardless of the reason. You may start out with one reason to complete the studies and it may change over time. I have a whole host of self-serving reasons to complete a PhD and none of them have to do with helping others and do not follow the Suggestion: there are kids of color who are struggling with elementary school math and there are adults who have ruined their lives with drugs. Don't be a narcissist. Help somebody else.

People make it through med school because their family wanted them to and they have no intentions of being a doctor. You can make it through anything you try even if you don't really "want" it, so why not make it through something you want for reasons that others see as less then ideal? It might not be the most fun but you can do it if you want...regardless of the reasons.

 

You can do with with little time (10 hours a week) devoted over a long period (5-6 years). It will still take time and effort but it is a matter of how you spread it out.

 

Dave,
What PhD program were you enrolled it? Did you make it to the Concept Paper, Dissertation Proposal, what stage did you make it to before you realized you did not have sufficient motivation?