Looking for an affordable PhD/DBA/DSc or similar program

Hello all


I am considering enrolling in a PhD (or other kind of doctoral) program, and I would like ask a few questions, and to hear opinions on possible alternatives.


First, a few facts that may help:

- I am close to completing a MSc in IT degree at the University of Liverpool (DL through partnership with Laureate), so I will have a Master degree prior to enrolling to a doctoral program

- I have absolutely no problem with motivation, paper writing, research etc in DL environment, so that should not present a problem for doctoral studies either. Yes, I know that amount of work / motivation / etc for a MSc program is not equal the work and the rest needed for a PhD/DBA/DSc/EdD program, but at least I have prior experience with endless nights and weekends spent on writing papers or discussions, family-time management and so on

- I am looking for a (applied) computer science, information systems or similar computer-related PhD program, or a computer oriented/related PhD or DBA (or any other doctoral level program, such as DSc or similar)

- The has to be a RA / Royal Charter or accredite on a similar level. NA / DETC & similar are decisively out of the question

- Name recognition is not extremely important, but I would prefer an US- or UK-based program. Scandinavian programs are also perfectly ok (are there any interesting ones?), same goes for the rest of EU, barring language problems. I speak German fluently, but my writing skills (in German) are not really PhD-worthy, so I would consider a German-based program only as a last resort.

- I would like to avoid having to take GRE/GMAT or similar test prior to enrolling, if possible.

- I have no published papers or books, so I do not fulfill the PhD admission requirements for great majority of UK-based doctorate programs.

- I do not intend to complete (hopefully!) doctoral-level studies in order to teach full-time or part-time, although I would not refuse a job at the local equivalent of a community college or an (part-time) online adjunct position - it's additional money for our kids and our household, after all

- My funds for educational purposes (i.e. for a doctoral studies) are limited to approximately 30,000 to 40,000 USD (which equals roughly 20,000 to 25,000 Euros), spread over 3-5 years or so. I am aware that there are many nice programs out there that may suit my interests better, but if they cost 50,000, 70,000 or 120,000 USD, they are definitely waaaay out of my league, alas. So, I have to concentrate on affordable ones, i.e. those that are affordable for me personally.




So far, I have found the following:

------
Walden
------

- I have heard that Laureate students get discount when enrolling at Walden (same owner), but I do not know how large this discount is, actually - is it 5%, 10%, 20%, ...? Does anyone know?

- Walden DBA costs $740 per hour, which comes to around 44.5k USD, and around 2k for two residencies, coming at around 46 to 46.5k USD. If the "Laureate discount" is 10% or more, it would fit my budget restraints, but only barely so.

- Their PhD is way too expensive (for me), since I don't believe I can complete the whole thing in 2 years (4-6 years are much more realistic), and they are charging it per quarter...

- What kind of dissertation/thesis and defense is required for Walden DBA?


-----
NCU
-----

- Their business PhD or DBA is around 31-32k USD (21-22k Euros), so it seems affordable

- Same as above for Walden, how does the proposal / dissertation / defense process look like, and how tough it is? I know that "tough" is highly relative, but some opinions and experiences won't hurt



Are there any other alternatives (in US or UK, preferably)?

 

There are many UK based universities that offer DBA programs which can be done by distance learning. These include Manchester Business School, Henley School at Reading, Aston, EBS to name a few. There is also Genoble based out of France, which offers a DBA program. All these programs except EBS is AACSB, which is good.

In the US, there is Dakota State University program, DSc, which is being pursued by some memebers of this forum.

Eric Brown, who posts here is doing it and you could get in touch with him. Han, another member in this forum, completed the DBA from Grenoble and had some good things to say about them as well. You should be able to find details of previous conversations/threads here.

Good Luck

 

Thanks for the answer and suggestions

I've looked up the schools you have suggested, and came up with this in my mini-research:


- Manchester (MBS): Unfortunately, Manchester Business School DBA is too expensive (for me). It is currently 40,000 Pounds, which amounts to approx. 44,300 Euro or approx. 65,700 USD

Source: http://www.mbs-worldwide.ac.uk/programmes/dba/fees.asp


***

- Henley (Reading): They offer PhD in Informatics via DL (kind of), but require that student, if not studying on-campus, works in an institution with "comparable research facilities" (i.e. an university or in a large R&D Lab of a company such as Bosch, IBM, Siemens, Microsoft, Daimler, Peugeot-Citroen and such, according to the person that answered the phone there).

Similar thing is also on their website: "Working away from the University usually applies to students who are working in institutions where research facilities are available, while pursuing research towards a higher degree with the supervision of both the University of Reading and the other institution." (Source: http://www.reading.ac.uk/Study/fees/pg-feestable.aspx).

Since I am working in a relatively small company, this seems not to be the case for me. This is a pity, since their tuition fees seems to be very reasonable - 3,200 (Lab) or 2,648 Pounds (No Lab) per year for part-time students not working on the University (amounts to approx. 2,900 Euro/year or approx. 4,300 USD/year when laboratory work is required, or 3,500 Euro/year or 5,200 USD&year where no lab req. apply).


***

- EBS: This school requires GMAT, which is not what I prefer. They also do not list the tuition fees for their doctoral programs.


***

- Dakota State: Requires GRE, but otherwise seems affordable.


***

- Aston DBA costs 32,000 Pounds (35,500 Euro or 52,600 USD), source: http://www1.aston.ac.uk/aston-business-school/programmes/research/the-aston-dba/fees/). unfortunately, this is also way too expensive for me.


***


Grenoble:

- Grenoble Ecole de Management DBA (Switzerland) costs a minimum of 37,000 Euros for the first 4 years, 3,000 Euros for each subsequent year. This amounts to approx. 55,000 USD (sources: http://www.grenoble-em.com/default.aspx?rub=1124 and http://www.webster-grenoble.ch/dba/program-costs.html).


- Grenoble Ecole de Management DBA (USA) costs a minimum of 49,800 USD for the first 4 years, 7,800 USD for each additional year.

Unfortunately, Grenoble is also quite expensive :/



Any other suggestions?

 

Dakota State University requires GRE, but can be waived. "General Admission Requirements

The Dakota State University Graduate programs seek highly motivated individuals with education and professional credentials that will enable them to be successful graduate students. Admission to the graduate programs is based upon a combination of the following requirements:

* Baccalaureate degree from an institution of higher education with full regional accreditation for that degree.
* Satisfactory scores on the GRE. The test must have been taken within the last five years. The test can be waived if one of the following conditions is met:
o A cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale for a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university in the U.S.
o Official admission into and demonstrated success in a regionally accredited graduate program in the U.S. Demonstrated success is defined as grades of A or B in at least 12 hours of graduate work.
o OR Graduation from a regionally accredited college/university in the U.S. at least 15 years ago or more.
"
URL: http://www.dsu.edu/gradoffice/grad-admission.aspx

Nova Southeastern University has the same criteria. My friend was accepted to Nova Southeastern University for a Ph.D in Information System without GRE exam, but he put the program in hold due to financial issue (previous student loans).

 

If you plan to do a PhD just for self improvement and to work as an online adjunct, I would say that the NCU PhD would be more than enough. However, why to close any possible opportunity of becoming a full time professor or working at a top level research institute? Have you tried the University of Liverpool? There are plenty of British and Australian schools that can take external research students. I believe that if you are going to take the time to do more work, you should do something that can open doors.

I do some online adjunct work and lately have seen a trend to increase work requirements from online schools. I stopped working at one school last month after doing the math and calculated an hourly rate of $12 USD and hour, in addition the same school sent me a letter telling that I was required to spend more time in the class room and post more messages. I really think that there are more cost effective ways of making $12 an hour so I'm not sure if the time invested in a low tier PhD would pay off. Most schools require you to grade from 15 to 40 weekly projects and assignments, provide personalize feedback during 8 weeks, post at least 5 times during the week and all this for a wonderful sum of 2K every two months besides no benefits and no job security.

 

As far as I know: University of Liverpool offers 2010 a DBA programme!
The PHD will we offered later on.

Cheers
DonW

 

Yrrex, I like your write-up. Looks like you do have the potential to do doctoral studies. However, since you are looking into MIS/CIS degree, which falls under school of business, it is imperative that you must look into AACSB accredited schools. A good option would be Lancaster University. It is AACSB, allows distance-ed, and very affordable and within your budget (20K GBP, roughly $32K for a 4 year programme). Check it out at http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/phd/PhDProgTypes/PartTimePhD/
and don't forget to treat me for lunch or dinner if you like it

 

Yeah, that's true - my SSM told me that while ago I am still waiting for the price info though.

Additionally, I'd rather do a PhD programme in computer-related field than a business degree with computer/information systems concentration (such as DBA), but it seems that PhD programmes are generally quite a bit more expensive than DBA or other "non-PhD" programmes.

There is also the question of when, exactly, Laureate will offer a PhD programme together with UoL - it could be a few years until then.

 

My bachelor and my (almost finished) master are from UK universities, not US ones, so Dakota State GRE requirement cannot be waived in my case.

Nova Southerneastern computer-related PhD programmes look very interesting indeed. However, they require 4 residencies per year of study (plus the orientation day residency). This will be rather complicated (and rather expensive) to do for me , because I live in Europe.

Hence, PhD (doctoral) programmes with no or few residencies are the ones I am looking for, other options are either too time consuming, too expensive or both.

If University of Liverpool (Laureate) start offering (affordable) PhD programmes, then several residencies per year won't be such a problem, as they will be held in UK. Until (and if) they actually do, I will consider other programmes

 

D.Sc. in IS or PhD

I noticed the program for Dekota State Univ is a Doctorate of Science not a PhD. What are the pros and cons of going that way? I realize the D.Sc. doesn't require a dissertation which is eaiser but what about perception in industry? thanks.

 

Since you don't need the doctorate to accomplish any of those goals, why pursue it at all? How about another masters degree, which is very doable and could result in some tangible benefits? How about writing a book? By the way, how old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

 

http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27212

 

If you meant Dakota State University (DSU), then you are incorrect. The DSU DSc program requires a dissertation.

http://www.dsu.edu/doctor-of-science/dsis-program-requirements.aspx

Also, the DSc and the PhD are very similar. Some argue that the research for a DSc is more applied whereas the research for a PhD is more theoretical. However, based on what I've seen, this line is blurred.

 

Aside from personal satisfaction for doing it? With a PhD I would have much easier time applying for a few dream-jobs. Naturally, these are classified as dream jobs only for me personally, not to be mixed with what general public consider to be a dream job - David Beckham anyone? . Without a PhD, it's going to be much tougher.

Additionally, universities in Europe seem to be far more inclined to employ adjuncts holding a doctoral level degree than otherwise. While teaching with a Master degree is possible, the opportunities are few and far between. And, it seem that they are growing fewer each day.

Maybe it is due to the rapid increase in number of doctoral level degree holders in recent years, as already suggested here in this forum in another thread? Maybe, maybe not. Yet, the harsh reality is that application for many adjunct positions (online/DL or not) will not even be considered without a PhD.

It's actually similar with those "dream jobs" of mine I have already mentioned - while having one or more Master degrees is certainly enough to apply, my own study record is not exactly stellar (otherwise, I wouldn't pursue my first Master through DL, many years after BSc studies So, I strongly believe that having a second Master will look mildly interesting on my resume at best, while having a PhD would give it a real punch.

Again, this is how my personal situation looks like, and above statements are not to be understood as a general overview of adjuncting in Europe, CVs or "dream" jobs or whatever else. As always, your own mileage may vary.

I don't mind - I am 39 years old (young?) now, which would place the beginning of my PhD studies at the point when I will be 40 or 41 years old.

Do you consider this to be too old to start a PhD programme?

I am curious, because I believe there was another thread here with you stating that the age of 46 is too old to start a PhD, if I recall correctly.

 

I received my BBA in 1973. I’ll complete a 2nd MBA in 2011 – do the math. I’m not sure which poster believes that at the age of 46 is too old to begin a Ph.D., nor their data to back this reasoning. If the terminal degree is your passion … go for it! Lord willing … the time will pass either way.

 

Data...we don't need no stinkin' data...Dave said so - period.

 

In that I’m a comparatively new poster did I miss something regarding Dave's historical response/s?

 

Dave has a habit of telling people not to pursue a doctorate.

 

Thanks for the heads-up Ted and Randell…

 

41 years old might not be too old to start a doctorate, if you aren't strung out 6, 7, or 8 years completing it. Assuming the degree is conferred, then you have publications to do and the march toward tenure. You could be well in your fifties before you land a full time teaching job with benefits. The doctorate is for teaching and research in higher education; don't pursue it if those aren't your passion.

Of course, you can probably find a school that will happily take your money as a beginning doctoral student and then down the road try to pretend that you aren't as smart as they are, stretching your completion out and out... easy money for them but don't step in their get rich quick scheme, unless you really think you need the doctorate for teaching and research in higher education. That's my advice.