ROI of an Aspen EdD

I've been crunching some numbers and here is the ROI I come out with for an Aspen EdD. Somebody shoot me down if I'm way off base here.

Given: With an EdD from Aspen my options for teaching at a university level are extremely limited, maybe nonexistent.

Raise: At the private school where I work, my pay raise for a doctorate is $1050 per year. Kinda lame, I know. If I go work at a public school, it could be as high as triple that. But let's stick with $1050

The tuition and fees will be $7800. They tell me there will be no extra fees.

There are 14 classes to take. Buying books used on Amazon as much as possible, I doubt that book costs will be over $100 per class, probably less. But let's say $1400 for books.

Total cost of the EdD: $9200. (I'm sure I'm ignoring a few costs here and there but that's OK) That's an 11.4% return on my money. Being a teacher, I get an automatic pay raise every year. If you factor that in, I will be making over 14% on my money by the time I retire.

Pros:
11.4% ROI (increasing every year)
I get to be called Dr. Oliver
I am more likely to become principal (most K-12 school districts are OK with an NA degree)
I think I still have the opportunity to publish as Dr. Oliver
My job is easy and I have the extra time to study (comes with the territory after teaching many years)
I'm actually a little bored and need the extra challenge.

Cons:
With an NA degree, I most likely can't teach at a university level.
My degree will have not only the DL stigma, but the NA stigma as well.
Thus, I will not have the respect of academic individuals.


In this light, an Aspen EdD looks attractive to me.

 

I'm sorry to harsh your buzz but one of the things that you might want to put in the "cons" column is that there is a fairly large number of people who enroll in PhD programs that don't finish. It's much more common to complete a Masters degree program.

 

That's OK, it's not a buzz, just a consideration. I posted this for the express purpose of allowing people to critique. Thanks for that extra thought.

 

Since each pro and con has a weight and value, I recommend you use Carkhuff’s Decision-Making Model.

 

Thanks, Randell. I'm going to look into that as soon as I get back from my kayak trip. Too busy getting ready now.

 

Can any of your courses at NCU go to Aspen?

 

I understand, I was thinking of walking to my mail box today.

 

Dude! You had better be in shape for that!

They are business classes, but I'm going to try to transfer my 2 NCU classes to Aspen, if I go. Doesn't hurt to ask.

 

When I was working in law enforcement the last guy who ran from me was sorry he did. He got some baton and some pepper spray. I was mad as heck. I’m not known from my cardio, I’m known for my taco eating ability.


I hope they take them, they might let you use them as electives.

 

When I complete my PhD even my mother will call me Doctor! I think it is a sign of respect just like Mr / Mrs. A title that is earned should be respected.

 

You're pretentious every time you talk. If I every work hard enough to get a PhD I am going to the DMV and having it put on my DL.

 

You may want to add another item to the “pro” side: improved pedagogy. I have looked at the Aspen program and I think the coursework looks excellent. This might be just the thing you need to invigorate your classes or facilitate better teaching while at the administrative level. In short, your school will probably benefit from your participation in the Aspen program.

 

To quote the immortal words of Chris Rock:
"Everybody knows, if the cops have to chase you they're bringing an ass whipping with them."

 

You must have been a rookie. If I chased, I would not have the energy to use the baton. I always thought that we have rookies to do the chasing while we, older heads, call for support and otherwise try to appear to be busy.

 

Why not just sit back and shoot...you can tell I am not a cop and if I was I would not last long...

 

He punched me in the face when I went to pat him down, he also had two blue warrants on first degree's so I had to do something...lol

I was so mad when I was chasing I threw my radio and a pair of hand cuffs at him hitting him in the back of the head; I did not think that one through. I kind of needed the radio!

 

My old partner (38 year vet) would tell me storys about back in the day when they would just do that.

 

I do not know what school district or state you are looking at. In my state, only RA credits can be used to move up on the salary schedule. Do you already have a building level certificate or endorsement?

 

I'm almost positive that, in California, the only requirement is that the accreditation be approved by the Dept. of Ed. So any approved NA degree, like DETC should be OK. That's what I have heard from other teachers and what I have always thought.

Thank you for bringing that up because now I'm going to check to make sure. If DETC is not OK, then that changes everything.