Do You Think I'm Crazy?

I am considering transferring from Walden U. back to Liberty U. where I started postgraduate work. Based on my situation as outlined below, my friends and family think I'm crazy. What do you think?

Here's the background:

--Started at Liberty U. back in 2009 and completed 6 hours in Ed.S/Ed.D program (Educational Leadership concentration). Government tuition assistance paid for the 6 hours.

--Transferred to Walden U. in 2009 to pursue Ed.D in Higher Education and Adult Learning. I have completed 30 hours in the Ed.D program. Gov't tuition assistance has been used to cover a small portion of the Walden tuition.

--I use federal student loans to pay tuition not covered by gov't tuition assistance.

Here are the facts:

--Returning to Liberty to complete Ed.S/Ed.D (Educational Leadership) will require 54 hours at $250/credit hour (discount for veterans). Cost for 54 hours is $13500.00 (books costs not included). Will take about 3-4 years to complete (2014 or 2015). Will get Ed.S along the way. Ed.D requires three trips to the campus for one-week intensives.

--Cost to complete final 24 hours at Walden is approx. $18200 ($745/credit hr., book costs included in tuition). Will complete the degree, hopefully, in about 1.5 years (2012). Already completed one required residency; no more trips needed.

Additional considerations:

1. I like being a student, and I'm in no hurry to complete the Ed.D. I already have a great job with the federal government (DoD), I live close to family, and my daughter is a straight "A" student going to the 10th grade; therefore, I won't be pursuing promotion opportunities for at least another 3 years.

2. I have no problem with the fact that going back to Liberty would stretch out my Ed.D completion time by about 2.5 years (finish in 2014 or 2015).

3. Government tuition assistance covers up to $250/credit hr. for eligible courses. Liberty is $250/hr. and Walden is $745/hr.

Here's the deal: I have no complaints about Walden but something inside of me would like a doctorate from a bricks-and-mortar school. I'm not so sure that I want a doctorate from a virtual university.

So, would I be crazy to go back to Liberty?

 

Here is my take on it - once you complete the dissertation you will probably not want to do it again. Are you 100% sure Walden will be just right and you will not wonder - .....what if....? If you say no, or even hestitate, I recommend you turn back to Liberty. 2.5 years extra to complete it is not much compared to wanting to start over!

Does the sunk cost into Walden play a part in the big picture? Is that money lost?

 

Have you checked about transfer hours? LU takes up to 15 transfer hours in the EdD. You might only have about 39 hours remaining.

 

Good question. I probably should be, but I'm not concerned about the sunk cost. Also, I may be able to transfer up to 15 hours into the Liberty Ed.D program. I've decided to dip into my savings to pay back most of the student loans I took out to attend Walden.

 

I just had my Walden transcript sent to Liberty. I'll see what they say about transfer credit. Thanks.

 

Always go to a brick and mortar university if possible.

 

I transferred from Liberty because the Liberty Ed.S/Ed.D does not have an Higher Education/Adult Education concentration, which Walden does offer (my government job is higher/adult education oriented). The Liberty program is K-12 education oriented with just a couple of higher education courses offered in the curriculum. One thing I did enjoy, though, while taking classes in the Liberty program was that I could talk to my wife about what I was learning since she is a second grade teacher. It was fun seeing my wife's excitement when I brought some K-12 issues that are near and dear to her heart. was learning in my Liberty classes.

Now, I'm not so concerned about the lack of a Higher/Adult education concentration at Liberty. My goal now is just to complete the degree. Notwithstanding the fact that going back to Liberty would add a couple of years to my degree completion time, going back to Liberty would make the overall cost of the degree cheaper. In addition, something in my gut is telling me that obtaining my Ed.D from a bricks-and-mortar institution is the better way to go. I can't explain why my gut is telling me that but it is. Bottom line: I'm just not sure what I should do.

Oh, by the way, Walden and Liberty are about the same in terms of rigor. I've had no problems with the courses at both schools.

 

That's exactly what I'm thinking...

 

I am interested to know what decision you made. I started at Walden in the Ed.D. program in Higher Education and Adult Learning. The courses were great, but now that I am working on my project study, I feel that I am being ran around in circles. I was hoping to complete my degree in the required 3 years, maybe 3 1/2 (I understand that getting a doctorate is not supposed to be easy). I am at the end of my third year and see no end in sight. I have been without an email or feedback from chair for as long as four weeks at a time. Just when I think I am ready to move to the next step, I get sent another draft with major revisions.

I am considering tranfering to Libery. So far, all of the information that I am finding is positive. I do not like the possibility of my degree taking a little longer, but I have no idea how long it will take to finish at Walden.

Just hoping to find out what course of action you decided to pursue. Did you complete your degree with Walden or did you decide to go back to Liberty?

 

Hi Car77men,

Thanks for the question. I decided to stay at Walden. I am on Stage 2 of the doctoral study (HEAL). My chair, Dr. Butcher, has been great. He responds to all of my emails in a timely fashion. I'm hoping to finish sometime next year (started Ed.D in 2009).
I thought hard about returning to Liberty, but I decided that was not a good idea.

I had to accomplish several revisions to my Prospectus (Stage 1), but I finally got permission to proceed to Stage 2 (Proposal).

Please contact Walden and let them know you are not getting dependable support from your chair. Walden requires your chair to take no more than 14 days to respond to your submissions. I'm confident that Walden will help you.

Please, hang in there! You'll be glad you did.

Eddie

 

Hodge,

What's the financial impact of going back to Liberty? Do you lose any credits (hours)? It seems you figured this out already.

I don't think you're crazy. People embarking on doctoral work are all ready crazy so what's the difference? Ultimately, you have to be happy with your degree. Go with your gut. If you can pull it off by switching back to Liberty, go for it.