Bellevue University PhD program

Is anyone enrolled in the online Bellevue University PhD program? Curious what it is like and what it costs. Their website doesn't list credits but modules (1-4) and I am looking to see how much each module runs. I like that it is RA and the residency requirements seem reasonable but don't know much more.

I was ready to enroll at Columbia Southern but the RA/NA arguments have swayed me. Though I have no desire to teach today, who knows what tomorrow or 10 years from now could bring.

 

You might want to consider asking them.

The RA/NA thing isn't just about using your doctorate to teach. It's also about using it in many other employment situations. It's also about whether or not you're joining the academy and your work will join it, too.

 

I did consider asking them but just wanted the opinion of someone already in the program. It seems Northcentral is discussed frequently here but not much is said about Bellevue. Curious why that is since they have cheaper tuition and are a B&M RA school.

 

The Ph.D. program at Bellevue is very much smaller, newer, and more narrow (one specialty--Human Capital Management) than at NCU. It also has required on-campus residencies. It belies the typical query of "where can I get a fast and cheap Ph.D. without having to leave my house" we see around here. (That also don't seem to result in the award of a Ph.D. to those inquirers. Go figure.)

 

Thanks Rich - I was just curious whether the reason it wasn't mentioned had to do with its quality.

I called and inquired about the Bellevue program today and it seems quite interesting. In case anyone else is interested I am posting below what I found out.

-58 credits broke down into 4 modules and a dissertation
-Module 1 is 6 credits @ $485 a credit/12 weeks
-Module 2 is 15 credits @ $485 a credit/24 weeks (11 week at-distance internship after this module but I am still not 100% sure I understand how that works)
-Module 3 is 12 credits @ $665 a credit/24 weeks
-Module 4 is 7 credits @ $665 a credit/12 weeks
-Dissertation is 18 credits @ $665 a credit (1-2 years)
-No GRE/GMAT requirement
-its a B&M school with RA accreditation but this Phd is new and I don't believe anyone has graduated from it yet.

There is a residency requirement. You have to go out there twice during the program. Each visit is 3 days long. Seems very reasonable. It appears to be a cohort program and you begin in the fall (August) but you can apply anytime?? They seem to have a payment plan of some kind but again I did not get the full understanding of that yet.

I have requested additional information so we will see where that gets me. If anyone is enrolled in this program on this board I would love to hear how it is going and your take on the university.

 

Forgot to add "Fast, cheap, fully online, no GMAT, no GPA requirements but that allows me to get a tenure track position at a B&M school and preferably at an AACSB accredited one".

 

I think you forgot "and takes DETC credits for transfer". :biggrin:

 

University of Mississippi Gulf Coast PhD Human Capital Development

I have no personal knowledge of Bellevue, but here is an alternative for consideration.
The program has limited residencies of short duration.

Human Capital Development Ph.D. | The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast

 

Thanks kevin. I had never heard of that program! Good info on their website too.

 

Something about the phrase "human capital" just rubs me the wrong way.

 

This makes me a little upset... since my masters degree was 62 credits and I ended up with 68. I know that this Bellevue PhD is not a clinical degree or anything, but letters are letters.

 

68 credits for a masters? The Bellevue website cites 39 credits are needed for a masters. My masters at FIT was 33 credits.
Bellevue University | Master of Business Administration Degree(MBA)

 

The closest thing to this dream PhD was NCU. This program used to cost 25K and allowed admission with people with graduate degrees accredited by DETC.

Some people have mentioned that were able to get tenure tracks with this degree and able to finish it in 3 years while working full time and raising a family.

So you might have someone that finished an Aspen degree for less than 5K and then a PhD from NCU for 25K and were able to get a tenure track. However, I wonder if such individuals would be able to get tenure with not such as strong background but you might some that are just smart by nature that are able to get it.

 

I'm sorry, but NCU is a pathway to a tenure-track professorship? Since when? It's not designed for that at all. It's designed for the practitioner to do a bit of scholarship and to continue to practice.

If you're in your 20's and looking to start an academic career, you're not going to do it at NCU. If you're a mid-career adult, you're likely not going to start an academic career--have you seen what that pays? And even if you do, you're very unlikely to do it at a school like NCU. You're not going to have the teaching, internship, and assistantships that lead to academic positions. You're likely not going to do scholarly publications during your Ph.D. And you're not going to build the relationships that would lead to academic opportunities. Instead, you'll have a doctorate from an RA school and will be technically eligible to apply for jobs cold--very cold.

I could see the very rare situation where a university is just dying to get someone on board and the situation requires the person to possess a doctorate, and the person gets a doctorate in this fashion. But if you're out there reading this and dreaming of using NCU as a springboard into academia, please don't. Go get to know someone at a school instead. Rather, get to know a lot of people. Build relationships and do work. A school is much more likely to accept a nontraditional credential from one of its own people vs. a stranger off the street.

And I guess someone could catch lightning in a bottle and somehow land a tenure-track job by shopping around an NCU doctorate, but I'd like to see that.

Finally, this isn't a criticism of NCU. They're no different than any other school offering the doctorate nontraditionally. Capella, Trident, Union, Fielding, Walden, etc. You know the names. (This even applies to B&M schools who offer doctorates nontraditionally. You could take a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech by going to night school in its Northern Virginia location--situated in a shopping district) and you'd experience the same phenomenon: good degree and very little in the way of paths toward academia.) You might find instances where someone with such a doctorate is in a tenure-track position, but you can rest assured he/she didn't get the degree and then go job shopping. Someone he/she already knew told him/her to get the doctorate so he/she could advance in his/her career.

 

I wish you could see the NCU learners forum. There are many at the forum that believe their PhD in business will get them their tenure track dream position. Mine you, some have no clue what the AACSB is, how accrediting agencies view Ph.D.s and DBAs, and other basics a doctoral student should know. 15 minutes of comparing curriculum at an AACSB school vs NCU/Trident should tip someone off that there are major differences.

 

Personally I like the idea of some form of residency. It won't eliminate but it might help minimize the "No face to face time required. Very easy entrance requirements could make this school a haven for those that hire someone else to write their dissertations" criticisms that graduates of online only schools have to deal with.

 

Rich,

I agree with you but there are few people in the forum that were able to secure tenure track positions with a NCU doctorate. I'm too lazy to do a search but I recall two people that seem legit (one provided name and school).

The same stands for Capella, Walden, TUI. It happens but it is more the exception than the rule.

If you go to sites like linkedin and search for the key words "PhD" and "NorthCentral", you'll find quite a few people that claim a doctorate from this school but most at best use it adjunct at other online schools.

I believe that even in someone is able to secure a tenure track, this person still needs to probe that is able to publish and teach. Without face to face teaching and publication experience, it seems that the NCU graduate still needs to go to a huge learning curve to cover this gap that was not part of the NCU PhD student experience.

The few here and there that make it to tenure, are the carrots that drive those hundreds to get the doctorate from online institutions.

It seems that the real career path of this type of degree is online adjunct but even that is not so easy to get.

May be Bellevue is a bit higher in perception that NCU but I believe the utility of this doctorate in a very narrow field is very low besides the few opportunities that might open for adjunct positions and some consulting in the field of concentration.

 

Bellevue seems to be more credible than other online schools for sure but still far from being a "Research University". I know few people with PhDs from research oriented schools that are having a hard time finding work in this economy so I wonder what is the real value from a PhD from a school with little research reputation.

The program was designed for a very narrow market and it seems that might be of interest to some people interested in this field. However, I still believe that prospect students should be realistic about their expectations from this program.