Question on UK/Aus DBA Programs

We've had some lively discussion on UK and Australian DBA programs in this NG. Compared to the U.S. big six (Union, Nova SE, Argosy, Capella, Walden, etc.) these programs would appear to be attractive both on price and academic stature perspectives.

If I were looking for a DBA program today, I would certainly give them a good look.

But here is my question - does anyone (perhaps Professor Kennedy???) have any notion what their graduation rates are? How about their average program duration?

In the case of Nova Southeastern, the average time from start of classes to draft approval is 62 months. (25th percentile is 51 months and 75th percentile is 73 months). From my observation the vast majority of students that do not finish choose to drop their studies as opposed to being asked to leave. NSU (and I suspect the rest of the big 6) are programs that most students can complete - if they are diligent. The dissertation track, for example, is defined and doable. IMHO these programs are effectively endurance races.

With respect to the UK and Australian schools - can anyone answer the same questions?

My point is this - the UK and Australian schools may look good (and sound economical) - but if they are willing to leave students as ABDs or have impossible dissertation requirements, they may not be a good choice for students.

Regards - Andy

 

Hi Andy

Your question is a bloody good one - I would like to know the answer too.

Here is a comprehensive study of post-grad completion rates in Oz, but I don't think it mentions DBA's. It says that a tick over half the reseacrh doctorate students who commenced in 1992 had completed by 1999 - and that's a higher rate than I thought would be the case, to be honest. I've only skimmed the report, but you may find it useful:
http://www.dest.gov.au/highered/occpaper/01d/01d.pdf

Very Kind regards

 

I've now had a chance to have a bit of a closer look at the study mentioned above.

In 1997 the breakdown of the sample (2,647 individuals) who started in 1992 went like this:
53% completed
27% dropped out
18% still going
2% dropped out, but completed another course (usually a Masters)

The report also extrapolated the 18% who were still studying and concluded that the final completion rate (by 2003) would be 65%.

Now to the Andy's question.

I don't have any data on the completion rate for DBA's, only the above. But the DBA's are being offered in the same education system by the same Universities using the same academics so it would not be unreasonable to say that a line could be drawn between DBA completions and research doctorate completions.

What else do we know? DBA's are full fee paying in Australia whereby most PhD students are funded by the Government. Therefore, there is a clear business incentive with the student and with the university to complete the course.

Andy's speculation that the universities might be willing to "leave students as ABDs or have impossible dissertation requirements" would not be consistent with a business model that relied on students passing through the course and leaving a positive market image.

I think Australian universities are very keen to ensure academic standards are maintained with their DBA offerings, and that may have given some overseas enquirers the impression, perhaps, of "impossible dissertation requirements".

I think Oz universities would be very keen to make sure that only those who they have confidence can complete the course are accepted.

The key with the DBA - as with any doctoral program - is to have a "doable" research project, in an area in which you are interested and with a supervisor you can get along with. I think if you can fulfil these criteria - and are prepared to work - you will get through an Oz DBA. I wouldn't be surprised if the completion rate ends up being higher than the 65% for PhD's.

Hope this is of interest (and it would be great if we could extend the debate on completion rates to all jurisdictions, comparisons, arguments, etc.)

Very kind regards

 

I'm presently enrolled in the DBA at USQ. As a student that is familiar with the Canadian system, I must say that Australian academics are a bit more rigorous than the regular Canadian academic. Australian professors tend to be more strict and more theoretical than Canadian professors. I wouldn't say that DBA program is very difficult but certainly not easy as many might think. However, a DBA is an excellent choise for someone looking to get a doctorate in a reasonable amount of time, in Canada, most business doctorates are 4 year full time programs compared with the 4 year part time for the USQ DBA. I work as a college professor in IT and I have been given credit for my partial studies at USQ for a pay increase, so recognition in Canada is not an issue.