Hi everybody ; I'm new to this forum , i'm seeking advice about a new DBA i'm planning to prepare . it's the DBA of the American University of Leadership in Florida ( www.auls.us) . It's an ACBSP university and it's an affordable DBA comparing to other ACBSP universities . but i want to have enough information about the quality of the program and it's value in the professional market . If anyone is enrolling to this university or have any information or advice .. please help ! Thank you !
Never heard of it. After looking it up it appears to be a school in Africa, which is odd considering its use of "American" in its name. Tuition is $900 per credit hour for doctoral studies, which is very expensive for an African school. If you are interested in pursuing a doctorate through an African school, I would think you would get a lot more utility and save a lot of money by going through Unisa.
Fascinating. They're state licensed by Florida, not institutionally accredited by a CHEA accreditor, but do have programmatic accreditation from ACBSP, which says they're in Morocco. Their DBA tuition rate is $300/credit, with 60 credits required, for a total of $18,000. Their DBA is not covered by their ACBSP accreditation.
Owned by a for-profit company, it seems, yet solicits donations. Wow. As Steve notes, the school is not accredited by ACBSP to award the doctorate. But Florida approves them to offer it. There are other fees associated with this thing that would drive the cost close to $20,000 or so. Not non-residential. From the program description: "Students have to meet the International Residency requirement, by spending 3-5 days at the end of their program in campus." 45 credits of course work are required with 15 more for the dissertation. It is not clear how one proceeds through the coursework. Cohort? Asynchronous? Is it semester-by-semester, or can you go through it at your own pace? Probably not. (There are two "Team Research" classes. Plus this: "AUL students are linked via our e-Campus to international teams culminating a multicultural experience which supports the mission of the University.") Sounds like the school is selling American degrees in English to foreigners, using the Florida and ACBSP accreditation to get by, even though neither of them equate to regional accreditation. Probably good enough for most international situations as long as no one looks too closely.
I am interested in learning from hennoure wht she/he chose this particular school. What is it about this school that made it stand out as the best choice? It would seem to be marginal at best.
More details . Hi everybody , Thank you very much for you replies , you guys confirmed to me what I feared . But as kizmet says , I have to give more details about why I choose this particular school : first of all I'm a Moroccan , I have a BBa and a master from well known schools and universities . I work as brand manager in a telecommunication company for 14 years . I'm looking now in this particular period to earn a solid degree to boost my career , and maybe do some teaching on the side ( may be a lot of teaching in the future ) . I choose this school ( in fact i'm just considering it) simply because it have a subsidiary in morocco ,I visit their campus in my town and they try to convince me to do their DBA using that accreditations . I specifically asked them if their DBA is ACBSP accredited , and if the university is a RA one , they said yes to both questions . Well , with the details you were kind to give me here , I' m having second thoughts now . May be earning an accredited MBA is a better option than this doubtful DBA ? .
That's it right there, then! :smile: Please remember - ACBSP accredits individual degree programs, not schools. So, this DBA has nothing going for it -no ACBSP gold sticker and no institutional accreditation that I can see. (Florida approval is not accreditation.) Even though it does not approve this particular program, ANY ACBSP involvement in this school's programs is kind of strange to me, as ACBSP says it will only accredit programs at a US school that is RA, or a foreign school that has, in its words, "sufficient degree-granting authority in its own country." ACBSP has occasionally deemed the authority of Swiss Cantonally licensed schools as "sufficient" though it's not the same authority that mainstream Swiss (Federation) schools have. I don't see anything here that even remotely amounts to "sufficient degree-granting authority." This DBA, which comes without ACBSP accreditation, is about as "good" as one from a California State approved school. If you really want a legal-but-no-standing DBA, then you'd do well to pick one of the better California-approved unaccreds over this non-American University of Leadership. Likely costs less and some are a known, not-too-bad quantity. Again, it depends on where you live/work and what you're going to do with the degree. This is not a recommendation, but a starting point: California Pacific University At least it's been in business since 1976. Johann
Or - if you still prefer African schools, you could enrol for a distance-study Doctorate at UNISA or one of several other respected, 100% accredited South African universities. The degree would be worth a lot more than one from either this U. of Leadership or any California unaccred -- and you might even save significant money over the U. of Leadership's $18,000 price tag. Johann
BTW - the American (?) University of Leadership site is not functioning today. Gone bye-bye, maybe? :smile: Oops - It was wrongly given as www.auls.us above. It's www.aulm.us Complete lie on its website - says the SCHOOL is accredited by ACBSP. It is not. As I said ACBSP accredits PROGRAMS, not entire schools. Whois Info: Registrant Name: Anass Lahlou Registrant Organization: American University of Leadership Registrant Address1: 7380 W SAND LAKE RD Registrant Address2: Ste 500 Registrant City: ORLANDO Registrant State/Province: FL Registrant Postal Code: 32819 Johann
This from one of the AUL Faculty entries: "DBA, Bernelli University International Graduate School" Berne/Bernelli was widely cussed, discussed and debunked as a mill on DI and other fora, years ago. Been in several countries, now has a US location. Here's its website: http://www.bernelli.edu/ :smile: Look up the DI search engine. Lots on Bernelli, including acid comments that it should be re-named "Molinari" - Millers! :jester: Hmph! No institutional accreditation. Lies. Faculty with milled degrees. :sad: I'm done here! Johann
Consider Apollos University. Apollos University is very affordable, DETC accredited, and fully online. Apollos University offers the DBA. I completed one course with them and loved it.
Rich, I agree, however, Apollos University's DBA tuition is slightly over $200.00 per semester credit.
Nothing against Apollos OR National Accreditation -- but I'm not sure if NA will work for Morocco. I suggest that Hennoure check with the local Ministry of Education before signing up for any DETC or other NA degree. I know that NARIC-UK won't accept any of them and I've read that some Arab countries won't, either. In the UK, there are ways around NARIC (local universities may make up their own minds) but there are countries where I wouldn't want to even try an end-run around the rules! I'm still thinking that a South African degree might be the ticket here. Lowest cost by far for a degree that will "work" pretty well anywhere. Johann
You could make that VERY embarrassing for them. Since they told you (complete lie) that they are RA, you might ask them, just for fun - by which of the six Regional Accrediting Agencies are they accredited? I'd love to see their faces! :smile: Here are the six: CHEA: Directory of Regional Accrediting Organizations Johann
The school seems to be out of business already. The typical scam; set up a school, enroll students, cash and then close the school before the legal sues start to come by and drain the cash. The owners are probably already in Brazil enjoying the cash of the poor students that had the doctorate dream. Bottom line, do not bother with a school that is a start up and private. Most of these schools are not set up with the purpose of contibruting to society but to make a quick buck. The other issue is that "online doctorates" are starting to spread so most employers won't consider them unless come from a credible school with a professional accreditation (e.g. AACSB) on top of regional accreditation, of course there are exemptions to this but it seems to be trend. Employers know that in order to meet AACSB accreditation requirements you need to be a credible institution with a considerable amount of cash and stability to achieve it, this leaves out any over night operation like the AuL.
