CSU's Doctorate Tuition Dropped...

Which is why I am confused.

 

Right back at you Abner. Keep up the pursuit! Keep on keeping on.

 

Price is one variable. But for me, content would be more important.

One problem is that this whole discussion is being conducted by business students. I get the impression that in business, content might be less important than elsewhere. DBAs are DBAs (maybe). They are interchangeable (perhaps), so potential students should look for the ones with the coolest accreditation. Or something.

But in my own area of interest, religious studies at this point, content is king. Degrees aren't interchangeable, not even close. If somebody wants a Buddhist scholar, a degree that emphasizes evangelical Christian theology just won't do. And if the employer wants a South Asian specialist, an East Asian specialist might not do either. I think that the same specificity holds true in the sciences, in history, in most academic subjects. Biotech firms aren't just hiring every biology Ph.D. that happens to show up on their doorstep. They want people with cutting-edge knowledge of how DNA sequences result in 3-dimensional protein structures or something equally technical and arcane.

So from my perspective, the biggest consideration when looking at advanced degree programs would have to be the program's orientation, its strengths and weaknesses. I'd want to know where it's situated in the broader context of its discipline. If a DETC program was more strongly situated than an RA program, I'd probably lean towards the DETC option.

It's hard to think of specific DETC examples where that's the case, but the possibility certainly exists. That's why I'm always preaching that DETC needs to upgrade its academic profile if it really wants to play with the doctoral big-boys.

As an example of what can be done by a non-RA school, there's Rockefeller U., accredited by the NY Regents. Even more dramatically, there's the Burnham Institute's two brand new and as yet just CA-approved doctoral programs. (Ok, one of them is awarded jointly with UC San Diego, so that one's RA I guess.) Both Rockefeller and Burnham are big-time players in biomedical research. (Google the words 'burnham' and 'apoptosis' and see what you get.) That's the kind of stuff that many prospective doctoral students are going to be looking at.

It might be different in business. Maybe there are so many doctoral level (teaching and...?) positions in business that any warm body with a suitably accredited degree gets hired. I don't know, but I certainly wonder. There are countless business specialties after all, and not every school is going to be equally good at all of them. And even within individual specialties there will be differences of emphasis and approach. I assume that some students may have strong preferences in these matters that will influence their choice of school.

 

I think you make a very good point, I know I have only been thinking about the business side of things, and from my experience, outside of a big name brand school that is right for the company, these credentials are commodities that are interchangeable, which is why for masters and bachelors, I don’t think NA or RA matter a hoot, a (legitimate) generic no name school remains just that.

Where I work, for example, the ONLY name brand degree that matters is Cornell.

 

Oftentimes, only a warm body with a masters degree and at least 18 graduate hours in the discipline is required to teach adjunct. (In rare circumstances you might get hired full time with the former and some experience.) An RA doctorate is a plus for additional pay. Publishing and experience in addition to an RA doctorate is needed to be hired for a tenure track. An NA doctorate (and masters) provides none of these levels of preparation to teach business in higher education (at this time), with the possible exception of CA Community Colleges.

It would seem that foreign doctorates provide a significant alternative to the NA doctorate on tuition cost and economic utility.

Dave

 

Do you mean that with a foreign DBA like from Charles Sturt University, Australia would'nt have that utility to teach here in US RA Schools?

 

No, foreign DL doctorates such as the Charles Sturt DBA would have economic utility for teaching here in the States, infinitely moreso than the NA doctorates. In most cases, foreign DL doctorates are accepted as equivalent to RA doctorates, but they are harder to explain. Of course, such groupings include many schools of varying reputations, so I'm speaking in generalities and you may be able find exceptions.

Dave