Lowest Cost PHD/DBA

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by matt, Aug 29, 2007.

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  1. Doctor Doctor

    Doctor Doctor New Member

    You have to either study full-time on-site for one year or, if you study part-time, make continual trips to the university to be supervised. That, my friend, is not cheap.
     
  2. Westie

    Westie New Member

    Choosing A Doctoral Program

    I've taught in online and land-based doctoral programs and also been a student at a good doctoral program.

    Before you pay, find out about the students who graduated. How did the degree help them?

    Talk to people in your intended audience. Wll they respect the degree?

    A school may be fully accredited but still regarded as a joke. Or it might have value only within a certain community.
     
  3. dl_mba

    dl_mba Member

  4. matt

    matt Member

    Is the PhD or DBA/DM/Doctor of XYZ the better path to take? I've talked to a former professor who holds a DBA and suggests that a PhD is overall "better" as it's more "recognized" by the general public than an DBA. He was alluding to general public perception. I know that a PhD is more academically-based whereas a DBA/DM/D of XYZ is more business oriented.

    What do you guys think? Please share your thoughts.

    Thanks!
     
  5. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    This has been discussed before, I suggest you use the search function and look for these discussions. I personally don't think the designation name matters as much as the name and prestige of the school. I would rather a DBA from Harvard than a PhD from a low tier or online school.
    The main issues for doctorates are AACSB accreditation and reputation of school.

    Although I don't see much of a difference between the two designations, it seems that some of online Universities such as Walden and NCU have created DBAs as watered down versions of their PhD programs. Some other schools have created DBAs in executive formats that can be finished in shorter periods of times with the hope that DBAs would become the next MBAs.

    It seems that the general trend of many American and Canadian schools is to offer DBAs, DMs, etc as cash cows targeted towards business executives and the PhDs for people that aspire to become academics.

    In other countries like the UK and Australia, the DBA is the only route for a doctorate for MBA holders as the PhD normally requires a research master's degree. However, the DBA is mainly for professionals while the PhD is for academics.

    If you worry too much about the designation, just call your self Dr John Smith rather than John Smith DBA.
     
  6. matt

    matt Member

    NorthCentral Univ Doctoral Program

    I talked an acquaintance who attended NorthCentral Univ (NCU). He reached the all but dissertation stage. He said he would not recommend NCU as while the classes are good, at the dissertation stage NCU has continually changed their standards. He said NCU has changed catalogs and requirements and he was am not happy overall with the program. And as a result, took a long break from the program.

    Can others who have attended NCU share their experience.

    Thanks so much.
     
  7. truckie270

    truckie270 New Member

    I was in the NCU DBA program from 2005 to 2007. I left NCU and transferred to Valdosta State University.

    I was one course from completing my specialization and moving onto the comps, then the dissertation courses. NCU changed the program requirements a couple of times while I was taking classes.

    Right about this time they started having a significant personnel turnover - my advisor up and left one day, then a faculty member here or there. There has been some extensive reorganization and the tuition has increased dramatically in the last couple of years.

    There was nothing wrong with my experience and I learned a great deal in my specialization courses. I completed that last spec. course in 2008 and was awarded an MBA just so I would not feel like the credits I completed at at NCU and were not taken in transfer by VSU were a waste.

    I will say that the pace of change and degree of uncertainty in the period right before I transferred were big contributing factors in my decision to leave.
     
  8. matt

    matt Member

    @ truckie270:
    Is it a normal practice for NCU to award an MBA when one has reached a certain point in their doctoral program? I know some colleges do that.

    With your experience at NCU, would you recommend it to someone or choose it it again for yourself if you have to restart the process again?

    Thanks.
     
  9. matt

    matt Member

    Hi Ted:
    I don't think Nova offers the DBA via online. See: http://www.nova.edu/academics/degrees.html?tab=professional



     
  10. matt

    matt Member

    Can others who have attended NCU or graduated from NCU please chime in and share your experience. Please share about how you felt about the NCU doctoral program (PhD or DBA). Is the school chaotic or has the program improved? Would you recommend it?

    Thank you!


     
  11. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    In some places (like in the UK), the DBA is a "taught" degree; it has a course component and a smaller thesis ("little book" requirement. This is opposed to the Ph.D., which is judged solely by the thesis--"dissertation" in U.S. parlance--although one's advisor may ask the student to take one or more classes in preparation. The thesis in a Ph.D. is a much longer "big book" (about 50k words for the taught degree and 100k for the Ph.D., but this varies).

    In such an environment, the Ph.D. is likely to be considered superior.

    In the U.S., things are a bit more murky. Some schools award either, based upon the same curriculum. (Nova Southeastern used to do this.) Others award the DBA for what is essentially a Ph.D. curriculum. Harvard does this. Finally, some schools distinguish the DBA by allowing a thesis that does not contribute to the knowledge of the discipline. (The student's work, while original and significant, is not inferred to be more widely applied than his/her project.) I wish they would not do that, for I feel it fails one very significant requirement of the doctorate: that it makes an original contribution to the knowledge of the discipline.

    Either way, the work is likely to be comparable. For example, at the Centre for Labour Market Studies, the Ph.D. requires a thesis of 100K words (maximum, including appendices). The Doctorate in Social Science, on the other hand, requires 4 4k-word assignments, 4 5k-word assignments, a 5k-word proposal, and a 50k-word (again, maximum) thesis. That's approximately 91k words.

    Finally, I'd be more concerned about taking the degree that advances your career and interests, and not get caught up in the degree designation. What you study, what you research, what you write, and the awarding school are all far more important, IMHO.
     
  12. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

  13. matt

    matt Member

    Anderson Univ

    Anderson Univ is not online in the way we are discussing on the bulletin board. Majority of the classes are on campus.

    http://www.anderson.edu/falls/programs/dba/details.html

    The link details:
    The AU DBA IS NOT a distance-learning program. While tools of distance-learning may be used to facilitate education, the student will complete a majority of classwork through a traditional classroom setting on the campus of Anderson University.



     
  14. Kaboom

    Kaboom New Member

    I am a DBA (ABD) with NCU. The only difference between the DBA and PhD is in the focus of the dissertation. As for the changes within their doctoral program over the years, it has only enhanced the quality of both doctoral degrees.
     
  15. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Never claimed it was online. I said it was based on four one-week residencies per year. Different.
     
  16. JeepNerd

    JeepNerd New Member

    http://www.mountainstate.edu/programs/leadership/courses-and-residencies.aspx

    Actually it adds up to 58 hours x $650 for 37,700 of tuition, is what they are quoting me currently.

    When I spoke with Walden University on the phone, they said I should expect 60-80k
     
  17. Q8ya

    Q8ya New Member

    Hi

    i like your useful feedback. any body with experience with doctoral program in University Of Atlanta ??

    i posted this question in the forum but no clear answer yet. i hope to get the answer in this section.
     
  18. louisnguyen27

    louisnguyen27 New Member

    I would suggest NCU.
     
  19. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    From the Great State of California

    William Howard Taft University www.taftu.edu now offers the DBA. Tuition for this 60-hr. program is $420/month for up to 48 months, or up to $20,160. They are accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council.
     
  20. Dono

    Dono Member

    Complete it in as little as 27 months and that would be a DBA for around $11K.
     

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