Total cost P.hD Business Finance - TUI vs NCU

Still disagree

Thanks for your thoughts and your welcoming.

I still believe you are severly miscalculate. The fact the prices per course have doubled over 5 years does not mean that if I start now I will need to bare double of the current costs, since within less than 5 years I will already complete the courses. And that is aggresively speaking (that prices will continue rising at the same rate). Statisticly you should have used the average tuition per course in order to estimate the entire bundle cost, which you did not do (you took only the starting price and the end price).

To make my point clearer, your assesment is only to be accurate if I tell you that I plan to start only within 5 years from now. That is not a wise assumption by itself since no one knows where the wind will blow in half a decade ahead.

Moreover, none of the arguments above reffered to the fact that while tuition per course has risen, all other fees have been omitted. I could go to TUI but they charge alot for each year of disseartation phase.

If I am wrong and NCU also charges per years of the dissertation phase than reffer me accordingly. I do not think that is the case. You have also reffered to "hidden cost". Details please, as I think the new structure of the tuition fee (as explained by the representitive) eliminate these hidden costs.

 

Well, it sounds as if you have all the answers. I am sure that you have done your due diligence in researching NCU and the numerous complaints of poor customer service, questionable business practices, poor reputation in the higher education community, and all of the other issues are not a concern for you. I am also sure that the representative (read salesperson) has steered you in the right direction because he/she obviously has absolutely no vested interest in adding you to the student rolls.

My "assumptions" were made out of direct experience with the school. I was in the PhD/DBA program there for two years. I left for greener pastures to a DPA program at B&M state school with a much better reputation for a fraction of the cost. I know people that have taught for NCU and have left advising anyone they come accross to avoid it like the plague. My friend Randell1234 has noted on more than one occasion after earning his PhD from NCU that if he had to do it over again they would not have chosen NCU.

I am glad you saw fit to seek out information on your choices, even though what you have heard conflicts with your preconceptions - so it obviously must not be valid.

Good luck with NCU.

 

This is true. The educational quality is fine, the acceptance in the academic community is still up in the air, the cost is going up alot, the customer service / support is the WORST I have EVER experienced. My reasons for the NCU choice were very sound to me at the time. If I had to do it all over again I would go with Nova.

 

Thank you

Dear Truckie,

I thank you for the information sharing. If anything I said sounded rude I want to clarify that was never my intention and I truly appreciate your support.

I never claimed anything that contradicts what I know is invalid, and I would happily take everything I wrote that sounded like that. All I wanted was to make sure that the information that contradicts what I was told by the university is based upon solid facts. I have quite of experience with other forums and sometimes people dare to state things which are not based upon facts.

NCU is probably the last option for me (one of the last two options to be percise as TUI is also an option), as B&M options are strongly considered due to price and prestigue matters. If the B&M don't go well, it is good to know where I'm headed. I live in Israel, so that B&M options are somehow limited, and I do not wish to attend a school with residency requirements overseas.

Thanks again (aimed at all) do not hesitate to share more information.

Enjoy your weekend.

Shay

 

You sound like you are evaluating all the distance doctoral programs out there... be sure to ask what the historical, doctoral graduation rate is at each RA university you are considering... that is, how many students have been admitted to the program since the beginning and how many doctorates have been conferred since the beginning. The RA doctoral graduation rate is thought to be no greater than 25%, but possibly below 10% graduation rate in the massive "doctoral programs."

Ask now, before all the BS about how smart they are starts and the sucking of money from your wallet begins, ad infinitum...

 

65k? Wow, long way from its original price of 6K when they started before earning accreditation.
There are few doctoral programs that have AACSB accreditation that costs around that, I know QUT in Australia and Grenoble. I wonder why you would want to pay a small fortune for a doctorate that has low reputation.

 

I graduated with a Ph.D. from NCU in August, 2010. It took me 5.5 years but with new regulations, they would likely force you through at a faster pace. I am not sure that I would choose NCU if I had to do over again, but I am not sure that I wouldn't either. I have not really experienced the horrible customer service others mentioned and they certainly never "pressured" me to enroll. I think they were honest with me and said "this is not for everyone." It might be different depending on different enrollment counselors, and who you end up dealing with in customer service.


I still like their independent learner model (which so many hate) and I like that they don't require residencies (another area that many think is a negative thing, rather than positive). I've talked to people who did Walden residencies. They said it was nice to talk with others working on their doctorates, but really nothing was accomplished (toward their education, dissertation, etc.) that could not be accomplished just as well at a distance. I didn't want to spend the money or the time away from home for residencies.

Anyway, my entire program was under $30 K. I prepaid for the entire program, and at that time I got a 10% discount on the tuition, plus locked in my rate for the duration of the program. I just checked NCU's site and though I don't see any 10% discount offer, they still allow you to prepay tuition which will protect you from future raises in tuition. Some borrow to do this, which would still give you a locked in rate. I didn't borrow. I saved up every bit of the money before enrolling.