Time for a FINAL decision on the Ed.D program

Hi Everyone:

Before I begin, I'd like to say how much I appreciate this forum. I have been here for over five years now and to say I have benefited (personally & professionally) is an understatement. The time has now come, as we say where I live, to s**t or get off the pot and make a final decision on where to commence Ed.D studies.

I graduated with my Educational Specialist degree from Northwestern State University earlier this year. As an aside, if anyone is interested in a TOP-NOTCH Ed.S program, I HIGHLY recommend NSULA...Wow! OK, back on task Ian.

I now have to make a final decision on my Ed.D program and some factors to consider. I just feel like talking (typing?) this evening so I will go overboard. I thought Aspen would be my initial route. Price was right, program was cool BUT at the end of the day I could not, could not, do all that work and have a degree that was not RA. End of story. Loved everything about the program with the sole exception of how I would be treated once I finished it.

So...unless someone has a better suggestion :beerchug: I think Liberty University gets my vote. The tuition is OK @ 508.00 a credit hour for a PT student like me, I have decided to embrace the concept of making the 45 hour drive from my home for the summer intensives (I can do three in one summer if I plan it right) and dissertation defense and I have already done the GRE for Northwestern State.

And...they will take 24 hours of my inexpensive Ed.S from NSULA (maybe more, I am still negotiating) in for this program leaving me with 36 hours to complete for the terminal Ed.D program.

Completing the Ed.D for me will be a dream come true. I find taking the courses and writing to be such a relaxing, soothing process that to not continue on is unbearable. My only concerns have been with cost. I am not getting any pay raises for this work and I don't want to make my family suffer so I can follow my dreams. Not fair. With the tuition payment plan, I can pay 300.00 a month to take my courses and this is certainly do-able. Also, the Canadian dollar is quite strong at the moment so I get a little kick back there as well.

If anyone has any thoughts, suggestions. etc. PLEASE do not hesitate to respond. I have skin SO thick you could not imagine! :banghead: and, as I began this post, have found you all to be SO helpful, kind and eager to share experiences for the betterment of your colleagues. Holla!

Have a great weekend everyone. Feels good to be throwing myself back out into the current of life...what could happen I wonder? :wave:

 

I just got accepted at NEU and will start my EdD studies in Sept. I was initially looking at Liberty. Being a veteran, I would have been charged $250 per SH. I viewed some course syllabai from Liberty, and the idea of keeping prayer journals and incorporating the Bible into all of the courses just didn't sit well with me. By the way I am a Born again Christian so please don't think I am some Bible basher.

Besides the religious aspect of the program. NEU's EdD is only 45SH compared to 60 at Liberty. Also, they only require 2 one-week residencies which can be taken back to back in one summer. And as far as name recognition, I do believe that NEU is a lot more well-known and respected.

With that said, if I never would have learned of NEU, I would have went with Liberty, doing my best to ignore the religious aspect of it, and I think I would have received an excellent education.

 

I am in the EdD program at Liberty and I love it. It supplies great academics and helpful instructors. However, it is very Christian and every class has some aspect of faith built into it. If that will offend you, you probably should look somewhere else.

 

Thanks

Thanks for that SurfDoctor, I appreciate it. I am not choosing Liberty based on my religious beliefs but I do have strong faith and belive that I can do all things through Christ that strengthen me. Hence, the Ed.D! What life opportunities will come my way with a doctorate I wonder?

 

LU is well respected. Best wishes with your pursuit!!!

 

If Liberty will accept 24 hours in transfer (or more) and their EdD is a 60 hour program … that’ll be a difficult deal to compete with. For example, Tarleton State University, where I’m a current MBA student, offers the EdD in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies (PK-16); however, the Tarleton program requires 72 hours and limits transfer hours to 12. Tarleton does have a better tuition rate for out-of-state students (Nonresident $456.97 per hour /TX resident $173.97 per hour) than Liberty, but with only 36 hours to complete, Liberty is certainly the better value as regards total tuition (e.g., total degree hours required /remaining).

The best to you with the Liberty EdD...

 

Yes, eye has not seen nor ear heard.

 

Thanks Jason. I love the NEU program as well and I have family in Boston who could put me up for the two weeks. The big thing with them was they would not take any of my NSULA Ed.S credit. I worked hard on that degree and would like to meld it with the next phase in my program. If I can't use any of the credits, I feel like I will be starting over. Psychologically this is a difficult proposition for me. What is the tuition rate per hour @ NEU? Thanks for the note and best of luck to you with your studies, NEU rocks.

Ian

 

Thanks for the info and thoughts Major56, I appreciate you taking the time to post your thoughts. Best of luck to you in your MBA studies!!!

Ian

 

Major points out the benefits of transferring Masters level work into the Doctorate program. Are there other programs like this, that will accept a high amount of transfer credits? The reason is that my company will not pay for Doctorate programs, and if I can take classes under the cover of a "masters" program my company will pay for it. I would be more interested in Business/Leadership programs, but don't want to get away from the topic of this thread.

 

The OP’s position as regards transfer units are different in that universities (colleges of education) that offer the post-master EdS degree, do allow EdS coursework to transfer or allow the student to petition the academic unit for a waiver of the requirement at the doctoral level; however, EdS coursework is not automatically transferable to a doctoral program. On the other hand i.e., the DBA or PhD in business, B-schools in all likelihood will not allow the transfer of credits used to obtain a prior awarded degree. Any allowable transfer credits would be required to come from academic units not previously utilized toward another degree attainment. This limitation is also applicable to the other academic disciplines. To my understanding, the EdD /PhD in education are the only terminal degree offering that will permit transfer /waiver credit from a previous awarded degree (EdS). There may be exceptions regarding other academic disciplines, but I believe this to be the standard.

 

I am curious why you got the Ed.S degree if you wanted to get an Ed.D. Why didn't you go straight in?