USC EdD - No Master's Required

The program is extremely expensive, but if you're looking for an online doctoral program that doesn't require a master's degree, here is one.

https://rossieronline.usc.edu/academics/edd-online/

 

Just as interesting, it appears to only have 15 courses total if you already have a masters and the dissertation takes a unique approach. As you mentioned, the cost is up there. At $80 - 111K, depending on if you have a masters or not, it might not make sense for most. Is the USC name recognition that valuable?

 

Yes. But it still doesn't make sense to spend that much on an Ed.D.

 

It's a prestige program. For whatever it's worth, US News has the USC school of education tied for #10 in the US (with Northwestern and Texas-Austin).

https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-education-schools/edu-rankings

I like to see prestige schools rolling out DL programs, since it helps raise the profile of DL in general. USC has been kind of a DL leader in that regard. They offer an extensive line-up of DL engineering degrees too. (I'd be willing to bet that there are a lot of USC engineering grads at SpaceX, a few miles away.)

While $100k is big bucks for most of us, there are people out there for whom it's just pocket money. (Many live up here in Silicon Valley.) Other prospective students are educators who have employers willing to pick up the tab (or a lot of it).

And if you've ever seen USC frat and sorority kids, beautiful as movie stars, dressed in designer clothes and driving expensive sports cars, you would know that $100K isn't a lot of money among the sons and daughters of LA's elites.

They say that various sorts of financial aid is available (but apparently none of it is those doctoral stipends that one often sees in the sciences). They also say that many of their students take out federal loans and there are various loan forgiveness programs for graduates who choose to work in certain sorts of favored schools.

But ultimately, like many of the prestige programs, it seems to me to be designed more or less to reproduce an elite edu-aristocrat class, the kind of people who become administrators of huge big-city school districts. (The LAUSD has more students than Wyoming has people.) That, or Washington DC Dept of Education Undersecretaries. If you have any concern about price, then you probably don't belong at USC.

 

I have been talking with USC about this program. Using my GI Bill it would cost me under $20K out of pocket over the three years. There are several other programs I am looking at from B&M RA schools, none with nearly the prestige, that my GI Bill would cover 100%. So the question is, when comparing Ed.Ds, is the USC name worth $20K out of pocket compared to the other programs?

 

I was accepted into the program to start in May..... I have 10 days to decide to accept it or not.

 

It may not last long term, but USC has certainly taken a reputational hit in the last few days.

 

Thanks. "Reputational hit" is interesting, I bet it isn't impacting their recruiting. I have absolutely zero concern about it, and as with everyone else involved, I don't think it will impact any recognizable metric.

 

I just had a disagreement with someone in a doctoral group on FB about USC. Someone was soliciting advice on the program and I told them if they were paying for a name then they could pursue a 112k Ed.D. A current student who said she'll be graduating in May was upset that I suggested that students were only pursuing the degree for the name. However, at no point did I dispute USC's reputation but I always have to consider the financial aspect. In my opinion, the program isn't worth the ROI. Of course, you will only be paying a small fraction so I think it's worth it.

Have you looked at the University of Dayton? They recently launched an online Ed.D. in Leadership for Organizations at a cost of 68k. There's also the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign's online Ed.D. in Human Resource Development for just under 31k.

 

I would never pay this much for a program that I had to pay for myself. With the GI Bill, up to the cap, the rate of use per credit hour is the same whether it is $1 per credit hour or $10,000... the time is what matters (one month of instruction at the "full time" rate is one month of GI Bill use, part time is 1/2, etc.). In this situation even though the program at USC is costing me out of pocket due to being over the cap annually (it will pay $24K/year and has annual increases) the shorter duration will leave a considerable portion of my GI Bill intact for later use. A longer/higher credit hour program would likely exhaust the GI Bill prior to completion. With my background, a degree from USC will help bridge gaps that a lesser known program/school wouldn't; if that is "paying" for a name, so be it.

The University of Dayton program is administered by 2U, just like USC's and Vanderbilts, so it is likely a quality program. The 43 credit program I have the option for with USC won't be much different in price compared to the 60 credit hour program at Dayton.

 

Well that makes sense. All the best with your decision. I just realized that 2U also administers Baylor's Ed.D. program. I always found the program's website to be extremely similar to USC's.

 

While I'm sure there are people self-funding $80k doctorates, I'd say that the bulk of people who might be interested in this sort of thing are taking advantage of work tuition assistance which is even more common in school districts than the private sector. It's the only way I could have reasonably funded my MBA. The pricetag is far too high for a degree (even if AACSB) from a school with such a small regional influence.

I doubt school districts are ponying up $80k for tuition assistance. But I'm sure there is something to take a bite out of that tuition brownie. And I can see a person being willing to take on some debt to have USC versus, say, ACE on their resume.

 

the course looks really profitable

 

Everyone's financial position is different. I certainly could not justify the cost of the USC degree. Although I'd likely be enrolled tomorrow if my employer paid for it. Personally, if only $20k would come out of pocket, I'd certainly consider the USC degree a preferential program.

 

Thanks. I have been in the program for a bit.

 

How do you like it so far? Can you talk a bit about it?

 

I posted in the 2U thread but basically it is phenomenal. I have never completed a similar program at any level and, while we definitely pay for it, there is a level of support, involvement, and concentrated effort in our growth that I have never experienced. The immersions, cohort model, synchronous classes, support staff, professors, etc. all combine to make sure that we have what we need at any point in time for success. For me it is first and foremost a growth/development program, we were focused on the dissertation and publish quality writing from the first semester, and they have figured out a rewarding way to challenge and verify knowledge attainment through group involvement, deliverables, etc. It is demanding and most of my time is spent working on it in some way or another but the structure and path to graduation is very clear so it is easy to stay focused.