Doctoral Degree Search

My point is only that a PhD will probably have little or no professional value for someone pursuing a career in politics. There is a conspicuous lack of PhD politicians, and so there is no reason to suppose that the average voter is impressed by this credential. Any status boost that the PhD might possibly provide would likely be outweighed by the substantial investment (in time, effort, and money) required to earn it.

More generally, I would not recommend the PhD to anyone, except for those with a real passion for a particular subject, and who want to pursue knowledge for its own sake. Because realistically, that may be the only reward to come out of the degree process.

The professional value of the PhD has fallen substantially in recent years. There is currently a PhD glut in academia, and relatively little demand for the PhD elsewhere. Certainly not in politics.

 

Interesting comment, CalDog. Would you see the DBA as having better value for a person then, as opposed to the PhD?

 

Since, by definition, 50% of the population are less intelligent than the other 50%, this explains the poor voter turnout at elections.

Jack

 

I noticed that only four states (California, Maine, Oklahoma, and Washington) where neither Senator has some type of graduate degree.

 

But the preferred graduate degree, by far, was the law degree. I counted only seven states (the four above, plus
Colorado, New Jersey, and North Dakota) where neither Senator had a law degree.

 

Ain't it though? When NCU was applying for candidacy, I had a running gentleman's bet with another poster, asserting that NCU would have to implement some kind of residency in their doctoral programs, if only to accommodate the defense. Obviously, I was wrong.

Although I'm an advocate of DL, I strongly support residencies, especially for doctoral students. They help create and maintain the collegiality between participants, helping distinguish scholars from mere students. Becoming a Ph.D. without that interaction seems odd to me. It's like you're not part of a university, you're just taking a training course. Extreme, sure. But that's how it feels to me.

 

Dr. Douglas,

Although I have never written an dissertation (and likely never will) and therefore have no personal knowledge of the process, I am given to understand that the process itself can be very independent?

 

POLITICS, DEAKIN, PHD, NOSBORNE48

Thank you all, as always, for your thoughtful response to my questions. I appreciate the frank discussion. Whether or not politicians have PhD’s, I will continue with my plans to achieve mine and look forward to my entry into the political arena. At the very least, I would not be any worst off.

Nosborne48. My sincere apology for not responding to your Deakin University question earlier. I have been in and out of the state and most recently have had damages to my home as a result of that pesky Hurricane Wilma.

In the course of a few months I have been communicating back and forth to Deakin University staff regarding the SJD program. In my first email, I submitted information regarding my credentials and made mention of my Masters of Legal Studies, Law & Public Policy Degree. Since the website was not clear on whether or not the SJD is offered entirely by Distance method, I emailed them for clarification. I was told that indeed the degree can be undertaken entirely by distance and that my qualification (which they determined from an emailed copy of my transcript) appears to be enough to grant me admission into the program. I was forwarded links to an international student application, tuition information and encouraged to join the Distance Degree Students Association. If you would like me to send you excerpts of that email and/ or the link to the portion of the site that mentions the requirements of the SJD by Distance, please email me and I’d happily comply.

In the meantime, after visiting the Deakin University SJD program and reviewing the Charles Sturt University Doctoral Degree in Public Policy and weighing the fact that Charles Sturt has potentially agreed to accept my Nova Southeastern University’s Qualitative Analysis credits in lieu of their Method of Inquiry 16 credit/point course, I have decided to enroll in their program.

My next course of action is to submit to them my dissertation development plans. But I have already registered for two of their courses.

If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me.

Obliged,

 

Thanks, but at the moment, the London program is about as much as I can handle!

I can easily see that a Master of Legal Studies degree would get you into a doctoral program.

Where is Chas. Sturt? Scotland, is that right? You might want to take a look at the UK Home Office website for an astonishing collection of UK criminal justice research, all on line, all free, and mostly very solid work.

Your tentative research on "profiling" is a very hot topic at the H.O. right now, BTW.

Best of luck!

 

Australia.

 

Down under?

Yeah, I found that out. Well, the Home Office stuff might still be of use to her; outside the U.S., the common law countries talk a lot together!

 

Re: Down under?

That's only because it's the best way to get subsidised air fares to the cricket and the rugby ;-)

Angela

 

I have HEARD that that's exactly why Australia retained its final appeal to the Privy Council for so long...it was a chance to visit London on the client's shilling!

 

Re: Re: Down under?

Actually, we prefer not to discuss cricket or rugby union with the English at the moment. A temporary situation I am sure!

In respect of law degrees, there are a number of distance learning degrees for law in Australia. The Australian Bar Associations do not have the same attitude to distance learning that appears to be the case in the US.

In my state, you can still do the bar examination course without going to university. You need to accepted as a Student at law with the Barristers Board and then sit for the various stages of examination.

Until I was recently bitten by one of our very venomous spiders, I was actively pursuing a Doctor of Public Policy with Charles Sturt. I will probably recommence next year, although I have developed a strong interest in liberal arts because of reading during my downtime. I have found the program staff to be supportive and would have no hesitation in recommending the course.

 

Was it Bill Bryson that referred to reading "Things That Will Kill You Horribly In Australia, Vol. 19"?

 

Re: Re: Doctoral Degree Search

The DANTES Catalog is an excellent resource, however, there are some schools not listed that offer DE Doctorates and are RA, such as:

Colorado Technical University
Fielding Graduate University
Liberty University
Pacifica Graduate Institute
Saybrook Graduate School
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
Andrews University

For the sake of interest, I'd look into these as well.

 

I need to read more! Although I think I am now very familar with one of the entries in the book.