Is NCU inferior to Capella or Walden?

Eh, if you believe in absolutes, sure.

All I think anyone is saying is that learning institutions with a longer history on excellent standing with their legitimate accrediting agency that have a record of placing tenure track professors and requiring residency (which speaks volumes in academia) are better places to pursue academics regardless of whether or not you're going to be an academic.

So if you compare Walden and Capella to NCU on those grounds then they are better. If you choose to put whatever personal needs had ahead of the quality of program (and A LOT of people do this) then you're going to choose whatever program meets your needs and likely take issue with threads like these that don't align to your personal paradigm.

No harm, no foul.

Al

 

Those are both valid points. The issues with accreditation can't be dismissed, however, as long as NCU holds their accreditation, it's not a problem. I recently spoke with someone from the HLC specifically about NCU accreditation and she assured me that there is currently no action whatsoever against the school. For the time being, the HLC is satisfied. That means that even if there was an issue when the 3 years is up, there is still plenty of time to fix any problems. Loosing accreditation is a slow process and NCU is not going to allow their accreditation to be pulled. They are operating outside of the box to some extent, and it's not surprising that there will be some friction against the status quo. IMO, not to worry.

As far as achieving tenure track positions with an NCU degree, I don't think I have ever heard of anyone receiving one with an NCU degree. But who cares? There are many other reasons to earn a degree. If you want a tenure track position at a major B&M, you probably should avoid NCU. But DL in general is not favored for tenure track positions. Moreover, only a few from Capella and Walden have achieved tenure track positions; those schools are not an easy road to tenure either. But I concede that with a degree from Capella or Walden it is more likely to receive a tenure track position. Slim is better than never.

 

I agree. People would have argued that Nova Southeastern was an inferior school back in the 80's, but I doubt you'd find many people on this board that would argue that today. Institutions with a long, solid, and proven track record will always come across better than the ones that haven't yet stood the test of time.

 

I thought I was offering my opinion. Others may differ, of course.

 

Exactly, tenure track positions? What if that is not someones goals? Publications - What if that is not someones goals? How about satisfaction with the material learned and how it enhanced life 3 years after graduation? That sounds like a measure.

 

Fair enough - I was not certain if this was opinion or a fact based statement.

 

No, my question was - is that the only thing that makes one better then the other.

 

I may appear to take issue with threads that do not align with my view but that is certainly not the case. Everyone has an opinion and that is great and I sometimes ask for clarification - is this opinion or is that some data to back this up. I am not going to sit here and say NCU is the "cream of the crop". There are many options out there and you need to find the one that works for you. In my mind (opinion) NCU, Walden, Capella all fit the same mold while others are a step above. I just question when some people start to compare schools for better/worst without first hand knowledge.

 

Thank you everyone for the great insight. Let me summarize what I have gathered from all of your posts.

NCU is a legitimate school that might be a little lower in stature than Capella and Walden due to newness and and lack of publications. It currently might not be the way for a tenure track position. All three of these issues might improve over the years as the school matures.

On that basis, I think I will give NCU a try. You have all helped me tremendously. Thanks so much! -Dale

 

NCU = 37
Walden = B+
Capella = Satisfactory

 

Genius!

 

In aerospace engineering (at least in my technical area) for one; I often have to research and write 10 to 40 page documents in less than a week, sometime for several weeks in a row. Sometime they are easy and sometimes downright difficult. Documents can include research reports, proposals, specifications (these are often 30+ pages long), test procedures and reports, stress analyses, and similar.

In my last job where I supervised engineers they also were required to write these type of documents.

 

It should have been obvious. I first made a statement similar to a null hypothesis--that I felt there was no difference in the utility of the degrees the schools issue and that I doubted that employers would distinguish among them. But the rest of my post was purely subjective--me praising the value of residencies. My opinion; YMMV.

 

Well....it was obvious the second time I read it....

 

One more thing to consider here is the price. While some will argue that you get what you pay for, that point is still up for debate and I have to make this distinction. At Capella a PhD will cost in excess of $60K, at Walden it is even more. (DBA's and similar, are less than that) I know because I recently shopped both schools. At NCU you can get in and out with a PhD for just over $40K books and all. All three schools have the same accreditation and will have similar utility in the workplace, excepting tenure track positions. Capella and Walden may have a better reputation, but, in the end, you will come out with the same degree, same accreditation, for less money at NCU. Most employers will not care if it's NCU, Walden or Capella.

Please note that I'm not intentionally singing the praises of NCU. I could come up with just as many criticisms about it. There are a number of things I don't like about the school and I will gladly share those if anyone is interested. I just think it is a pretty good deal and a decent school, comparatively speaking.

 

Do tell - I have a few of my own
Cost always going up
Lack of structure for the PhD process (unless that is their game). It would be great if the RSH classes (pre DiS course) each completed Chapter 1, 2, and 3 of the disseratation then the DIS course were collecting and analyzing data
Poor stats class to prepare you for the dissertation - it is more like an SPSS Software class
Did I mention the $1,100 dissertation fee?

I guess overall those are not so bad. I am really lucky to have a great mentor but I have heard the chair and committee is now assigned as opposed to selected which I think is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Yikes, that does sound bad.

Also, the customer service is not as good as I would expect. It takes a long time to get a reply from both mentors I have had and from my academic adviser. I have waited 2 days before just to get an answer to a question from a mentor, usually it's a little quicker than that. That's too slow when you are working on a paper and you need to clarify a requirement; turnaround on questions should be 24 hours or less, IMO. Randell, is this your experience too? I'm only on my second class so I can't speak with any authority on this.

So, if you need a lot of hand holding to get through your work, you may not do as well at NCU.

 

To be fair, I need to mention that both of the mentors I have had so far have been friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Both are PhD's. They have done well by me, it's just the turnaround that's a little slow.

 

So far, all the instructors (except one) have been great and I like how all of their phone numbers are listed. I have no problem calling them and asking questions. The turn around time has been good, usually by 72 hours with most being within 48 and a few within 24. The only person I had a serious issue with is that one damn instructor. He did not return emails or calls. It was 2-3 weeks into the class before I got a straight answer on what is expected for the first assignment. It turned out that I had the wrong book (my fault).

As far as sounding bad...I am going through a "I don't even care if I finish...stick that APA format for tables where the sun doesn't shine" mood. I am just so close that I am getting really edgy

 

Yea, they are really sticklers on APA style, down to the minutia. A little overboard, IMO.

I notice that what you are giving as an OK turnaround time ( 1-3 days) is what I have been saying is inadequate. So maybe my expectations are off.