ABD to PHD programs...

Hello,
If anyone can assist me I would greatly appreciate it. I am searching for ABD to PhD completion programs. Here are the criteria: Must Haves-It must be an online school, No residencies (I'm a single Mom, have children and a job), the school must transfer many credits (I was 1/2 way through my dissertation at Walden U.-I am on the class action lawsuit, enough said ), Flexible with-Accreditation-I am starting my own Pastoral Counseling business and publishing.

I live in DE and there is nothing here to help me. I have looked into University of DE. They want me to take about 15 PhD level courses which I have already taken and pay for them AGAIN and all of this would take me another three years and cost me ANOTHER $30,000. I refuse to do that. All of the other schools I have researched will only transfer about 15 credits or 5 courses.

My Bachelor's and Master's degree are both in Psychology. My PhD courses are in Counseling and Health Psychology. The PhD programs I am looking at are in Psychology, Education or What I really would like is ***Pastoral Counseling.
If anyone can direct me I would really appreciate it.

Thank You, Bless You,

Maggie

 

NCU.edu

 

Thank You. I applied to NCU and sent them my transcripts. They actually lied about the "dissertation completion program" they advertise about. They would only transfer 15 of my credits. That is the virtually the same as a typical PhD program admissions requirement.

 

Have you considered Liberty University?

 

Thank you. Yes. I spoke with an admissions advisor there. They would like me to attend three residencies (I would have to pay out of pocket for hotel and meals) in addition to only accepting 5 courses towards their PhD program-66 credits @ $600 per credit.

 

Would you be open to a non-US university?

 

What is the lie?

 

It's not a dissertation completion program.

 

Yes.

 

Here’s an old thread that might give you something to think about

https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/abd-all-but-dissertation-programs.50707/

 

Echoing the non-US university - your PhD coursework has prepared you to write the dissertation. You could conceivably apply and start at a school that doesn't require coursework. University of South Africa (UNISA) is a commonly suggested option, with course fees under $2000 USD per year for someone outside of Africa.

 

https://www.gmercyu.edu/academics/programs/accelerated-executive-doctorate-education-abd-completion-program - This is an ABD to EdD, but if that works for you, it might be a good fit. Gwynedd Mercy University is close to where I live and is certainly a legitimate school.

 

Dear Maggie,

Not to toot my own horn, but you sound like a good potential candidate for the research-only, European-style PhD program at the Global Center for Advanced Studies - GCAS College Dublin (where I am a PhD student myself). Application is very selective but, with the substantial academic experience, credits and life experience you have, I think you would be a very compelling candidate.

Speaking of counseling and health psychology, there is a PhD researcher right now, Erica Kitzman, whose interests are similar to yours, and may give you more details on the program and how it supports her research and career. She's super nice, and I encourage you to reach out to her if you have any questions. (Her researcher page is: https://gcas.ie/erica-kitzman).

Hope this helps!

 

Oh, I should also mention: the college is very generous with financial aid, and their tuition is already low compared to that of similar programs (like, that of, sigh, the European Graduate School)...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Center_for_Advanced_Studies

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/08/21/the-education-impasse-in-the-usa/

https://twitter.com/GCASMedia

https://www.linkedin.com/in/creston-davis-1815159a

 

http://www.critical-theory.com/inside-the-global-center-for-advanced-studies-a-chat-with-creston-davis/

 

What is the goal of the PhD? For being a pastoral counsellor, at least in Canada, a Masters and an ordained minister credential are enough.
If your goal is to teach full time, most of the online PhDs in Psychology won't cut it given the massive competition in the field.
If your goal is to become a licensed psychologist, then you need an APA or Canadian CPA accredited PhD.

Most foreign universities are research only programs so you would need to start from scratch. Most American programs have a limited amount of credit they can transfer.
If you just want a PhD for the sake of putting it one in your business card, perhaps you want to look into the PhD program at University of Central Nicaragua. They are very flexible when it comes to course recognition so they might just ask you to write a thesis or publish few papers. The degree has little recognition but good enough to legally include a PhD in your business card.

 

The problem with the ABD completion programs suggested are that they are education programs, and the OP has doctoral credits in counseling and psychology. Interestingly, the OP's doctoral credits are from Walden, and Walden has PhD completion programs in public health and management.

This school also has an ABD program, but it's in education.
https://mville.digication.com/executive_ed_d_in_educational_leadership_for_abds/Welcome/published

Northcentral University would have been the best fit since they offer a PhD in psychology, but you said that they will only transfer 15 credits.
https://www.ncu.edu/programs-degrees/dissertation-completion-pathway

Delaware does NOT require psychologists to have APA-accredited degrees. Most states do not require APA-accredited degrees. Delaware will simply evaluate your program to see if it meets requirements because many psychology programs are not designed to train counseling or clinical psychologists. However, you don't need to be a licensed psychologist to be a pastoral counselor.

 

Have your credits evaluated by University of the Western States. Even though its a sport psychology program, they have clinical courses that prepare people for licensure as a mental health counselor.

https://www.uws.edu/sport-performance-psychology/doctor-education/curriculum-options/

 

For an obviously whacked-out New Ager, Maggie seems to have a realistic view, except for two things:

First, I would drop the ULC reference from your list of credentials. You can get away with the references to Reiki, but even New Agers know that ULC is an ordination mill. In short, they're more whacked out than you are.

Next, you have obviously checked into enough programs to know already that most of them will place limits on the number of credits you can transfer. That's the way the system is in terms of legitimate doctoral programs in the U.S. Stop expecting to find anything legitimate that will kiss your ass and do it your way. It doesn't exist. On the other hand, the New Age market is full of people with illegitimate credentials, so your customer base may not care.

And don't be so strung out about this reality check. You and I have two things in common - I have written for Visions Magazine, so I know the type of credentials that people in the New Age market tend to have, and like you, I live in Delaware. Past that point, I laugh. At you, not with you. Because if you were dumb enough to list UCL among your credentials in the first place, you are not pointed to success in your goals.

I laugh. I laugh again.