Aspen announces Doctorate in Education

Tireman 44444 · Aug 21, 2008

Dave,

What happened to Harrison Middleton University? Are you still with us?

dlady · Aug 21, 2008

Tireman 44444 said: ↑

Dave,

What happened to Harrison Middleton University? Are you still with us?
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I’m with you, but mostly in spirit! I’m so busy right now with work, and on top of that in the thick of my NCU dissertation. I’ll probably pick HMU up again in about a year.

sshuang · Aug 21, 2008

dlady said: ↑

I’m a DETC fan, but made the same choice when it came to the doctorate. I was actually I think the first person accepted into the Columbia Southern DBA program, but got cold feet and enrolled in the NCU DBA program instead. I stared at the Colsouth acceptance letter for a week straight trying to make this decision.
QUOTE]

Hi dlady,

Why did you pick NCU over ColSouth at the end of day?
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dlady · Aug 21, 2008

sshuang said: ↑

dlady said: ↑

I’m a DETC fan, but made the same choice when it came to the doctorate. I was actually I think the first person accepted into the Columbia Southern DBA program, but got cold feet and enrolled in the NCU DBA program instead. I stared at the Colsouth acceptance letter for a week straight trying to make this decision.
QUOTE]

Hi dlady,

Why did you pick NCU over ColSouth at the end of day?
Click to expand...

Well, first off I researched all this stuff in 2002 when I decided to go back to school and get a graduate degree. I have a BA from a pretty good university, but wanted to do stuff on-line instead of having to go to class.

What I decided was that for a BA or master’s degree, from a business credential standpoint, anything accredited by an organization recognized by the DOE is perfectly fit for purpose. The school name matters, but if you have a degree from one of the hundreds of no-name tier 4 or below schools, it just doesn’t matter. The idea of teaching with a master’s degree just isn’t something I was interested in.

So, between 2002 and 2006 I earned 2 DETC accredited masters degrees, and 2 DETC accredited graduate certificates. I also complete the Tulane Advanced MBA Certificate (which they do not offer anymore) and their “Master Certificate in Business Management”. Plus, I completed 18 credits at American Military University (AMU) in History and the Humanities. AMU is by far the toughest school I have ever attended; at least the 6 classes I took were if they are any indication.

With my education credentials in hand, I climbed the corporate ladder and worked my way from Senior Director to CTO at a division of Marriott in a couple years (I worked their 9 years total, just left). What I learned in the masters programs absolutely helped, as I have said in a couple different speeches, there is no question in my mind that Marriott is making more money today because of what I learned with my two Aspen graduate degrees.

When I decided to pursue the DBA, I had become a huge DETC fan, so wanted to go that route. But, when I thought about all the work involved, the thought of teaching crept in. I personally believe that the only place all this current accreditation stuff matters is at the doctorate level. The DETC accredited DBA, it’s just too early and to hard for me to take the risk. For the masters, honestly they are fine as business credentials. Doctorates, in my opinion, don’t really matter as a business credential, unless you are in a very specialized field. Actually, my experience is that a doctorate can actually hurt your credentials if you play it up to much in the business world.

The difference with a doctorate is that you go through a process to become an expert in your field. I have always been more interested in the learning possibilities than the credential possibilities, and just feel that RA schools are plugged into a system of standards that will produce better learning’s at this level. As DETC schools mature their processes and offerings, and as we all work to have their acceptance grow at the doctorate level, we’ll see the criteria for this decision change. Right now you can benefit because the DETC schools doctorates are cheaper, I would expect that as they get better, the price will go up equal to their acceptance. (Demand/Supply kind of thing).
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Bill Clark · Aug 22, 2008

Georgia Teacher Spells "Utility" with $$$$$

Bruce said: ↑

Has there been any data yet on the utility of NA doctorates?
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Hello all. I've lurked about here for a year or more. Reading these boards pointed me towards American Public University which has been a great experience. I've been looking about for the next step - PhD/EdD. I thought I had found the perfect fit at Harrison Middleton University but they have a new dean for graduate studies and apparently felt the need to "improve" the EdD by cutting the self-designed courses from six to three - argh.

All that said - VA requires RA, Texas hasn't exactly codified how it will treat NA, but here in the Peach State of Georgia if it is recognized by the folks at Dept of Ed and/or CHEA NA is just fine. How fine? As a public school teacher in Georgia with zero years of experience your first year salary in 2008 would be $33,434 with a BA/BS, $38,438 with an MA/MS, and $48,213 with an EdD/PhD. That is the state base salary without any local supplements or the thousand other ways of adding to the standard contract. If Aspen doesn't advertise anywhere else it should be in Georgia.

Thanks to all of you folks who put out such good information on these boards. I know a couple of you folks are involved with HMU I haven't given up on them yet - I'll have to make a decision around December/January. I would be interested in any insight you might provide by post or private message.

Bill Clark

Abner · Aug 23, 2008

Bill Clark said: ↑

Hello all. I've lurked about here for a year or more. Reading these boards pointed me towards American Public University which has been a great experience. I've been looking about for the next step - PhD/EdD. I thought I had found the perfect fit at Harrison Middleton University but they have a new dean for graduate studies and apparently felt the need to "improve" the EdD by cutting the self-designed courses from six to three - argh.

All that said - VA requires RA, Texas hasn't exactly codified how it will treat NA, but here in the Peach State of Georgia if it is recognized by the folks at Dept of Ed and/or CHEA NA is just fine. How fine? As a public school teacher in Georgia with zero years of experience your first year salary in 2008 would be $33,434 with a BA/BS, $38,438 with an MA/MS, and $48,213 with an EdD/PhD. That is the state base salary without any local supplements or the thousand other ways of adding to the standard contract. If Aspen doesn't advertise anywhere else it should be in Georgia.

Thanks to all of you folks who put out such good information on these boards. I know a couple of you folks are involved with HMU I haven't given up on them yet - I'll have to make a decision around December/January. I would be interested in any insight you might provide by post or private message.

Bill Clark
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Good comments Bill. Welcome aboard.

Abner

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Aspen announces Doctorate in Education

Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member

dlady Active Member

sshuang New Member

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Abner Well-Known Member

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Aspen announces Doctorate in Education

Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member

dlady Active Member

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