Do you think that DL doctorate programs are doomed?

That's right, 108 in 2008. Union was responsible for about 0.2% of the doctorates awarded that year. NCU and Walden are in the same range (about 150 each).

 

Am I right to say that NA is usually for trade schools and similar institutions? DETC is a NA organization, right? Academia would only accept a RA degree, and only particular ones at that? I understand that even though a DL degree might be RA, that does not mean that a B&M school would honor it. I think that's correct. I'm only just recently getting a grasp of the accreditation process. I know for a fact that you are correct to say that many businesses do not pay that much attention to the issue, but I did not know that many would accept a NA accreditation. But I suppose, now that I think about it, it makes sense.

 

I hope I'm one of the "NCU 150" in about three or so years!

 

Yes, subtract tuition reimbursement and add opportunity cost... However, the central issue remains; does earning a doctorate provide enough economic utility over the work years remaining, presuming it will be awarded? In most cases, an honest inquirer outside of higher education will arrive at the answer of no, not even a close call. For inquirer who works in higher education, there will be the issue of qualifying them for further advancement in academic rank.

 

What is the mean time NCU doctoral students have spent in the program (since starting their first course) from the inception of the program?

 

I have no idea.

 

I started in mid 2004 and hope to be done this year.

 

I'd argue that schools like WGU that are very rubric-based are already doing this. I know that when I was going through the program it was very, very important to make sure that if anything I submitted was sent back to me for edits, I had to get those edits back quickly to ensure any shot of being picked up by the same grader.

(Note: This wasn't anything that I was told was the case by anyone at WGU, but over the course of my program anything that was resubmitted quickly was quickly reviewed by the same grader and passed. If I waited a week due to a busy work schedule there was an increased chance that I'd have to do a rewrite. Far, far worse outcomes.)

Still, I'd rather a grading service than a faculty member any day of the week in an online program with no face to face contact. If I'm not seeing them and not developing a relationship due to the modality, I need them like a hole in the head. Much different story if I'm in a hybrid class and as far as WGU is concerned, I had a great mentor relationship that I feel still exists now 3 years after graduation.

 

AP: Well, it depends on what you mean by "similar institutions". ACICS accredits career/trade/technical schools and colleges. TRACS accredits institutions with an evangelical Christian focus, AALE accredits programs and institutions focused upon liberal arts, DETC started our as the accreditor for correspondence schools and has expanded to other forms of distance learning, including online.

AP: DETC is a recognized national accrediting body (NA), as opposed to, say SACS or WASC, which are regional accrediting bodies (RA). Although many Degreeinfo participants use DETC and NA interchangeably, DETC is just one of several NA bodies.

Well, again, it depends on what they are accepting. The vast majority of universities would accept a student's RA DL degree in transfer. I cannot think of many instances where a brick & mortar school would not accept credits or a degree from a student who graduated from an RA DL university. However, a person with a DL doctorate applying for a tenure-track faculty position at a traditional brick & mortar university would find very low acceptance at the present time.

For many businesses, the degree merely needs to be legal or recognized . An NA degree is certainly both.