Doctorates Without a Dissertation. Thoughts?

Never forget that researchers are the often forgotten hidden heroes that make the practitioners look good!

 

I think of Professor Alexander Fleming. He was first a practitioner of medicine but had within him the desire and discipline to utilize the scientific method in researching and discovering penicillin. I prescribe it today and get a kudo for doing a good job. The reality is, I'm just the monkey that knows it works and Fleming is the hero!

 

Yes, but pedagogy is only a part of the typical university's mission. Some feel it is not even the core purpose; advancing scholarship is a university's true mission. It is the scholarly doctorate which prepares one for that.

Teaching can be done by professors, assistant professors, adjunct professors, lecturers, even TAs. Certainly a professional doctorate would be sufficient for that. But it would be better utilized advancing praxis, especially bridging the scholar-practitioner divide. This can be done either within or outside the university.

Considering that the vast majority of degree-granting institutions in the US are not research universities, I'd like to see more professional degrees awarded and used by these schools to do just what you emphasize: teach. Oh, and to advance praxis from practice settings outside academia.

 

It kind of depends on your desired outcome.

If you're an undergraduate or MBA student, then learning from someone with practical experience would be desirable. In fact, a huge university in California has its founding basis in that very idea: learning from properly credentialed practitioners.

But if you wanted to earn a PhD in the stuff, you'll want to be guided by those who have done so, as well as having a current and robust footprint in the scholarship underpinning the field.

 

But then who should these schools be catering to? The millions that get bachelor's or graduate degrees each year or the couple thousand that get PhDs?

 

I hate to be so tacky as to ask this, but are you nuckin' futz???

Speaking of your bank account, here is the tuition for the U. Miami Ed.D. program based on the link you provided above:

• Cost per Credit $2,100
• Credits 45
• Total estimated program cost $94,500
• Total estimated with a 40% merit scholarship $56,700

I'm curious as to what you find so attractive about this program compared with other Ed.D. programs with the same qualities (major university, non-profit, online, etc.) that would cost a fraction of this amount . . .

 

My guess is he could just really like the school? My MS in Finance with the University of Oklahoma is going to run around $32,000 which is more expensive than several other MSF programs. However, I have always been a fan of the Price College of Business and I feel the value is there.

That said, I know very little about Ed.D programs but maybe UofMiami is one of the best?

 

It's not just the PhDs. It's the research. As in billions of dollars.

 

It was a combination of a few things.

Even if I didn't get a degree from Miami, I wanted my next one to be from a well known school and also relatively local. That really left me with all the big name Florida schools. A comparable program at UF for example required more course work and more time to complete. So even though it would've been cheaper to go to UF for example, it would've taken me an extra year and a half. Well by graduating basically two years earlier I'll be able to increase my salary at work two years earlier which will make the cost difference very small five years in the future. This doesn't even include the fact that the next cohort at UF doesn't start until the Fall of 2020 which would postpone my doctorate by yet another year.

UM 56000 total, will make back an extra 25000 from work due to the doctorate 5 years from now.
UF 31000 total, will make back an extra 10000 from work due to the doctorate 5 years from now.

Opportunity cost is only 10K over the next 5 years, which I only see as 2K per year, and I can live with that.

Also, I am very interested in the courses required for the UM program compared to others. It is a good mix between the science of learning (which I'm extremely interested in) and modern day ways of teaching (which I'm still interested in). Other programs had other courses which I didn't think would interest me as much or were as relevant to what I want to do.

Lastly, I live in the Miami area and the reputation that this school has is something I haven't witnessed anywhere else. Everyone holds this school in such a high regard. I personally don't put too much stock in the reputation of school, but I also know that the general public does.

 

Liberty University is transitioning its Ed.D. programs from a dissertation requirement to a capstone requirement. Current students were emailed about switching to the new 54-credit degree program (6 credits less).