Ed.D.: Nova Southeastern University vs. Liberty University

My issue with them is cost and that they are a non-for profit acting like a for profit. Although they have very nice facilities and they are so close to me. I just can justify, going for a DBA and leave with 100k(+/-) debt, it was not very appealing to me. Regardless the school, my position (employment) would be the same.

 

Many times during the early 90's, I overhear in many conversations among people talking about Nova's doctorate students as "one of those" until this date I have no idea what they meant by one of those.

 

NSU is a Tier 4 school according to the latest USN&WR rankings. There are no Tier 5 schools. That and the fact the business school is not AACSB-accredited has my University of Florida\University of Miami friends looking down on it big time. However, if\when they receive AACSB it would help improve the perception of the school.

I live and work in Florida so I am well aware of NSU's less than stellar reputation. It is getting better though and if they get AACSB I will give it a go there.

 

It seemed in the '80s and '90s on slow news days the Miami Herald or Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal would run a story on Nova's "easy degrees."

 

As a high school teacher, I can say that we've had numerous students go to Liberty, not because of the religious aspect, but because they really liked what the school had to offer. Granted these kids are undergrad students, I haven't heard any complaints.

I can say that in Virginia, Liberty is a known school. We know it is religiously affiliated, but people don't look down on it because of that. It's seen just like any other school.

-Matt

 

Liberty seems fine...

How important is the wording of a concentration on a EdD attempt? Does anyone dig that deeply?

 

Kingster, have you tried Grand Canyon University? I understand they were starting a Ed.D program.

 

Grand Canyon

I am presently finishing my MEd through Grand Canyon. While I have nothing against the school, I was hoping for a different institution to appear more rounded in the eyes of potential employers.

 

Sorry about that

 

Indecisive:

The utility of your doctorate depends on what you wish to do in academia. If you are looking for a full-time tenure-track faculty position at a brick and mortar university, then an online doctorate will have the least utility. If you are looking for a community college faculty position or an administrative position at a community college or unviersity, either Nova or Liberty would work (if you also can bring practical experince to the table).

There are many more university personnel with degrees from Nova than from Liberty. Yes, there are many in academia who consider Nova Southeastern to be less-than-stellar. Some of it comes from the misconception that Nova is a virtual school, because they have been doing distance learning or non-resident cohort doctorates for a number of years. At my previous institution (a masters-level state university), I had fun with a colleague who was bad-mouthing Nova until I informed him that it was a brick-and-mortar university with a medical school and a law school (neither of which we had) and that one of the most respected professors in his department had his doctorate from Nova. Several scholarly journals are edited by folks at Nova, including three in the field of distance learning.

Now, I am not a graduate of Nova, nor am I promoting its programs. but I have a lot of sucessful colleagues with Nova doctorates. Both Nova and Liberty are decent legitimate institutions.

 

Depending on what you want to do, it can be critical.