Lowest Cost PHD/DBA

I've just been reading through this topic and I think that it doesn't really deserve to be pinned at the top of all topics. I couldn't really find a stunning tuition deal apart from those standard US programs.

 

Fun fact. This 15 year old thread was started by someone named Matt. I have a 15 year old son named Matt.

 

It's OK, Vicki. We know your Matt's not to blame! Never, with a good Mom like you!

I wonder if anyone -- anywhere - actually enrolled for a legit Doctorate and completed it as a result of ANYTHING in this 15-year thread? It sure doesn't look like it. A few people got peppered in accreditation arguments, and Breyer State got duly lambasted (once more) but that's about it.

Not a lot to show for 15 years. Just sayin' - no blame attached.

 

He’d probably have a PHD by now if he had posted on an online forum as a baby!

 

Mama don't let your babies grow up to git Doct'rates
Don't let 'em write theses, then drive them old trucks (y'all know who I mean )
Don't make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such...

(Apologies to Willie, Waylon an' them...)

 

Out of curiosity, let's see how you guys respond to this.

https://www.veritas.edu.my/veritas/doctor-of-business-administration/
https://www.globalnxt.edu.my/gnxt/dba.html

Both offers DBA for ~$5750

Veritas seems to be blended so you have to attend in person classes. On top of that its provisional accreditation by the MQA (Malaysia government) is expiring June 2022 - subject to renewal.
Globalnxt seems to offer their DBA fully online so you guys can really go for it. It has accreditation (not the provisional, but a proper one), but not sure why they state validity on their website.

Basically any course that has MQA accreditation in Malaysia is eligible for employment with the Malaysian government & eligible for student loans by the Malaysian government, so it's not a Mickey Mouse mill.

 

Degrees like these would be subject to a foreign degree evaluation.

 

Wouldn’t a DBA from Herriot Watt University be subjected to the same foreign degree evaluation? Likewise one from University of Wollongong down under. Even Oxford is a foreign university.

Fail to see the difference.

And with the evaluation fees it’s still going to be cheaper than anything in the states.

EDIT: for clarity, I’m just curious towards the perception of others. I’ve got no vested interest.

 

The difference might be in the OUTCOME of the evaluation. One of the two Malaysian schools, with its provisional (and expiring?) accreditation seems to be a crapshoot at best. The other - its chances look way better. And yes - Heriot-Watt and Wollongong would require US evaluation. But a good outcome is pretty well assured. Known quantity in both cases.

Plus - with 15-20 evaluators, results can vary from one to another. It was years and years ago, but I seem to remember someone reporting that a Heriot-Watt MBA had been evaluated as equivalent to a US Associate Degree. That was a one-off, but ...

 

Perhaps it's because I didn't state one.

 

And according to this which seems very outdated as it states $300/credit hour, there are a ton of fees: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.columbiasouthern.edu/media/znllilck/dba-catalog.pdf

Fees it lists (they've probably increased):
"Fee Amount Application Fee ............................$0
Online Library Fee .....................$50
Dissertation Fee .....................$1,200 to be paid in equal increments of $300 upon enrolling in DBA 9306A, DBA 9306B, DBA 9306C, and DBA 9306D Research Project Fee .................$900 (DBA 9406A, DBA 9406B, DBA 9406 D)
Graduation Fee ...........................$75
30-Day Course Extension Fee ...$50
Leave of Absence Fee ..................$50
Return Check Fee .......................$25
Late Payment Fee........................$15
Additional Transcript Fee...........$10


All fees are nonrefundable."

 

Update: the highly flexible, non-residential, low-cost DBA from a well-ranked (top 600 worldwide) university, Heriot-Watt is now 3,690 pounds sterling for the course stage and 8,070 for each research year. Assuming 3 years of research, that comes out to 27,900 for the program. At today's exchange rate, that's about US$34K.

The highly flexible, non-residential, low cost DBL from an unranked (but recognized) school in South Africa, the Da Vinci Business School (Institute), is R188,700. At today's exchange rate, that's about $US11,150.

I do not know how either of these would do in a foreign degree evaluation, but both are properly recognized credentials in their home countries and each is listed in its respective qualification framework. No proprio, no Canton-level licensing, no non-RA accreditation, no religious exemptions, no self-accreditation, no unrecognized accreditation, etc.

 

Wow! It seems that now the DBA will become the new MBA with a war in prices in the market. Next might the PhD with low prices as well. 34K for a doctorate is very compared to the prices that schools like UNEM used to charge in the 90s for a similar program.

 

Depends on the career path of an individual. There are quite a few fields that enjoy seeing a PhD/DBA. Quantitative Trading, Economics, etc. love seeing PhD holders in mathematics, statistics, etc.

Then you have fields such as Human Resources, Project Management, etc. that LIKELY (I’m not an expert) would rather see professional certifications over doctoral degrees.

 

I can speak to both of those specifically, and to the concept generally.

Everyone knows a bachelor's is a plus in your resume (when it is not a minimum qualification). A master's is a "plus up" from there. But not so much the doctorate. I think it is considered a different animal rather than the next highest order of them. It can either distinguish or distract, depending on who is doing the reading. I doubt master's degree holders get discriminated against much for having one, but doctoral holders will tell you stories about their experiences along those lines. Personally, I've experienced all three. The PhD was the minimum qualification for one job I had. It was a definite plus-up in many. And it my last job in government it was a downer for both me and my deputy (who was also a PhD). In that situation, we were a support unit of an operations agency who didn't care about higher education. Thus, several of my "colleagues" (GS-15s, all) treated me as if I was the rich kid transferring into a poor school.

If I was in the middle of a human capital or project management career and I was considering either a doctorate or my profession's certification, I'd choose the certification. I didn't because my profession (talent development) didn't have one at the time. I later earned several (PMP, SPHR, CTD, and PCC).

Now, all of that is centered on one of two issues: the credential. When it comes to the experience, a doctorate--particularly a professional doctorate--can be a wonderful thing, and the title can really help in some--but not all--situations.