Online DHA - 12 months - $15k

I believe admissions desires a "writing sample." May I suggest you submit one of your recently submitted papers from the Lamar University program? With that said, the VUL DHA program uses APA-style writing and Turnitin as a plagiarism tool. Additionally, one of my professors ran my assignments through Grammarly and suggested I purchase the service to help me submit a higher quality of writing which is certainly expected at the doctoral level. Not an excuse, but I speak three languages and haven't mastered any of them. Grammarly is an excellent tool that offers a limited free version as well!

 

As always, seek clarification from the school.

 

I definitely recommend Grammarly premium. I've been using it since 2019. I thought I wouldn't need it after my Ph.D. However, I find it useful for ongoing research, work emails, and even when giving feedback to my students.

 

Multiple degreeforum members have taken the VUL DHA, including a moderator (ashkir).

 

I finished the degree, but it's not worth it; I consider it a Mickey Mouse doctorate. It's nothing more than a master's degree in disguise, labeled a doctorate. The academic rigors can be questioned to determine if they are comparable to other competitive doctoral-level programs. The work is not much more complex than the caliber of a master's degree curriculum, and the degree is a joke, honestly. The curriculum is more based on organizational leadership and management than healthcare administration; how can this be called a healthcare administration program when you only take one course related to healthcare, which is global healthcare strategy? Most VUL professors lack healthcare experience and have more general business or public administration experience. How can professors at the university be considered experts in the field if they do not possess the experience? It would never stand as respected as any other doctorate program to anyone who knows about academia. I left that degree in the past, and I'm finishing a new doctorate and about to enter the dissertation phase (I am officially a doctoral candidate, according to my school, at the end of May). The VUL DHA is only suitable for checking a box on job applications or determining if your employer will accept it with your many years of experience (Which, at that point, you shouldn't even need the degree). It works well for federal jobs as it can help you get a pay grade. I leave it on my resume but haven't used it for anything. A ton of people took this degree for the sake of being called "doctor." In the Facebook group and their LinkedIn profiles, People glorify their degrees and the term "doctor" so much that it's obnoxious. Students who were dropouts from other doctorate programs seek the DHA program to have a doctorate. However, the nationally accredited degree comes with issues, as it may not be accepted for teaching academia at a regionally accredited college. Also, mind you, the school is an HBCU, and many students come from HBCUs, which is not bad, but diversity can be seen as a bit gray. With all respect to the school and program, TRACS needs to place a freeze on the VUL DHA program and not allow any more students to enroll until they fix their undergraduate and graduate (master level) enrollment as they have no students enrolled, and it's sad when you go to graduation. You have over 150 DHA graduates, 10 undergraduate graduates, 3 masters level graduates, and 5 DMin graduates. That should be a red flag; the DHA program has become a cash cow for the school and keeps the school's funds alive. Without the DHA program, the school would be shut due to insufficient funding and students, as before the DHA program, the school was already facing financial hardships and low enrollment. If you go to any other university in the United States, you would never have a graduation where the doctoral program has more graduates than any other program; this makes you wonder if it is worth getting a degree from a school like this. It's difficult to understand their situation and makes you wonder if this feels like degree millish but can't be considered as one due to their national accreditation from TRACS. Still, they are pumping out degrees like there is no tomorrow with their 1-year "doctorate program." A funny thought in my head on how I feel about the distribution of degrees from VUL: "You get a doctoral degree, and you get a doctoral degree, doctoral degrees for everyone!" Also, remember that VUL raised their tuition rates; when they first started, the program was $15,000 all in; now, it costs you $21,160 for a nationally accredited degree. There are better options out there now that are regionally accredited. Take my review with a grain of salt, but I keep things real, and I speak the truth how I see it through my eyes. I would recommend to anyone seeking a respected and regionally accredited degree to apply to Oklahoma State University's Doctor of Healthcare Administration program as they accept 30 credits towards transfer, and the degree can be finished in a year to a year and a half depending on how fast you can bang out courses.
https://medicine.okstate.edu/academics/programs/doctor-in-healthcare-administration.html

 

Thanks for sharing your perspective. I can't say I agree with the idea of diversity being grey but it's good to know that you don't feel the rigor is there. You mentioned being a doctoral candidate at a different school. Are you comparing VUL with OSU's DHA then? That's helpful to know if you find OSU's program a lot tougher and more relevant.

 

I say gray in the sense of diversity, as it is an HBCU created to help and embody students of color. I understand the school will have many students of color but lacks other types of students, such as white, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American students. I would say 80-90 percent are of African American or African descent (no offense to anyone; I tried to put this in the most academic and respectful manner). I am just putting it out there that diversity in that sense lacks but I have to remember this is an HBCU.
I am in a different doctoral program in a different field, which I have been holding under wraps for now, and I am not sharing information until I finish the program. I don't want an influx of students who want to rush to get a doctoral program for the sake of getting a doctorate like VUL.

I read good things about the OSU doctoral program on Reddit; it seems like a very interesting program, and the work seems doable and more related to healthcare.

DHA Curriculum
The Doctorate of Healthcare Administration is a 62 credit hour program comprised of coursework designed to prepare students in both technical and administrative objectives. The specific courses required are listed below.

DHA Core Courses
Course Number Course Title Credit Hours
HCA 6013 Dynamics of Health Care Markets 3
HCA 6113 Healthcare Public Policy 3
HCA 6123 Advanced Clinical Operations Management 3
HCA 6223 Advanced Cases in Healthcare Leadership 3
HCA 6033 Contemporary Topics in Healthcare Management 3
HCA 6213 Cases in Healthcare Quality and Process Improvement 3
HCA 6053 Advanced Healthcare Law 3
HCA 6943 Graduate Seminar - Public Health 3
HCA 6913 Graduate Seminar - Healthcare Payor Organizations 3
HCA 6933 Graduate Seminar - Graduate Seminar Healthcare Organizational Dev. 3
HCA 6923 Graduate Seminar - Graduate Medical Education 3
DHA Elective Courses
Course Number Course Title Credit Hours
HCA 5013 Survey of Healthcare Administration 3
HCA 5093 Leadership Methods and Styles in Healthcare Administration 3
HCA 5123 Survey of Research and Evaluation in Healthcare 3
HCA 5033 Legal Issues in Healthcare Administration 3
HCA 5052 Directed Readings in Healthcare Administration 2
HCA 5063 Health Care Compliance 3
HCA 5043 Organizational Leadership and Development in Healthcare 3
HCA 5023 Human Resources in Health Care and Public Administration 3
HCA 5083 The Financial Structure of Health Care Organizations 3
HCA 5223 Ethics in Healthcare 3
Aged-Coursework Pilot Program
*do not enroll in these unless instructed by your advisor
Course Number Course Title Credit Hours
HCA 6043 Theory in Health Care Administration 3
HCA 6023 Practice in Health Care Administration 3
Students who have earned a post baccalaureate degree in a health related discipline from another state institution may be granted a maximum of 30 credit hours towards the core and elective DHA courses with program director approval.

Transcripts will be evaluated on a case by case basis and reviewed by the Faculty Admissions Committee to determine if/how many credits from a previous matriculation may apply.

All decisions made by the Faculty Admissions Committee are subject to be approved by the Graduate College.

 

You failed to mention the grads who changed their social media profile pics to them wearing regalia. As a fellow grad, it was also embarrasing to see other alumni who cheated by uploading their papers with their names, courses and dates with those "essay plagerism" services. The emphsis of being called "DOCTOR" is the focus, rather than the expertise and experience the degree represents. There's effort underway to stregnthen the alumni group; I hope they address the critisim with the front office. I'm not holding my breath.

 

Just to prove my point, the past graduation, which happened this weekend, included 411 students who received degrees at the ceremony, including 391 students who received a Doctor of Healthcare Administration. That means that only 20 other graduates at the graduation ceremony received a Doctor of Ministry, associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degrees. This should be a red flag to anyone, as I explained before, how does the number of DHA graduates outnumber any other program? It feels like a degree mill; they have been pumping out thousands of DHA degrees in high numbers for each graduating cohort. I am sure that, at this point, they have over 2000 graduates from the DHA program.

https://newsadvance.com/news/article_f994f025-ab54-4d07-b5b2-d97d3d844c22.html

 

I disagree; no other school has more doctoral graduates than undergraduate and graduate programs. Nothing to do with being a popular program, it's only because they have a 1 year doctorate. This is a red flag. This degree program can't continue. TRACS has to jump in and do something.

 

Name a school that has only doctoral programs? They are usually apart of a university system but have a dedicated school just for graduate schools.

externship or graduate credits can make up the gap but again it’s a one year program if you meet the requirements almost everyone finishes in a year.

 

Similarly, Eastern's MS in Data Science dwarfs the enrolment of all their other online programs. That just means it met the moment, but the revenue helps pay for the online infrastructure for a lot of less popular but more mission-oriented divinity programs.

 

Rockefeller University in New York is a medical research institute. Many medical schools do not offer undergraduate programs, which is very different from Virginia University of Lynchburg.

 

Eastern University has a significant undergraduate presence, I am sure, and runs other programs. VUL had only 20 other graduates who were not DHA. You can't have more "doctoral-level graduates" than the master's and undergraduate graduates at your school. Name one school where that has ever happened. Not even powerhouses like Liberty University have more "doctoral" graduates at their graduation ceremony or even overall that outnumber undergraduates.

 

Wikipedia offers a helpful reference: List of postgraduate-only institutions - Wikipedia

Although most of these schools offer master's and PhD degrees, not solely PhD programs.