Never heard of one so named. What disciplines? Depending on the school, the unofficial designation ABD could mean that the student started the dissertation or made significant progress but did not finish; there is a hugh diference between the two. Dave
As Me Again noted, NCU will grant ABDs special status including the possibility of accepting relevant coursework completed. This may lead to shortening the number of total credits required as well as the timeframe for completing the doctorate. Walden university will accept up to seven courses completed towards their doctorates.
I have a colleague that is the same situation. She is ABD in history. She is talking to Union, but they are probably going to make her complete three years. At this time, there are not any DL programs in history (pure history, not interdisciplinary studies), so I am not sure what she will do.
This really sounds like an ideal situation for the University of South Africa. Since their doctoral programs are research only, the status of coursework isn't be an issue. Their North American agent, Dr. Michael Esselen, is very helpful for getting through the red tape. Best of all, they're extremely inexpensive -- like maxing out at about $2,000 per year. -=Steve=-
Fielding Institute offers ABD's an opportunity to finish their Ph.D.'s: http://www.saybrook.edu/admissions/apply_to_saybrook.asp?strContent=tran
Strangely enough, British history. I had not thought of the overseas schools. I will run that by her Monday. She is the department chair of the school for which I teach.
Has she narrowed the field even further, e.g., "Modern British Economic History" or even "The British Tin Industry in Nineteenth Century Southeast Asia" (or something like that)?
Can you recommend any British dissertation-only doctorate programs? How accepted are these doctorates in the US for teaching at the college level?
I'm not sure which ones I would recommend for you, until I know what field (preferably narrowing it down to a proposed dissertation topic) you're looking for. At any rate, all British doctorates are by dissertation only, as is also the case with Australia, India, and South Africa, among other countries effected by the British system. Most American department chairs would likely be blissfully unaware that your British doctorate is by dissertation only.
The transcript would probably clue them in, but then, so what? There are a lot of holders of foreign doctorates in U.S. academia. -=Steve=-
By the way, this is Saybrook Graduate School and not Fielding Graduate University: http://www.fielding.edu/ A good friend just finished at Fielding and raves about it; it looks very expensive. Does anybody have experience with Saybrook? Dave
Danger, Will Robinson! Danger, Will Robinson! It seems weird to me that a school would, could, or should bend the rules for doctoral students. Does anybody know what the rules are for this at Northcentral? Dave
Re: Danger, Will Robinson! It IS unusual to publicize accpeted ABD students. I've heard of a couple of cases where a doctoral student at the dissertation stage was able to transfer from one prestigious institution to another without additional coursework. In each case the arrangement was made by the dissertation advisors at each end for a student that was 1-in-1000 in terms of ability. There was a tacit acknowledgement that this student's work was beyond the first advisor's ability or knowledge and that it would be best for the student, both institutions and the discipline for the student to study with the top researcher in the area of his dissertation. My doctoral insititution did accept an ABD student on the condition that he take two doctoral seminar courses and write at least one comp question. He disappeared and was never seen again after seeing the reading list for the first seminar.