Valdosta State DPa program FAQ

Wish Valdosta offered a PhD in Public Admin vs the DPA. I have my heart set on a PhD program...otherwise I've heard great things about Valdosta's offering.

 

I think I may take a shot and put an application in. I applied to two other doctorate programs, waiting to hear back.

 

Indeed. I initially hoped for a Ph.D. in PA program as well. I ended up in the CJ Ph.D. program at Liberty and, a bit over halfway in, they added a Ph.D. in PA, but there was no way to switch mid-stream and I had no motivation to start over.

 

I've considered Liberty's PA program. Right now I'm targeting Old Dominion University, but Tennessee State U also offers an online PhD in Public Policy.

 

The Old Dominion program was very interesting to me as well, but the required residencies didn't work out as scheduled so I went with Liberty largely for the flexibility. I'm still glad I did, I just wish they had launched their Public Administration Ph.D. sooner.

 

Can you shed some light on those residencies? I know they have mandatory event participation (something like 8 conferences, research talks, etc. you need to be present for), as well as onsite proposal and thesis defense. Were there longer residencies than those?

 

I don't recall anymore exactly what they were; I was looking back in early-2018. They were requiring something like twice-annual four-day intensives (or something similar). I was actually quite interested in them, they just didn't fit. I'm coming from the left coast so when you add in travel, it becomes a full week, and with the set dates, it just didn't fit. Sounds like a great program, though.

 

Makes sense, thanks for that info!