A Good DBA School

[craigfin]

Hi, I am looking towards the future and wanted to get some input. At this point I would like to start researching schools for a DBA and wanted to see if I could get some input from you guys on this process. Mainly I am looking for an affordable, accredited (preferably by the AACSB or the ACBSP) and mostly online program. Any recommendation from you guys will be much appreciated.

Mostly I am trying to put together a plan of action for my education going forward and the members on this board have been extremely helpful.

[Sagan]

First, you lump together AACSB and ACBSP. There is a gulf of difference between them. The first is the premier business program accreditor. The other is not. Not at all.

You would be hard-pressed to find a situation where ACBSP accreditation mattered. Not so with AACSB.

But why would either matter to you? Are you hoping to do something where this accreditation would make a difference? For example, teaching in an AACSB-accredited business school would almost certainly require a doctorate from an AACSB-accredited program. But, doing a doctorate by distance learning won't prepare you to enter such a school. Employers largely won't make this distinction around accreditation, so what?

Once you get past programmatic accreditation, you have to consider institutional accreditation. Will you need a doctorate from a regionally accredited school? Or would one from a nationally accredited school do for your purposes? And what about international options? There are schools in the UK (like Heriot-Watt U.) and in Australia that might fit the bill, especially in terms of affordability.

(I know this response is two months after the post, but I'm hoping you read it anyway.)

[craigfin]

First, you lump together AACSB and ACBSP. There is a gulf of difference between them. The first is the premier business program accreditor. The other is not. Not at all.

You would be hard-pressed to find a situation where ACBSP accreditation mattered. Not so with AACSB.

But why would either matter to you? Are you hoping to do something where this accreditation would make a difference? For example, teaching in an AACSB-accredited business school would almost certainly require a doctorate from an AACSB-accredited program. But, doing a doctorate by distance learning won't prepare you to enter such a school. Employers largely won't make this distinction around accreditation, so what?

Once you get past programmatic accreditation, you have to consider institutional accreditation. Will you need a doctorate from a regionally accredited school? Or would one from a nationally accredited school do for your purposes? And what about international options? There are schools in the UK (like Heriot-Watt U.) and in Australia that might fit the bill, especially in terms of affordability.

(I know this response is two months after the post, but I'm hoping you read it anyway.)

Yes I read it, and a two month reply is kind of absurd. However, thank you anyway. I don't need this answered anymore, I have already found my answer elsewhere.

[sanantone]

I know the OP is no longer looking for answers, but I'd like to provide info for those who might see this thread. An ACBSP-accredited school usually requires professors to have a degree from an ACBSP or AACSB-accredited school. While ACBSP may not be the gold standard, one would not be hard-pressed to find a situation where the accreditation is required. Also, some federal government jobs require business accreditation, and they ask for AACSB or ACBSP.

Unrelated to the DBA, there are other situations where those two accreditors are listed together such as degrees automatically meeting the educational requirements for the CPA designation in some states. Degrees either without business accreditation or with IACBE accreditation have to be evaluated course-by-course.

There are unranked business schools with either accreditation. Some would be surprised to find those with degrees earned by distance working in traditional programs, but they exist. If you earned your online degree at a traditional school, I don't think potential employers would care to investigate how you earned your degree. They're looking for the right accreditation, teaching experience, and publications. At a small percentage of schools, they will look at your program's ranking.

[tsimmns]

Sanatone with all that being said do you or anyone else happen to have any insight on when or if TESU might receive accreditation?

[bjcheung77]

Sanatone with all that being said do you or anyone else happen to have any insight on when or if TESU might receive accreditation?

I pretty much was holding off taking my courses last year while I waited for them to shift from college to university status. I don't think it's worth it to wait for it to get program or specialized accreditation. If you are waiting, you can get almost everything done and do the final course or TECEP once it gains that accreditation... I am just going to try and finish this year, hope ey get it before then or at least before I finish.

[Sagan]

Yes I read it, and a two month reply is kind of absurd. However, thank you anyway. I don't need this answered anymore, I have already found my answer elsewhere.

I decided to wait a couple of months (again) to respond.

What's "absurd" is your inability to tell the difference between AACSB and that other so-called accreditor.

Good news, though. Your tone isn't "absurd." It's just rude.

[craigfin]

Never did I say they were the same, just asked for a program that was accredited by one or the other. I'm not exactly rolling in the money, so I may not be able to afford an AACSB school. I will point to Sanatone's post for the rest of my rebuttal here on the accreditation standards/requirements.

Furthermore my reply was rude simply because your reply was rude. You made assumptions, you read my reply as you wanted to read it, all to make a point of a subject I didn't bring up or an issue I didn't state. Again I never said they were the same. Your arrogance lead you to read it that way and lead you to believe I was waiting for your reply for two months. In the end your arrogance is eclipsed only by your inability to read and as Sanatone pointed your lack of knowledge on the subject.

[Sagan]

Never did I say they were the same, just asked for a program that was accredited by one or the other. I'm not exactly rolling in the money, so I may not be able to afford an AACSB school.

If you knew the first thing about programmatic accreditation in business, you would not even mention those two in the same breath. That's like saying you're interested in either a dolphin or a cheese sandwich.

Also, you assumption that AACSB accreditation correlates with cost is flat-out wrong. Instead, it correlates much more strongly with accessibility and admissions standards. Of course, these might actually be your issue, but only you know that. Good luck in your search.

(Your comment about the 2 months started this display of jerk-itude. I'm sure the intervening time period found you right where you were 2 months earlier, anyway. Quit projecting your shortcomings on to others and get on with things.)

[jsd]