Golden Gate University or Apollos DBA?

[bjcheung77]

What really concerns me, or at least gives a little bit of a thought about UpGrad, which scares me is that, GGU only has a JD that is a 'doctorate'... they don't really offer a DBA, they have a JD/MBA though... So, for accreditation purposes, you'll have a GGU partnership that ISNT fully accredited in the US and that is probably one of the reasons it mentioned not offered individuals in the US. GGU doctoral degrees, you can review the degrees in this link: https://ggu.edu/degrees-programs/doctorate-degrees/

[aimz]

I am currently enrolled at GGU via upgrad.

If you are interested in the course and have specific questions I'd be happy to help.

Hi Aimz can you please give some info for the quality of education and payment terms? It has payment plan on monthly basis?

The classes how are they? are they conducted from GGU staff or upgrad?


Thanks in advance!

Alex.

The quality of education is good but its quite fast paced, especially as I've not been in a university environment for a while.

The course is broken down into three sections:

Doctoral Research Methods - here we learn correct writing and research styles
Specialisation - take classes on specialist topics like finance, ethics, digital accounting
Dissertation - final stage which is the delivery of a dissertation.

Im currently on section 1. The lectures are pre-recorded mainly but there is a live class/tutorial each weekend. The recorded lecturers all (so far) are from different institutions and the live lectures are also from an academic based in Asia.

Interaction at this stage with GGU is limited. Academic support and escalation of issues is handled by upgrad staff and they do a great job. I have recieved a GGU ID, Email and access to their online databases.

Their is good support from the academic cohort too. Most are based in South Asia and East Asia with a few from UK, Canada and Aus.

Regarding the payment I do believe that there is an option to pay in installments if you use a credit card. I paid in full so don't know too much about this. I recieved a scholarship of 70%. You have to make an application and write a letter to support it. Most applicants do recieve a scholarship but the amount can vary slightly.

I supect that the way upgrad is able to keep the course fees down is by outsourcing the marking and administration to non GGU staff. I think there will be more  GGU involvement in stage 3 of the course.

Overall obtaining a doctorate fromi well regarded brick and mortar school, fully remotely and at a decent price point was a great deal for me.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm also very interested in GGU DBA. Do you know if there will be a qualification exam (like all US Unis) and a thesis defense? Thank you!

Yeah there is an exam and thesis defence. Ive not reached either stage yet.

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What really concerns me, or at least gives a little bit of a thought about UpGrad, which scares me is that, GGU only has a JD that is a 'doctorate'... they don't really offer a DBA, they have a JD/MBA though... So, for accreditation purposes, you'll have a GGU partnership that ISNT fully accredited in the US and that is probably one of the reasons it mentioned not offered individuals in the US. GGU doctoral degrees, you can review the degrees in this link: https://ggu.edu/degrees-programs/doctorate-degrees/

I'm not as familiar with the accreditation side of things as some of the members of the forum here. However, on the GGU library there are DBA thesis that people have written and published that precede the upgrad partnership.

There is also a gentleman based in SF that is in my cohort.

I believe the links you have shared are for courses that have an in person requirement. The DBA is fully online with an optional campus immersion that lasts 1 week.

[Jonathan Whatley]

for accreditation purposes, you'll have a GGU partnership that ISNT fully accredited in the US and that is probably one of the reasons it mentioned not offered individuals in the US. GGU doctoral degrees, you can review the degrees in this link: https://ggu.edu/degrees-programs/doctorate-degrees/

To the contrary, WASC itself lists as accredited GGU's Doctor of Business Administration and Doctor of Business Administration in Emerging Technologies.

[MrPanda]

https://my.ggu.edu/about-ggu/accreditation

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https://my.ggu.edu/media/employee/docume...r-2022.pdf

[bjcheung77]

Yeah, if you only had a choice between the two, GGU would be a much better choice given their RA status vs the NA option...

[quanticmba]

Just an update, I got accepted into GGU DBA with emerging tech - still 70% off but now comes with a compulsory 10k USD immersion program fee to SF, SG and Mumbai. So 25k USD in total.

[bjcheung77]

Just an update, I got accepted into GGU DBA with emerging tech - still 70% off but now comes with a compulsory 10k USD immersion program fee to SF, SG and Mumbai. So 24k USD in total.

Congrats on getting into the program! Seems like a very good deal even though they added the 10K... Did you get your Quantic MBA for free or cheap? What other requirements were needed for the DBA? I keep forgetting what they need as I've read so many that I want to apply to...

[quanticmba]

Just an update, I got accepted into GGU DBA with emerging tech - still 70% off but now comes with a compulsory 10k USD immersion program fee to SF, SG and Mumbai. So 24k USD in total.

Congrats on getting into the program! Seems like a very good deal even though they added the 10K... Did you get your Quantic MBA for free or cheap? What other requirements were needed for the DBA? I keep forgetting what they need as I've read so many that I want to apply to...

Thanks buddy! Been lurking around and reading your informative posts even before my MBA. Quantic currently offers 25% scholarships (class Nov 24) which is approx 9.9k USD. I asked around my cohort and 3 of them confirmed they got the same offer amount (25%). They recently implemented sweeping changes to how grading works, which is significantly harder for the 2025 cohort. Internal speculation is that they are adjusting academic rigour for RA. As of now, Quantic is only NA (DEAC). Seems like they have been reducing the scholarship amount from 100>75>50>25%. Courses have been great so far on their proprietary mobile app but as a new non-RA business school, it probably does not tick the boxes for most people. 

The UUG DBA program in emerging tech requires a Bachelors with 10+ years of work experience, while the normal DBA requires a Masters or Bachelors with 5+ year of work experience. Kind of weird that the requirements are different, but then again the programs are wildly different as well. 

DBA in Emerging Tech: https://cdn.upgrad.com/UpGrad/temp/7dbd6...gu+dba.pdf
Normal DBA: https://cdn.upgrad.com/UpGrad/temp/5a73e...52.pdf.pdf

Also worth it to note that the normal DBA allows you to opt-in/out of the 10k USD immersion program, but the DBA in emerging tech does not provide you with an option AKA the immersion program is compulsary.

[cacoleman1983]

I just received an email earlier today about the DBA in Emerging Technologies with a specialization in Generative AI in partnership with upGrad.  I never requested info for this particular program but several schools are jumping on the AI offering bandwagon.

Thank you for your interest in the Doctor of Business Administration in Emerging Technologies (Specialization in Generative AI) from Golden Gate University (GGU) located in the heart of San Francisco:
https://www.hopkins.edu.hk/en/pages/upgr.../dbagenai/

Why GGU:

Ranks #1 for Working Professional by Washington Monthly for consecutive years.
120 year legacy, networking opportunities with 70,000+ Alumni , including influential politicians, distinguished judges, and leading industry experts such as:
Richard Belluzzo (BS), CEO of Quantum Corp and President and COO of Microsoft
Sophia Bekele (MBA), founder of DotConnect Africa
Ralph Atkin(MBA), founder of Skywest Airlines
Monique Morrow (MS), former CTO of Cisco Systems
Ralph Atkin (MBA), founder of Skywest Airlines
Dave Yeske (DBA), co-founder and managing director of Yeske Buie, past national president of Financial Planning Association, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of GGU
and many more.....
Program Features:

36 months
Students can apply for up to 55% upGrad scholarship
Campus immersion available

[quanticmba]

I just received an email earlier today about the DBA in Emerging Technologies with a specialization in Generative AI in partnership with upGrad.  I never requested info for this particular program but several schools are jumping on the AI offering bandwagon.

Thank you for your interest in the Doctor of Business Administration in Emerging Technologies (Specialization in Generative AI) from Golden Gate University (GGU) located in the heart of San Francisco:
https://www.hopkins.edu.hk/en/pages/upgr.../dbagenai/

Why GGU:

Ranks #1 for Working Professional by Washington Monthly for consecutive years.
120 year legacy, networking opportunities with 70,000+ Alumni , including influential politicians, distinguished judges, and leading industry experts such as:
Richard Belluzzo (BS), CEO of Quantum Corp and President and COO of Microsoft
Sophia Bekele (MBA), founder of DotConnect Africa
Ralph Atkin(MBA), founder of Skywest Airlines
Monique Morrow (MS), former CTO of Cisco Systems
Ralph Atkin (MBA), founder of Skywest Airlines
Dave Yeske (DBA), co-founder and managing director of Yeske Buie, past national president of Financial Planning Association, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of GGU
and many more.....
Program Features:

36 months
Students can apply for up to 55% upGrad scholarship
Campus immersion available

Weird, seems like the scholarship amount is decreasing