Looking for 2 year DBA online

[EducationSeeker]

I looked up Stellenbosch University in South Africa on ANABIN and the Uni is hold +H (best possible grading score), it part of the official education and the degrees would be usable in EU also, should one wish for.

I believe all universities from South Africa are listed under H+ on anabin. There might be a few trade schools that I'm not aware of, but yeah. Even UNISA holds H+.

Stellenbosch University has a really good reputation (second in Africa I think) and honestly if you do decide to go through with the PhD, I'm sure you wouldn't regret it. They hold their education to a very high standard. 

On another note, you can always email admissions to find out if they will accept your masters without a dissertation. It's common for South African PhD's to have the prerequisite of having a thesis masters, however these requirements can usually be waived and will be evaluated on a case-by-case situation. My Aunt did her PhD through another SA university and she also didn't have a master's dissertation. She emailed the admissions and asked how she could proceed from there. I believe they evaluated her "capstone project" to see if it would be the equivalent to a thesis and she was then accepted. I've also heard of people having to submit like a small dissertation with their application.

But yeah totally up to you.

Hi Personherebb99,

Thank you for the information. So, I have an MBA with a master's capstone project. Stellenbosch was very responsive and I really appreciated their quick feedback (unlike UNISA). I would assume I need to send my foreign US degrees into SAQA and then also email the PHD admission dept. at Stellenbosch to see if my capstone project could be looked at as a thesis. When I contacted them back in 2019, they had mentioned potentially offering an actual research class that could be used as a substitute for not having a master's thesis. I would take the course in the master's program there and as a sort of pre-PHD course and then  I could pursue the PHD program. At the time, they were not offering it. However, especially post COVID, it might have changed. 

I am getting a DBA or PHD for personal development. At 48, I wasn't planning on becoming a full time researcher/academic so the lower cost of below $10,000 USD or preferably under $5,000 USD without student loans is a must. I will contact them and let you know what I found out. The main block for me is that I did not have a research master's and I did not want to do another master's degree just for that program. 

On a totally unrelated note,  I wanted to ask your opinion on how safe South Africa is? I find it fascinating, beautiful country and I think it gets a lot of bad press. My project manager at last project is South African and states certain areas have gotten very bad for crime. On the other hand, with the amount of school shootings, guns, and crime in the USA, I am sure people could have the same impression of the US.

Education Seeker

[Personherebb9]

I looked up Stellenbosch University in South Africa on ANABIN and the Uni is hold +H (best possible grading score), it part of the official education and the degrees would be usable in EU also, should one wish for.

I believe all universities from South Africa are listed under H+ on anabin. There might be a few trade schools that I'm not aware of, but yeah. Even UNISA holds H+.

Stellenbosch University has a really good reputation (second in Africa I think) and honestly if you do decide to go through with the PhD, I'm sure you wouldn't regret it. They hold their education to a very high standard. 

On another note, you can always email admissions to find out if they will accept your masters without a dissertation. It's common for South African PhD's to have the prerequisite of having a thesis masters, however these requirements can usually be waived and will be evaluated on a case-by-case situation. My Aunt did her PhD through another SA university and she also didn't have a master's dissertation. She emailed the admissions and asked how she could proceed from there. I believe they evaluated her "capstone project" to see if it would be the equivalent to a thesis and she was then accepted. I've also heard of people having to submit like a small dissertation with their application.

But yeah totally up to you.

Hi Personherebb99,

Thank you for the information. So, I have an MBA with a master's capstone project. Stellenbosch was very responsive and I really appreciated their quick feedback (unlike UNISA). I would assume I need to send my foreign US degrees into SAQA and then also email the PHD admission dept. at Stellenbosch to see if my capstone project could be looked at as a thesis. When I contacted them back in 2019, they had mentioned potentially offering an actual research class that could be used as a substitute for not having a master's thesis. I would take the course in the master's program there and as a sort of pre-PHD course and then  I could pursue the PHD program. At the time, they were not offering it. However, especially post COVID, it might have changed. 

I am getting a DBA or PHD for personal development. At 48, I wasn't planning on becoming a full time researcher/academic so the lower cost of below $10,000 USD or preferably under $5,000 USD without student loans is a must. I will contact them and let you know what I found out. The main block for me is that I did not have a research master's and I did not want to do another master's degree just for that program. 

On a totally unrelated note,  I wanted to ask your opinion on how safe South Africa is? I find it fascinating, beautiful country and I think it gets a lot of bad press. My project manager at last project is South African and states certain areas have gotten very bad for crime. On the other hand, with the amount of school shootings, guns, and crime in the USA, I am sure people could have the same impression of the US.

Education Seeker

So what I would do in your situation is the following:

I would contact an admissions advisor/admissions officer at SBS (Stellenbosch Business School) and ask them what alternative routes you can take, since you are not in the possession of a thesis masters. They will be able to give you some guidance on how to proceed, I have mentioned before how they might access the situation. I think in addition to those, I've also heard of a few people who got that requirement completely waived simply, because of relevant work experience, so I would definitely contact them in regards to alternative options. Not having a masters with a thesis is not a trainsmash and you'll find that South African unis tend to be very accommodating in regards to helping you succeed. 

Worst case scenario they'll ask you to take a class to prove that you have the capabilities to write an academic piece of work.

That being said, SBS does not offer DBAs. Professional doctorates are not common in South Africa nor respected, so you'll find that almost no universities offer them here. So if you are set on SBS you would have to go with one of their business related PhDs.

Now cost. Stellenbosch University is a name-brand university. It's considered as like the American equivalent to an "Ivy League" school, up there with UCT. Simply because of its international standing and "brand" it would be considerably more expensive than an university such as UNISA. I looked at their fees for PhD Business Management and Administration and it would total (for everything) at R134 136 or the equivalent to $7793,31. It's currently ranked the 251st best university in the world (according to Times Higher Education) and their business programs have multiple highly respected programmatic accreditations such as AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA.

I can't guarantee that they'll accept your masters, however it never hurts to find out. 

Finally South Africa. Honestly, I really love this country. In terms of crime, as like any country, in certain areas its bad in other areas its basically unheard of. Cape Town was by far the best place I've lived in, a city in between beautiful mountain ranges, while literally right next to the ocean and one of the world's 7 wonders- table mountain. For the most part Cape Town was extremely safe, except for the designated areas here and there, but for the most part I wasn't too worried of ever getting into a sticky situation. I currently live in Johburg, the area itself I live in is fairly safe, but mid-city Johburg is another story. For the most part I think "safety" just depends on the area you live and obviously basic common sense. (Don't wave your phone around in a dark and isolated valley at 2am, etc.)

For reference, I've lived in South Africa for 18 years now and have never been robbed, assaulted, or anything like that. Hell, I've never even witnessed a crime- other than idiots driving of course. It honestly just depends on where you live. In terms of school safety, I've never been afraid of school shootings or crimes at school. Something that seems to be common within the USA. 

Honestly if this country just wasn't run by, for lack of better word, incompetent idiots, I would honestly just stay here for the rest of my life. However, it's a very common trend for foreigners with remote jobs to move to South Africa for the low cost of living. I mean in books South Africa seems like a fairly good example of a "perfect" country, if only it was run right. We have unmatched natural beauty, free health-care, affordable and high standard education, not to mention cheap. (If you're someone that loves meat, you'll be very pleased with the prices of it here.

Socially, (at least for my generation) everyone is nice and friendly, you will not meet friendlier people in the world, I promise you. We are untouched by stupid shit such as "American beauty standards" or stereotypes. In theory our political system is one of the most complex, democratic and equal systems in the world. Honestly, if it just wasn't for our corrupt and idiotic government, this country would prosper. For reference our president has a net worth of over 600 million DOLLARS, while the minimum wage in South Africa is $2000 PER YEAR. NOT PER MONTH, PER YEAR and that's for a 45-hour work week. If that doesn't just smell like corruption and irony, I don't know what does. 

So yeah that is my opinion of South Africa as someone coming from here. If you're someone that's looking into possible immigration, I could possibly not recommend it enough, but only if you are able to sustain yourself financially with a remote American position. If you moved to South Africa with a remote job, paying you $50k a year, you could live in LUXURY and I don't say that lightly. That salary that's typically middle-class range in USA, is like top 1% within South Africa. You would be able to give yourself a life of your dreams with that kind of salary here. 

Now to round off this post:
If you were at all able to find a remote job, I would honestly maybe even recommend attending UCT (University of Cape Town) full-time for your PhD (around $2500 for the full PhD). Take your daughter, do two years abroad. I think your daughter would love to experience the difference between USA and South Africa. Go back to the USA with a PhD from a top 150 university. At that point you'd be set for anything you wanted to achieve further. While it's a big change, life is short and 2 years experiencing something completely new and different might be invaluable and something you'll remember for the rest of you and your daughter's life. I know that might sound very unrealistic, but it might be something to consider. 

Feel free to message me for any other information and let me know what SBS says.

[Bob Sham]

Hi All,

Thank you for all your advice on the degree program I am pursuing.  After researching, I finally decided to enroll in the DBA from Golden Gate University from UpGrad.  I am currently waiting for the Letter of Offer to enter the program.

For your information, I have checked on Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), [i]Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) which listed Golden Gate University accredited.[/i]

@bjcheung77 I have read some reviews on UpGrad and its learning platform which express negative and positive experiences.  However, I am aware that the DBA program requires discipline and mostly consist of independent study.

[Personherebb9]

Hi All,

Thank you for all your advice on the degree program I am pursuing.  After researching, I finally decided to enroll in the DBA from Golden Gate University from UpGrad.  I am currently waiting for the Letter of Offer to enter the program.

For your information, I have checked on Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), [i]Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) which listed Golden Gate University accredited.[/i]

@bjcheung77 I have read some reviews on UpGrad and its learning platform which express negative and positive experiences.  However, I am aware that the DBA program requires discipline and mostly consist of independent study.

I'm so happy for you! I wish you the best of luck in this educational journey!

[EducationSeeker]

Hi All,

Thank you for all your advice on the degree program I am pursuing.  After researching, I finally decided to enroll in the DBA from Golden Gate University from UpGrad.  I am currently waiting for the Letter of Offer to enter the program.

For your information, I have checked on Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), [i]Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) which listed Golden Gate University accredited.[/i]

@bjcheung77 I have read some reviews on UpGrad and its learning platform which express negative and positive experiences.  However, I am aware that the DBA program requires discipline and mostly consist of independent study.

Bob-

Congratulations. Out of curiosity, are you based in the US or another country and what is the cost for you? I thought I remember someone posting this DBA was not available to American students?

EducationSeeker

[Bob Sham]

Hi educationseeker,

I am based out of US and also not a citizen if US. The program cost $16800.

Sent from my SM-F926B using Tapatalk

[EducationSeeker]

Hi educationseeker,

I am based out of US and also not a citizen if US. The program cost $16800.

Sent from my SM-F926B using Tapatalk

Bob,

It looks like the Upgrad Golden Gate University DBA would be available to people located in the US like myself? I am a US citizen. My preference would be for a US based doctorate, but, since I am self funded with no tuition reimbursement, I am still quite price sensitive and $16,800 is quite reasonable and is cheaper I believe than Univ of the Cumberlands and South College DBA programs. Is the Upgrade GGU DBA program all online and I am guessing it takes around 3 years?

If Stellenbosch will accept my non-research practice oriented MBA or would allow me to take a research methods class instead of getting another masters degree, I am also inclined to look at the PHD in Business Administration there in South Africa because they do not require travel. It also costs about $7-8k USD which is about $8-10k less than GGU DBA and is AASCB accredited. However, as this degree is mainly for personal development and I don't really care that much about being a traditional tenured research focused academic, the AACSB accreditation is a nice to have feature, but, not necessary.

Thanks,

Education Seeker

[ss20ts]

Hi educationseeker,

I am based out of US and also not a citizen if US. The program cost $16800.

Sent from my SM-F926B using Tapatalk

Bob,

It looks like the Upgrad Golden Gate University DBA would be available to people located in the US like myself? I am a US citizen. My preference would be for a US based doctorate, but, since I am self funded with no tuition reimbursement, I am still quite price sensitive and $16,800 is quite reasonable and is cheaper I believe than Univ of the Cumberlands and South College DBA programs. Is the Upgrade GGU DBA program all online and I am guessing it takes around 3 years?

If Stellenbosch will accept my non-research practice oriented MBA or would allow me to take a research methods class instead of getting another masters degree, I am also inclined to look at the PHD in Business Administration there in South Africa because they do not require travel. It also costs about $7-8k USD which is about $8-10k less than GGU DBA and is AASCB accredited. However, as this degree is mainly for personal development and I don't really care that much about being a traditional tenured research focused academic, the AACSB accreditation is a nice to have feature, but, not necessary.

Thanks,

Education Seeker

Yes, US residents can attend GGU, but the Upgrad program is not open to US residents. It'll cost far more than $16800.

[Johann1]

@bjcheung, thank you for your valuable contributions to online DBA studies.

I am also looking for a 2-year, affordable online PhD or DBA.

Before I get to the purpose of my post, I would like to give some background of myself. I am a senior citizen in my seventies. A few years ago, I decided to do a doctorate, which was a lifelong goal/dream. After school, I started working and studied part-time and achieved a BCom and CTA (Certificate in the Theory of Accountancy) at the University of Stellenbosch, a CA(SA) (Chartered Accountant) and an MCompt at UNISA. After that, I became a partner in an accountancy firm, which later became PWC. In 1985, I entered the corporate business world in South Africa, where I spent my time in managerial capacities in various industries until my retirement.

In 2014, I started my research on business ethics, intending to do a doctorate eventually. In 2017, I applied for doctoral studies at the University of Stellenbosch but was rejected. In 2018, I applied for doctoral studies at UNISA, where I completed my Master's degree 30 years earlier but was unsuccessful again. My wife suggested that I look for an overseas university. I started my search in the USA and Britain but found the tuition fees excessive for a South African. To give you an idea about the value of our currency: In 1978, R1 could buy US$1,14 … and today only 5,4 cents.

To cut the story short, in June 2019, I enrolled at Business School Netherlands and received my DBA in November 2022. The title of my thesis was A Model for Business Ethics in the Sharing Economy.

Therefore, I have achieved my lifetime goal to do a doctorate. However, I enjoyed studying and learned a lot of new things during my studies. It was a fulfilling journey. I have now decided to further my studies and do another doctorate because studying keeps my mind busy, and I enjoy it.

So, over the last few months, I started a new search for universities, and my shortlist contains two universities that have been discussed intensively on this forum: EIU and SSBM. I had already applied to these universities before I knew about this forum, and my applications were successful.

As indicated herein, our Rand has little buying power, and both these universities are affordable in the $5500 - $7000 range. I mainly selected them because they received a 5* and 4* rating from QS Stars University Ratings, respectively, for academic rigour. Furthermore, on the CEOWORLD Magazine's list of the best business schools in the world for 2023, EIU is rated 55th (11th in Europe), whereas SSBM is rated 69th (14th in Europe). SSBM has ACBSP accreditation status, and EIU has ‘candidate’ status.

I have read about the concerns of EIU needing to be accredited by ACBSP.

Do these concerns apply to me since I don't want to apply for a job in the future? Are these concerns not localised to the US and Britain, and do they affect other parts of the world?

Otherwise, do you have recommendations for alternative online universities or business schools in the same price range? My thesis's intended topic is business ethics and leadership in the age of artificial intelligence.

I appreciate any help you can provide.

[rachel83az]

ACBSP accreditation only really matters if you want a job in academia. Since you're not planning on getting a job at all, I wouldn't worry about it.