My Grad School Thoughts - Masters/PHD

[bjcheung77]

Well, that's wishful thinking for you (actually for me)! I'll see what program is of least resistance and "cheap/easy/fast" as well as better recognized for my future goal... Still thinking Capella is very attractive as well... I'll research those 5 more and do one of them when the time comes... maybe a new program will spring up sometime in the future for an applied doctorate that's more competency based than the current Capella version.

[sanantone]

There is really no purpose in having a doctoral program if it doesn't lead to an advanced license or advanced research. Doctoral students are supposed to make some sort of contribution to their field.

[RANSOMSOUL]

Arizona State University's DBH has no dissertation requirement. 

The Behavioral Health Management is a program I looked at as a possibility. Then I priced it out ($77k+)....Yikes!!! Now my brother lives in Arizona and there's a creative option to work the tuition down to $37k+ - still more than what I would want to pay but definitely an interesting degree.

[sanantone]

Arizona State University's DBH has no dissertation requirement. 

The Behavioral Health Management is a program I looked at as a possibility. Then I priced it out ($77k+)....Yikes!!! Now my brother lives in Arizona and there's a creative option to work the tuition down to $37k+ - still more than what I would want to pay but definitely an interesting degree.

You're supposed to have a qualifying master's degree, and that will count for 30 of the credits in their program.

[RANSOMSOUL]

The total program is 84 credit hours (54 after transfer credits)....I was actually being really kind on $k+ in the numbers stated.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, I thought the end date was 3 months, but it shows as 4, even more time to "learn the ropes"... I'll busy Dec 28, 2017, up to April 28, 2018. I'll still apply for an early start for my Masters though, as most of the Masters allow entry into the program every month, I'll just start it when I get my Cisco Cybersecurity Scholarship completed.

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[cardiacclep]

There is really no purpose in having a doctoral program if it doesn't lead to an advanced license or advanced research. Doctoral students are supposed to make some sort of contribution to their field.

Exactly this!!!!! Cheap and fast have there place in undergrad or even masters (most times) but when you get to PhD level this is not acceptable. As you stated, the goal of a PhD is to expand to the existing level knowledge in a particularly finite area of study. This takes time, sacrifice and at times bringing many students to the brink of breaking down because.........IT IS REALLY HARD. Casually shopping around for a no name online PhD or doctorate makes no sense and such degrees are treated with the respect they deserve which is none.

[Thorne]

There is really no purpose in having a doctoral program if it doesn't lead to an advanced license or advanced research. Doctoral students are supposed to make some sort of contribution to their field.

Exactly this!!!!! Cheap and fast have there place in undergrad or even masters (most times) but when you get to PhD level this is not acceptable. As you stated, the goal of a PhD is to expand to the existing level knowledge in a particularly finite area of study. This takes time, sacrifice and at times bringing many students to the brink of breaking down because.........IT IS REALLY HARD. Casually shopping around for a no name online PhD or doctorate makes no sense and such degrees are treated with the respect they deserve which is none.

I agree with both of you -- to a point. I don't necessarily think a doctorate should be fast, but I would like to see a reasonably inexpensive program.

If you want a cheap doctorate, you can always look at international schools. The added benefit is that most of what I've seen can be completed as quickly as you can reasonably provide a cogent, quality piece of original research (probably a minimum of two years if you are really dedicated). Oh, and if someone really wants to skip the defense part, just dig deep into Australian schools. Some of them don't require you to defend your dissertation because of the vast distances the committee would be required to travel for a true viva voce.

[RANSOMSOUL]

I agree with both of you -- to a point. I don't necessarily think a doctorate should be fast, but I would like to see a reasonably inexpensive program.

When I look at moving forward with one the many doctoral programs, the ranking factors shake out like this:
 
Key - I want a program to assist with personal growth and allow me to bring value back to the market because of it.

Cost - Value, Bargain, Cheap sounds like a perfect trifecta

Time - 2 years seems close to impossible minus some selective EdD and possibly UNISA's DBL. 3 & 4-year programs seem like a more realistic option for select programs.

[sanantone]

There is really no purpose in having a doctoral program if it doesn't lead to an advanced license or advanced research. Doctoral students are supposed to make some sort of contribution to their field.

Exactly this!!!!! Cheap and fast have there place in undergrad or even masters (most times) but when you get to PhD level this is not acceptable. As you stated, the goal of a PhD is to expand to the existing level knowledge in a particularly finite area of study. This takes time, sacrifice and at times bringing many students to the brink of breaking down because.........IT IS REALLY HARD. Casually shopping around for a no name online PhD or doctorate makes no sense and such degrees are treated with the respect they deserve which is none.

I agree with both of you -- to a point. I don't necessarily think a doctorate should be fast, but I would like to see a reasonably inexpensive program.

If you want a cheap doctorate, you can always look at international schools. The added benefit is that most of what I've seen can be completed as quickly as you can reasonably provide a cogent, quality piece of original research (probably a minimum of two years if you are really dedicated). Oh, and if someone really wants to skip the defense part, just dig deep into Australian schools. Some of them don't require you to defend your dissertation because of the vast distances the committee would be required to travel for a true viva voce.

I don't have a problem with cheap, but expecting a competency-based doctorate goes against what a doctoral program is all about. The competency is being able to do research. If you want a competency-based doctorate, then find a dissertation-only doctorate. Those aren't fast, though, because foreign schools expect longer dissertations.