PhD IT, $383 PCH, Bachelors entry, thoughts!?

[davewill]

PhD almost for free? I haven't heard of this.

Academic Master's and PhDs often have a stipend or are tied to payed research assistant jobs and are quite competitive as a result. Professional grad degrees (PsyD, MSW, MBA, etc...) are generally out of pocket.

[bluebooger]

if your real goal is to be a Field Applications Engineer then I think the PhD in IT is a waste of time

Field Applications Engineer : Microchip Technology
https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=f4a618...serp&vjs=3

Qualifications and Experience :
Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline with a strong academic track record : 4+ Relevant work experience

you'll be spending a lot of time and money for something that will not help you in your goal for that job

it'll help you be called a doctor, and if all that money and time makes being called a doctor worth for you then go ahead

[posabsolute]

Yeah, this program looks awesome and cheap, even with the 3 flights to go there, much cheaper than let's say, North Central.

I might go for it after my WGU MBA IT. It's 75 credits I think tho, not going to take a year to do it..

Also, it's not exactly a PHD IT, it's a PHD in computer and information sciences. They have a CS concentration that looks like a CS concentration.


If you never looked into Cumberlands before, you should look a bit further in the University values (Check on the sister forum), they don't "advertise" that on their website...

[armstrongsubero]

@bluebogger did you read my post? I will pursue that path because with my experience, current job position and the difficulties associated with doing an ABET degree in Electrical Engineering it would be cheaper to get a higher paying job in IT and then fund my studies for electrical engineering best advice I received. 

Even if I don't get an H1B in time, I will be able to move up in my career locally, and hopefully get enough money to take some time and do a proper ABET accredited engineering degree. The PhD at Little Rock is quite affordable as they have a nice payment plan structure.

And yes it is worth it for the prices 75*383 = $28 725. That is a total of TT $185 276.25 over the course of 5 years that works out to $37 055 a year or roughly a third of my current salary paying out of pocket. I can manage that.

In contrast the EE program I wanted to do could find online is the Arizona State University ABET accredited bachelors in EE costs $6499 for 10 credits. For a 120 credit program, this is 6499 * 12 = $77 988. That is a total of TT $503 022.60. I could buy a house with that much money and over the cost of 5 years would take an entire year's salary to pay for each year! How will I live?.

Now when I finish the PhD I can see an increase of over TT $30 000 in earnings over the cost of a year, assuming I don't get promoted, if I do then that number can go up a lot. And hopefully if I earn a masters in the process, I will get  an increase and promotion during the process. Additionally I think publishers would be very happy to publish books written by a PhD. I like writing, and this degree would help boost my bio.

Assuming I do the EE degree I get nothing because I would already have completed the BALS. I will have to apply for those positions I want and hope I get sponsorship and an H1B, it's much riskier.

It's a cost to benefit ratio, and based on the information I received from this thread, it may be the best option:

https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ing+choice

From that post the advice was basically get a job in software (very easy for me, working with a charity as a software/fullstack developer plus previous experience) and use that to fund my EE studies. A PhD in Computer and Information Sciences may get me a door in the company doing something else and then I may be able to branch across into the position I want. It's worth a shot, worst case I still have a career to fall back on.

And yes it means that much to me as my aim is to be self actualized. Having a career I enjoy and being called doctor are two pieces of the puzzle. More attainable than saying I want to be the next Elon or Zukerberg.

If you have a better idea I would love to hear it. but the path from liberal arts to engineering online is expensive and time consuming.

@postabsolute yep Northcentral is a lot! the CS aspect would be a better resume booster, Computer and Information Sciences sounds better than Information Systems or Information Technology.

[posabsolute]

I have a hard time believing how cheap UALR is, to be honest I'm kind of afraid they will raise it up.

[armstrongsubero]

@posabsolute I know right!? It seems like a dream to me. I don't mind studying for a GRE or GMAT to get into this. Low cost, payment plan, regionally accredited, online, non-profit school. I mean a course costs like almost the same amount as a TESU course with study.com discount before June! it's like the best of RA and NA packed into one delicious goodness. I like comp sci, but I was actually considering the information quality track as it seems most applicable for what I want to do and I like the course descriptions and I think it's something I would like to do. I already have an idea for my thesis

This program looks so good I emailed Dr. John Talburt today to enquire if he would accept a liberal arts student and what score he was looking at for the GMAT there is a lot of detail on GRE but not on GMAT. I really want to know before I get my hopes up.

I want to do this soooo bad!

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Oh, I also explained to him that I may not meet the requirements for the 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the last 60 credits because I transferred and did 'college level exams' to earn credit, and asked him if this would be a problem.

[dfrecore]

Oh, I also explained to him that I may not meet the requirements for the 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the last 60 credits because I transferred and did 'college level exams' to earn credit, and asked him if this would be a problem.

Your last 60 credits normally means your last 60 graded credits.  So if you have 60 graded and 60 test-out credits, they'll look at the 60 graded.  If you have fewer than 60 graded credits, that's when you need to ask them how it would work.

[armstrongsubero]

@dfrecore I hope he replies!

[Ideas]

Computer and Information Sciences sounds better than Information Systems or Information Technology.

I agree, except that they might read fast and think it's Computer Information Systems. Well, I did

I feel like CIS is treated mostly like IT degrees.

I spent most of the day searching for Masters degrees for myself. Personally I'm thinking of attending a foreign school to save money. A school that's not in the more expensive countries, but still has some reasonable accreditations, reputation, etc. I would have to spend hours looking at the options. I guess you don't have that option - for your career, I guess you want an RA US school.

Like Sagan mentioned, my ideal would be a combination masters/doctoral program where I could enter it with bachelor's only, and then I would have the option to stop after a masters or continue on.

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And yes it is worth it for the prices 75*383 = $28 725. That is a total of TT $185 276.25 over the course of 5 years that works out to $37 055 a year or roughly a third of my current salary paying out of pocket. I can manage that.

In contrast the EE program I wanted to do could find online is the Arizona State University ABET accredited bachelors in EE costs $6499 for 10 credits. For a 120 credit program, this is 6499 * 12 = $77 988. That is a total of TT $503 022.60. I could buy a house with that much money and over the cost of 5 years would take an entire year's salary to pay for each year! How will I live?

Wow, that's so cheap. Lots of Masters degrees cost more than that.

For the other program, you'd need to take a loan. But I guess being international you can't qualify for a loan Your plan seems really good to me: get any cheap, quick degree(s) which lead to the Visa first. Then you would have a good enough employer who can pay for other education (if you even need more). But maybe you can get in without completing a whole doctorate. With just some specialized grad certificates/diplomas/etc and having started the doctorate, for example.

I am doing the opposite. I am in the U.S. and trying to leave. But I don't think my degree(s) will help me directly, due to health issues, so I feel I have many tough decisions to make. Actually, I just posted that I was considering a foreign Masters, but only if it's good enough to gain me entry into a foreign doctoral program.

[homeschoolmom1]

Help me understand why that is cheap? I thought, like Davewill said, most PhD courses of study are usually linked to a scholarship/research assistant position, which covers all of the tuition and pays you a stipend. I would not pursue a PhD if it wasn't free!