Purdue Global (PUG) EdD in Leadership and Innovation

[bjcheung77]

If I recall correctly, WES doesn't indicate if it's RA or not, it'll only provide recognition equal to US if you get a favorable review. For most people, as long as it indicates it's accredited, and not showing as non-accredited, that would work for further education, employment, even immigration purposes. TESU, UMPI, etc will take these as long as it's indicated by WES and other providers that exact detail, accredited, US equivalency, they'll treat the courses as RA equivalent and not NA equivalent.

[walruspanda]

After I get my MSIT from PUG next month, I've decided to apply for the PUG EdD in Leadership/Innovation program -- to at least try the first couple courses to see if it's the right fit for me. My thinking:

• Of any USA RA doctorate I've found that's at all appropriate to my situation, PUG's EdD would be the fastest (~20 months) and cheapest for me. (Cheapest will not be true for everyone, but there's a nice discount for students already with a PUG degree.)
  
• Unlike most EdD programs, in PUG's you can get a cognate in basically any subject you want, generally related to your Masters Degree. And since I'm probably staying in K-12 education, getting an EdD that's also at least somewhat related to IT seems the best of both worlds.
  
• I looked hard at South College's and University of the Cumberlands' IT-related doctorate programs, but with both of them I found a lot of negative comments -- not just a few scattered ones (true for probably any program), but a large enough quantity to possibly indicate some systemic issues. In the unofficial PUG EdD Facebook group, though, almost everyone seemed very positive about their experiences, with only a few minor hiccups.
  

My ideal program still might be the Middle Georgia State Doctor of Science in IT. But because I'd have to wait a full year from now to apply, and I'm already elderly for a doctoral student -- late 40s! -- my impatience and my urge to keep this momentum going wins out. If the PUG EdD doesn't work out, I may apply there -- or just as likely, decide that a Masters is good enough, which from a Return on Investment perspective it almost certainly is.

[Jonathan Whatley]

I'm already elderly for a doctoral student -- late 40s!

Nooooo!

[bjcheung77]

Um, yeah, I'm late 40's too! Let's run a marathon!

[islandcoli]

• Unlike most EdD programs, in PUG's you can get a cognate in basically any subject you want, generally related to your Masters Degree. And since I'm probably staying in K-12 
  

Could I bother you to expand on this? How liberal are they with concentration choices?

[TINASAM]

LOL Mid-50's, start my Phd next year and finishing up my Master's degree at the moment, lol.

[walruspanda]

• Unlike most EdD programs, in PUG's you can get a cognate in basically any subject you want, generally related to your Masters Degree. And since I'm probably staying in K-12 
  

Could I bother you to expand on this? How liberal are they with concentration choices?

No first-hand knowledge yet, but from what I've been told, the EdD cognate (not technically a concentration) can be in pretty much anything you can get a Masters in -- there's no specific list of concentrations like most similar programs. And then with some of the coursework assignments as well as the research project, they're supposed to be done as it applies to your cognate -- so the same assignment might focus on Leadership in IT, Leadership in Elementary Education, and Leadership in Turfgrass Management for three different individuals.

[walruspanda]

I am officially going through with the EdD in Leadership/Innovation at PUG! My first two courses (of 12) start next Wednesday: ED710 and ED720. I'll give my impressions of the courses once I get into the term.

The eight required 700-level courses can be taken in pairs, so I should be finished with them in four 10-week terms. After that, the four 800-level courses (essentially working on your final research project) need to be taken sequentially and by themselves, so in all the quickest the degree can be finished in is eight terms.

[walruspanda]

The eight required 700-level courses can be taken in pairs, so I should be finished with them in four 10-week terms. After that, the four 800-level courses (essentially working on your final research project) need to be taken sequentially and by themselves, so in all the quickest the degree can be finished in is eight terms.

Slight clarification to my earlier statement. Based on how PUG is assigning classes to the first cohort with the EdD degree -- which is starting their fourth term next week -- it can actually be done in seven terms / 70 weeks:

• Terms 1-3: two 700-level courses per term
  
• Terms 4-5: one 700-level course and one 800-level course per term
  
• Terms 6-7: one 800-level course per term
  

[walruspanda]

Quick notes about my first PUG EdD term, which started today:

• While there are synchronous seminars in the classes, attendance at the seminars is not required (although of course recommended) -- and there are only 4 hour-long seminars per class over the 10 weeks, as opposed to one per week for the Bachelors/Masters regular track at PUG.
  
• At least in my first two classes (ED710/ED720), the volume of assignments is not overwhelming. In fact, setting aside the weekly discussion posts (which are gonna get annoying), it's a lighter load than some of my MSIT classes. From what I hear, though, the first of the 800-level classes has a 40-page assignment, though -- essentially the first part of the dissertation -- so I imagine the difficulty is going to ramp up.