My Grad School Thoughts - Masters/PHD

[bjcheung77]

I'm going to apply to them later, I am taking a 3 month Leave of Absence from work to travel.  I am not in a rush to get a Masters (I think it's the highest education level I will go for now, not aiming for a Doctorate/PHD anytime soon).  If I want to apply, I may want to apply to 3 Masters program at the end of the year or March 2018 (whenever I feel like it, after I come back from my travels).  

These are the Top 3 choices for me and will suit anyone with a Bachelors (any major).  Hodges MIS (no entrance requirements but a Bachelors) OR Hodges MPA (IACBE secondary/programmatic accredited), WGU (MBA - 6 months for $3500) OR Patten MBA (4 months at $1900 or 8 months for $3800).  Patten maybe the cheapest if one can finish in 4 months, but for those who are "slower", it's cheap at 8 months.

Patten Tuition: anyone got a corp discount code for $1900/4 months? http://patten.edu/admissions/online-tuition/
Patten Online Degrees List: http://patten.edu/patten-online/online-degree-programs/
The Patten MBA has 7 concentrations, I am thinking of going for the Finance option

WGU Tuition ($3250/6 month term): https://www.wgu.edu/tuition_financial_aid/tuition
WGU MS ITM: https://www.wgu.edu/online_it_degrees/ne...ter_degree
WGU MBA ITM: https://www.wgu.edu/business/master_busi..._IT_degree
WGU MSML: https://www.wgu.edu/business/master_lead...ent_degree

Hodges Upower $3500/6 months - https://www.hodges.edu/academics/academi...power.aspx
Hodges MIS PDF Link: https://webadvisor.hodges.edu/aa_pdfs/cu...in.pdf#MIS
Hodges MIS https://www.hodges.edu/academics/academi...stems.aspx

*MIS is 36 credits, but you can get 6 credits waived if you have taken MIS & Project Management
Hodges MPA PDF Link: https://webadvisor.hodges.edu/aa_pdfs/cu...in.pdf#MPA
Hodges MPA https://www.hodges.edu/academics/academi...ation.aspx

[RANSOMSOUL]

Solid snapshot of 3 great value programs. Everytime I see a post on Patten it gets me thinking about returning there for another degree. My initially thought was a second MBA but odds are if I ever give it a run, most likely, it will be for a BA in Psychology.

Max Out That Break!!!

[bjcheung77]

Already have a few Doctorate or PHD programs in my sight... a few of them are International Institutions.
In order of personal preferences from Cost/Recognition to Reviews/Program and how it's viewed internationally.
There are a few California State recognized DBA's/PHD for $5000. Haha... that's if I can't get into any programs.

1) UNISA (South Africa, not South Australia) PHD programs because of mainly "Cost" at under 10 grand.
2) Swiss Management Center AG DBA - ACBSP accredited and at $9800 euros or less than $11800 USD.
3) Heriot Watt University DBA (3 exams/3 courses, mentor/supervisor stage) at $15,795 pounds (20 grand).
4) Capella OR Cal Southern University DBA at roughly $29,700 USD - both are ACBSP accredited also.
5) Taft DBA - $420/month, 60 units, if you finish in 12 months that's dang cheap for a nationally recognized DBA!

Forgot - Here's the BPPE CA State approved DBA for $5000. http://www.atmu.education/www/Doc-Progra...rogram=mba
For #3 - I updated the Heriot Watt price, typo - wasn't 29 grand, it's 20 grand USD.
I'm still leaning towards the Taft DBA or Swiss Management degree if I ever get to that level.

[Ideas]

Already have a few Doctorate or PHD programs in my sight... a few of them are International Institutions.
In order of personal preferences from Cost/Recognition to Reviews/Program and how it's viewed internationally.
There are a few California State recognized DBA's/PHD for $5000.  Haha... that's if I can't get into any programs.

1) UNISA (South Africa, not South Australia) PHD programs because of mainly "Cost" at under 10 grand.
2) Swiss Management Center AG DBA - ACBSP accredited and at $9800 euros or less than $11800 USD.
3) Heriot Watt University DBA (3 exams/3 courses, mentor/supervisor stage) at $15,795 pounds (29 grand).
4) Capella OR Cal Southern University DBA at roughly $29,700 USD - both are ACBSP accredited also.
5) Taft DBA - $420/month, 60 units, if you finish in 12 months that's dang cheap for a nationally recognized DBA!

Interesting that Swiss Management Center is for-profit and only charges that much. They require "Minimum 4 years of work experience in executive or senior management positions".

Taft: wow!

[Thorne]

Interesting that Swiss Management Center is for-profit and only charges that much. They require "Minimum 4 years of work experience in executive or senior management positions".

Taft: wow!

It seems like Swiss for-profits are much more respectable than US for-profits.

[sanantone]

Is ACBSP accreditation the only accreditation Swiss Management Center has? Or, is it authorized by Switzerland to offer degrees? ACBSP accreditation, alone, means that the school is only nationally accredited.

I'm not sure that "nationally recognized" is the right phrase for Taft. Taft is not a well-known school. Taft is nationally accredited, and that isn't always recognized.

[RANSOMSOUL]

I'm not sure that "nationally recognized" is the right phrase for Taft. Taft is not a well-known school. Taft is nationally accredited, and that isn't always recognized.

The riddle and tone of this comment made me smile. Feels like spoken word and the room should be snapping their fingers after hearing it.

[bjcheung77]

And then there are the programs that are IACBE or ACBSP accredited that are offered only on site for really cheap.
Unfortunately, I won't be away for that many years just to take up a doctorate education, even though it's "cheap".
I'll use the time I have to work on my career and use additional time on the side to complete my educational goal.

During my time off and a few extra months, I am going to be working on my Cisco CyberSecurity Scholarship and get those two additional
IT/Business certs I wanted to do completed. I'll have time after March 2018 to look at Masters/PHD programs.
If all goes well, I'll maybe throw in an extra IT/Business cert into the mix if the time allotment I've setup allows....

[bjcheung77]

Further to this, I am planning on becoming a student mentor for any Masters program/PHD program that I am going to be getting into. I find that a very interesting task and I can help fellow students if they ever needed. Moreover, if there are projects, I am thinking of getting a group of like minded individuals for team assignments/projects for some of the Masters/Doctorate programs out there...

One last thing I was looking for, but can't find yet, is a competency based Doctorate Degree. There are a few that are for ABD students, but those don't seem to be entirely competency based, I am looking for non-dissertation degrees, as I won't be able to do many residencies if any at all to defend my dissertation... Any recommendations on a NON-dissertation DBA/PHD?

[sanantone]

Further to this, I am planning on becoming a student mentor for any Masters program/PHD program that I am going to be getting into.  I find that a very interesting task and I can help fellow students if they ever needed.  Moreover, if there are projects, I am thinking of getting a group of like minded individuals for team assignments/projects for some of the Masters/Doctorate programs out there...

One last thing I was looking for, but can't find yet, is a competency based Doctorate Degree.   There are a few that are for ABD students, but those don't seem to be entirely competency based, I am looking for non-dissertation degrees, as I won't be able to do many residencies if any at all to defend my dissertation...  Any recommendations on a NON-dissertation DBA/PHD?

There is no such thing as a PhD with no dissertation. A school may let you defend your dissertation by distance; I don't know which ones. There are Ed.D. programs with no dissertation, but they do have research projects that are very similar. Arizona State University's DBH has no dissertation requirement. 

The ABD programs aren't competency-based at all, and they still require the student to finish a dissertation.