Capella Doctoral Programs?

[Sagan]

I am a big supporter of online education as my MBA and MS are both online...however, if one is SERIOUS about doctoral education they need to look into a brick and mortar university where you will gain the proper networking and support that is offered by the university and the professors. That is just my 2 cents. Take it for what it is worth.

Uh....maybe. it really depends on why one is pursuing the doctorate.

I agree with the above advice as it pertains to those wishing to enter academia. The notion of attending a nontraditional school or program to enter traditional academia is deluded. It's hard enough for traditional doctoral students.

But I disagree with it as it regards using the doctorate to advance one's career in professional practice. Then, a degree from a nontraditional program--or school--can be quite effective. After all, those kinds of students don't need the kind of networking that comes with a traditional, campus-based program. Even a professional doctorate from a DEAC-accredited school can be useful in this regard. 

Circling back, the only time we see people in traditional academia with nontraditional doctorates, we see situations where the person was wanted specifically by that school and the doctorate allowed it to happen. But going to Walden, Capella, even Fielding won't put you on track for an academic career, unless someone within academia really wants to hire you. Good luck with that.

[sanantone]

Capella is popular among mental health professionals. They meet licensing requirements. You don't need a doctorate to become a licensed clinician; they usually earn doctorates for marketing purposes. I guess being able to call oneself "doctor" impresses potential clients. But, if you are depending on the doctoral degree to meet licensing requirements, national accreditation probably won't be accepted in most states.

A lot of the time, when people aren't pursuing doctorates for a future career in academia, non-academic research, or for a license, they're doing it for self-actualization, vanity, or networking purposes. If you don't need a degree to meet licensing or a career entry requirement, then I think the strength of the network becomes even more important to advancing one's career. If you don't need the network, then you probably don't need the degree.

[Sagan]

A lot of the time, when people aren't pursuing doctorates for a future career in academia, non-academic research, or for a license, they're doing it for self-actualization, vanity, or networking purposes. If you don't need a degree to meet licensing or a career entry requirement, then I think the strength of the network becomes even more important to advancing one's career. If you don't need the network, then you probably don't need the degree.

I disagree for several reasons. 

First, the doctorate, like any professional credential, can be quite useful in pursuing jobs. It can bolster one's professional identity and give you consideration for positions over other candidates. This is particularly true in consulting, and acutely so in government contracting, where the doctorate is a fungible commodity, allowing companies to charge higher hourly rates for that person.

Second, the doctorate can be highly valuable in creating one's own professional practice. The learning, particularly the research, can become the basis for what you offer to your clients. The credential adds credibility when pursuing those clients as well.

Third, we see a lot of literature about making the move from academia to professional practice. This indicates the value of the doctorate when pursuing a professional career. (Note: we see almost nothing about going from a professional career to traditional academia--because that path doesn't exist, except in specific anecdotes.)

Also, the doctorate can be a means of creating one's professional identity. Oh, it doesn't have to, of course. A lot of people work in professional fields despite having doctorates in other areas. But the doctorate can make and create you and what you'll be for the rest of your career. 

None of this is vanity or the desire for the title "doctor." That gets rather boring rather quickly anyway.

[sanantone]

A lot of the time, when people aren't pursuing doctorates for a future career in academia, non-academic research, or for a license, they're doing it for self-actualization, vanity, or networking purposes. If you don't need a degree to meet licensing or a career entry requirement, then I think the strength of the network becomes even more important to advancing one's career. If you don't need the network, then you probably don't need the degree.

I disagree for several reasons. 

First, the doctorate, like any professional credential, can be quite useful in pursuing jobs. It can bolster one's professional identity and give you consideration for positions over other candidates. This is particularly true in consulting, and acutely so in government contracting, where the doctorate is a fungible commodity, allowing companies to charge higher hourly rates for that person.

Second, the doctorate can be highly valuable in creating one's own professional practice. The learning, particularly the research, can become the basis for what you offer to your clients. The credential adds credibility when pursuing those clients as well.

Third, we see a lot of literature about making the move from academia to professional practice. This indicates the value of the doctorate when pursuing a professional career. (Note: we see almost nothing about going from a professional career to traditional academia--because that path doesn't exist, except in specific anecdotes.)

Also, the doctorate can be a means of creating one's professional identity. Oh, it doesn't have to, of course. A lot of people work in professional fields despite having doctorates in other areas. But the doctorate can make and create you and what you'll be for the rest of your career. 

None of this is vanity or the desire for the title "doctor." That gets rather boring rather quickly anyway.

When I said non-academic research, that includes science positions in the private sector. Most of the articles on training doctoral students for private sector careers are about scientists. Developing drugs for a pharmaceutical company is research. Even searching for the cause of workplace problems at a particular company as an I/O psychologist is research; it's just applied research. 

The federal government has a GS scale that will get you to grade 11 if you have completed three years toward a doctorate, but you don't actually need to finish the doctorate. After GS 11, you can't substitute education for experience. 

Most jobs don't even require a master's degree, so listing a doctorate can make you overqualified for positions. I know this from personal experience. I had to list every college attended on law enforcement background packets. The combination of almost being finished with a doctorate and scoring high on civil service tests killed my chances of being hired by local law enforcement agencies. They told me that training is too expensive to risk hiring someone who can easily leave for a higher-paying job. 

I already addressed the marketing part when it comes to clients. As for developing one's research skills, you can do that outside of a degree program or in a master's program with a thesis option.

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What do you mean that there is no path from professional practice to academia? Many, if not most, people earn a doctorate so that they can get a teaching job that requires a doctorate. Currently, scholarships are being offered to CPAs in an attempt to convince them to earn PhDs and start teaching. It's also very common for lawyers to go from private or public practice to becoming professors at law schools.

While some fields have a shortage of professors, a lot of the literature that talks about preparing doctoral students for private sector careers is there because graduates are having a hard time landing the tenure-track positions that drew them to a doctoral program in the first place.