Edgewood College/UpGrad DBA; potentially $11,250

[freeloader]

I ended up contacting UpGrad and spoke to one of their representatives on the phone. The Edgewood College DBA is not currently open to residents of the United States. The representative stated UpGrad and Golden Gate University are considering a “pilot program” to admit US residents to the GGU DBA program and that a pilot for Edgewood might follow that would admit residents of the US.

The representative noted that the scholarship availability would be less for the pilots for US residents compared to those living elsewhere in the world.

[eLearner]

The representative noted that the scholarship availability would be less for the pilots for US residents compared to those living elsewhere in the world.

Shocker.

[freeloader]

Further update: UpGrad forwarded my information to Edgewood College whose admissions representative contacted me. We spoke for nearly an hour about their DBA program and I thought I would share some of what she had to say:

The DBA and MBA/DBA programs are being offered to students in the United States. The association with UpGrad has been primarily for marketing purposes as the programs are brand new and to attract international attention.

The DBA program is 45 credits/15 classes and includes available concentrations in Finance and Leadership Excellence. You can also have a general focus. The MBA/DBA is 60 credits/20 classes. For the joint program neither the MBA nor the DBA will have a concentration.

Tuition for both the MBA and DBA is currently $500 per hour, so the total tuition for the DBA would be $22,500 and the MBA/DBA would be $30,000.

Edgewood College has been working closely with both their accreditor and the ACBSP to ensure their DBA will be accredited.

Edgewood is doing a soft launch of the program with the first students this month. There are 6 sessions per year (I believe the courses were 7 weeks) and it is expected you can start any session. The admissions rep stated they should have the website for the program launched any day now. Applications are live through their admissions website. 

Personally, I would love to do this and would do it if I were further along in my MAcc/CPA journey. If Edgewood hasn’t substantially increased their tuition in a couple of years, I will be applying!

[Sagan]

Both programs indicate scholarships available for up to 50% of the course tuition. 

Note: According to upGrad, it is not available for US-based students.

[GameSlinger]

Edgewood has the official page up now as well. 

DBA Only
https://www.edgewood.edu/_graduate-landi...tion-(dba)

Dual MBA/DBA
https://online.edgewood.edu/mba_dba?utm_...gJJpvD_BwE

[Sagan]

Both programs indicate scholarships available for up to 50% of the course tuition. 

Note: According to upGrad, it is not available for US-based students.

But the program itself is. They're making a big deal of the price point: $US22.5K in tuition. 

The program content, delivery methods, and faculty are all still under development, and will be while they enroll and start students. Also, the program has not yet been approved by their institutional accreditor (the HLC), nor their programmatic accreditor (the ACBSP). The latter is irrelevant, but the former is vital. They didn't have an answer for what would happen to students if the HLC didn't grant approval. (Not likely to be denied, IMHO.)

The program culminates in one of two products: either a traditional dissertation or a doctoral project. Their representative couldn't distinguish between the two, but said they would be research-based and practical (as opposed to a scholarly contribution to theory).

[JPN]

The only way that I could see a viable pathway for ENEB graduates is a favourable evaluation from One Earth International Credential Evaluations.

Transcripts from institutions outside of the U.S. must be reviewed by an approved international credential evaluator. The evaluation must be sent from the evaluator to Edgewood College at gps@edgewood.edu. Please request a detailed course-by-course evaluation from one of the following organizations: Educational Credential Evaluators, One Earth International Credential Evaluations, SpanTran, or World Education Service.
Source: https://www.edgewood.edu/admissions/inte...s-graduate

[lidel]

This program interests me greatly as I am a Canadian finishing my MBA this month at HAU. The only thing that I'm hesitant about is the involvement of Upgrad. I've e-mailed back and forth with them a bit and chatted with them on the phone, and their stance is that they provide ongoing student and technology support during the process, though I haven't exactly been able to pin them down on what that means. I'm not certain if a student would be limited to dealing with them for any concerns or if there is the option to directly deal with Edgewood for support. Their refund policy also seems a little hazy to me. So far, they are very responsive, but I realize that I'm likely dealing with a sales agent. I've tried to find reviews on the company, but most of the information is based on courses they offer out of India and are not partnered with other universities. Does anyone know of anyone else who has dealt with Upgrad first hand?

[bjcheung77]

Ding Ding, the reason I haven't applied yet, is because of the Upgrad portion, oh well... I just can't get past the initial review's I've read about them. I'd like to know more to see if they're tolerable...

[lidel]

Ding Ding, the reason I haven't applied yet, is because of the Upgrad portion, oh well... I just can't get past the initial review's I've read about them.  I'd like to know more to see if they're tolerable...

Yeah. A user was kind enough to send me a link to a thread that from another member who completed one of their MBA programs. While I don't think some of his/her experiences would be applicable if dealing with Edgewood, the theme was that their service levels were poor, and at times, they were difficult to work with. That was not super encouraging. That's too bad, as most things about the program seem like a good fit. I also found out that EC expects to receive its HLC accreditation in the next few weeks. I'm wondering if they would let me talk with someone from their recent cohort who just graduated if I ask.

S