UK School VS Regionally Accredited US School

[MissProfessor]

I teach marketing and I am actually strongly considering a PhD in Communications since it is better aligned with the marketing courses I teach (marketing communications, branding, advertising).  I find I am a better fit in a Communications PhD program than a DBA program.

Well, if you're interested in pivoting into Communication, then yeah AACSB doesn't really matter at that point. That opens up a lot more options.

I like that Liberty has was looks to be a well structured PhD in Communications.  They have several faculty with research interests that are in line with mine.  I also like that the school is on North American soil and has a reasonable time change for me to deal with!  LOL They also have no on-campus requirements unlike Leicester, which had two.

I do like Leicester’s reputation, but I worry about the distance. 

Well, it sounds like you mostly have your mind made up then. Liberty is checking a lot of boxes for you anyway. It sounds like you just need to talk with admissions and find out who your advisor would be if you were to come into their program. If possible, see if you can arrange a short chat with them to learn more about their program, research goals, and mentoring style to see if they sound like someone you could work with.

My school just wants a doctorate completed and could probably care less about which school to be honest. 

Well, that makes it easier. If they want you to complete a doctorate, are they at least going to help subsidize your degree?

Yes, I will be getting financial support.  Probably a fair amount annually.  Our PD funds are pretty good!

I agree, I need to chat with Liberty faculty to explore more about my areas of research interest.  They don’t explain each faculty member‘s area of interest as thoroughly as Leicester does and Leicester does not explain the course work side as well as Liberty does!  

To make things even more interesting, I have found not one, but three possible faculty members I would love to work with if I did a PhD in business (marketing) with Leicester.

So now it seems I am deciding between a PhD in Communications from Liberty and a PhD in Business from Leicester!

The 4000 +\- word research proposal that Leicester wants has me a little stressed, to be honest.  Liberty has a less stressful admission process that’s for sure.