Introduction to PhD Programs
Prospective doctoral students do not have to take a sabbatical or arrange any other form of extended leave in order to earn a PhD. In fact, even those with full-time responsibilities can steadily work their way towards a doctoral degree without having to sacrifice their current schedules. Accredited online PhD programs,which are available in a wide variety of subject areas, allow students to take their classes from any place with a stable Internet connection and at any time, freeing them from the limitations of campus commutes and class timing. In fact, professionals across all fields are more concerned with getting a degree that will challenge them and prepare them for high-level careers in research, practice, consulting, and academia rather than with whether that degree is earned on campus or online.
Here, we have outlined every online PhD offered by a university that holds regional or national accreditation. In addition, the courses for these programs are taught by experienced faculty who hold terminal degrees in their field, ensuring that they possess the expertise to impart a meaningful educational experience.
Why Get a PhD?
The PhD is the highest degree level that can be obtained in any one discipline, and affords graduates the credentials they need to teach at the college level, to shape public policy, to conduct research that helps contribute knowledge or solve problems in their field and to write scholarly books as an expert on a particular topic. Those who are passionate about a subject have the opportunity to be immersed in that subject for several years as they take intense courses, conduct individual and collaborative research and complete a dissertation while working toward an online PhD. Another benefit of earning a PhD online is your earning potential. Those who hold doctoral degrees earn more on average and have lower rates of unemployment on average than those who hold undergraduate or even master's degrees, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. To be specific, doctoral degree holders in 2010 earned $1,550 per week on average compared to the $1,272 per week average for master's degree holders and the $1,038 per week average for bachelor's degree holders, the Bureau asserts. In addition, those who hold doctoral degrees had a 1.9 percent unemployment rate in 2010 while the unemployment rates for master's degree holders and bachelor's degree holders were 4.0 percent and 5.4 percent respectively, the Bureau notes.
A Challenging Journey
Before committing to earning a PhD, though, students need to realize that earning an online doctorate is no walk in the park. Students should only pursue one if they are certain their future career pursuits demand it and they possess the passion and determination to see it through. Learners must dedicate themselves to four to seven years of intense study, conduct arduous original research and submit a book-length dissertation. Students in doctoral programs must also be prepared to defend their thesis orally in front of a faculty review panel. Recent graduates of online doctoral programs are judged more for their research and published work than on the grades they made in their courses, although students certainly must keep their grades up in their courses as well to remain in the program. At the doctoral level, research projects are long-term and could last a year to several years, depending on the research topic. Students in accredited programs will need to possess creativity, interpersonal skills, oral presentation skills, excellent time management and a good deal of tenacity to complete doctoral programs online. It's no surprise that such a small percentage of Americans hold a doctoral degree.
How Does It Work?
Students must apply to and be accepted into doctoral programs, a process which requires you to take qualifying exams, submit college transcripts, and provide letters of recommendation. Only the best students are accepted into doctorate programs online. Students must have completed a minimum of a bachelor's degree, although many online doctorate programs require the completion of a master's degree as well. Students then enroll in a number of challenging courses on a full-time or part-time basis, depending on the type of online PhD program they chose.
The content and curriculum of traditional PhD programs and online PhD programs are the same. Both are rigorous and require a time commitment of 15 or more hours a week outside of lectures for a student to be successful. The key difference is the method of delivery. Instead of taking classes on a college campus, the online student logs in to a course management system, accesses his or her individual courses and watches his or her lectures online. All assignments and research projects are posted here. Students communicate with their professors via e-mail, live chat, video conference or phone. Students often communicate with their fellow classmates through online message boards, where lively discussions take place on topics relevant to their discipline and class participation is gauged.
Students completing their PhD online generally must complete anywhere from 45 to 65 credit hours, which include advanced research methods (including qualitative and quantitative methodology), statistics, the social, political and ethical aspects of your subject area, electives, one to two on-campus residencies and focused dissertation research. Instead of meeting on a campus for seminars, labs and other hands-on learning experiences, online students in PhD programs apply what they learn in the classroom in the field. The online PhD program may even require that students be employed or participate in internships so that they can apply the theory they learn in an organizational setting.
After students enrolled in online doctoral programs have completed all coursework required outside of their dissertation, they must sit for a comprehensive exam, which measures a student's overall understanding of advanced topics in their field. These are not multiple-choice exams; they are exams that challenge students to provide a detailed, written response to complex questions. The comprehensive exam is generally pass-or-fail, but students working toward online PhD degrees are typically given a limited number of tries to pass the exam.
Along the way, students must speak with a team of faculty advisors to develop a research topic suitable for their dissertation. The selection of the topic itself can be a lengthy process, let alone actually writing the dissertation. Most of the time, in-depth work on developing a dissertation topic is done in mandatory on-campus residencies. In these residencies, faculty advisors help students narrow the focus of their research from something broad to something very specific. Students establish timetables by which they will complete certain portions of their dissertations. Upon completion of the dissertation, students schedule an oral defense of their thesis. This defense also generally takes place on a college campus. Finally, once the dissertation has been successfully defended, it must be filed with the university before the title of "doctor" can be awarded.
All learners should be aware that an online doctoral program, while more convenient, is not any easier than a classroom-based one. They will still be expected to complete doctorate-level work and commit hours each week to studying and researching their degree subject. But online education is a great alternative to traditional classroom learning for those who cannot attend a campus-based program for whatever reason. As long as online students remain dedicated to studying and working hard, they will have the opportunity to earn a PhD that will be respected in the job market.
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