A choice of doctoral programs. Where will I end up?

[OldTimerStillLearning]

Awesome, I look forward to reading which you decide on... Whichever you decide, it'll be a great choice, as these programs are pretty similar in subject matter, it seems either Business or IT floats your boat (the same two subjects I am also researching for the DBA/PhD level).  You may want to look into each course they provide and see which set of courses are more interesting for you.  Just one question, are you looking for exclusively online or those who have short residencies?

I looked at each program carefully before making my choices. Purdue would be the ideal scenario as I would be given more of a data analytics / cybersecurity mix than the others, but I have no real objection to any of them. 

I also looked at UALR (would have had to retake the GRE within a few weeks to beat the fall deadline. They are the only school that seems to be a stickler for that) and the two for-profit schools that offer a PhD in Data Analytics, Grand Canyon and Capella. Grand Canyon has a track record of dragging out the program, and while Capella does offer both a Doctorate in Information Technology and a PhD in Information Technology, only the Doctorate has a tuition cap. The fact they had to go that route tells me more than I want to know about that school, although the head of the cybersecurity group at the University of the Cumberlands developed the cybersecurity program for Capella (he would be my advisor for the start of the program).  

I'm fine with short-term (long weekend or week-long) residencies. If I wasn't working full-time and could do in person classes, I would have several to look at since I live in NYC (NJIT, Stevens Tech, and Columbia all have solid programs.). If I get to have the final word on where I end up, it would look like this, but please note that I respect all PhD and doctoral programs as they are not easy to get into or complete:

1. Purdue
2. Binghamton
3. Capitol Tech
4. University of the Cumberlands

My wife has a PhD in Social Work from Fordham, so I got to see things up close and personal. In fact, a class she was taking on policy and the aging got me to go back to college for my bachelors. She asked me to look at an article she was having trouble understanding and recognized it as something I might see in a 200-level political science course. I thought "If they are teaching this on a doctoral level and I can understand it, I should be able to go back to to college and get my degree." I now have a BA and MA in Political Science to go along with the newly earned MS in Data Analytics.