Assistance Requested to Craft Solid Path: UMPI/Charter Oak State College

[Duneranger]

Would anyone have advice re a PhD, following acquiring the MAOL from UMPI? I'm starting UMPI for the Bachelors of Liberal Studies. I'm wavering on proceeding with the MAOL afterwards. Then it got me thinking, what about a PhD. Where do people who love UMPI tend to go, for a similar type school, to maybe get their PhD in Organizational Leadership?

People on the accelerated online degree paths often have a disconnect between the work required with a PhD vs a masters. Many think it’s just “the next step”.

A true PhD program is funded and takes 5-7 years. When I say true, I mean one that is taken seriously. There is no reason for most people to get a PhD as it adds little utility to one’s career unless you are going into research or academia. Academia cutthroat and even top PhD program grads often don’t find tenure.

Two general rules for PhDs and if they are worth it.

1. You should not be paying for a PhD.
2. You should not be in an online PhD program with next to 0 barriers for entry (99% of the time).

Many online “doctoral programs” which include various doctoral letters and acronyms will take your money but they are simply not worth the investment. These acronym soup doctorates are popping up more because I think most realize it’s hard to match the rigor of a PhD so they just create their own. Ed.D, DHA, DBA, DNP, DSW, DPT etc are some examples. Not in the same league as a PhD.

For example, my good friend is at a top 5 MBA program. Their faculty are also all from top MBA programs or hold PhDs  from other schools in high regard. No DBAs to be found. Wonder why. It’s more of an applied/practitioner degree which acts as a capstone for extensive experience. Question is, if you are at that point in your career, what would a DBA really add?

You're correct in that it was more of a formality, like next step. After researching it last night and reading this today, it's absolutely not on my radar. I'm just not in a place in life where this is remotely necessary for me. I enjoy school right now and at the most my goal should remain to get my Masters. If I feel ambitious, there's always more I can do with Bachelors or Masters. For now I just need to get through my first UMPI experience and savor getting my Bachelors. We'll see what I'm cut out for after that. Hopefully it leaves me just as excited as I am now, and I'll proceed with my Masters. Thanks for the candid reply!

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Would anyone have advice re a PhD, following acquiring the MAOL from UMPI? I'm starting UMPI for the Bachelors of Liberal Studies. I'm wavering on proceeding with the MAOL afterwards. Then it got me thinking, what about a PhD. Where do people who love UMPI tend to go, for a similar type school, to maybe get their PhD in Organizational Leadership?

People on the accelerated online degree paths often have a disconnect between the work required with a PhD vs a masters. Many think it’s just “the next step”.

A true PhD program is funded and takes 5-7 years. When I say true, I mean one that is taken seriously. There is no reason for most people to get a PhD as it adds little utility to one’s career unless you are going into research or academia. Academia cutthroat and even top PhD program grads often don’t find tenure.

Two general rules for PhDs and if they are worth it.

1. You should not be paying for a PhD.
2. You should not be in an online PhD program with next to 0 barriers for entry (99% of the time).

Many online “doctoral programs” which include various doctoral letters and acronyms will take your money but they are simply not worth the investment. These acronym soup doctorates are popping up more because I think most realize it’s hard to match the rigor of a PhD so they just create their own. Ed.D, DHA, DBA, DNP, DSW, DPT etc are some examples. Not in the same league as a PhD.

For example, my good friend is at a top 5 MBA program. Their faculty are also all from top MBA programs or hold PhDs  from other schools in high regard. No DBAs to be found. Wonder why. It’s more of an applied/practitioner degree which acts as a capstone for extensive experience. Question is, if you are at that point in your career, what would a DBA really add?

You're correct in that my inquiry was more of a formality, like next step after a Masters. After researching a PhD last night and reading this comment today, it's absolutely not on my radar. I'm just not in a place in life where this is remotely necessary for me. I enjoy school right now and I'm going because I'm home a lot since a being in a car accident. We own our own business and that's not changing. School is simply something I'm doing "just for me" to complete something I started 30 years ago. The only thing getting a Bachelors degree will help with in my life, at my age and at this stage, is to be proud of myself, set an example for my young adult children, and qualify as an applicant to give back to my public schools by adding my time to the substitute teaching list to help with shortages, because I've always wanted to teach. If I dabble and want to have a classroom, then I need to get into a masters program to get my licensure. But one step at a time, let's see what I think. My husband and the team we trained can run our business with just marketing/ops advice from me occasionally at this point. At the very most my goal will be a Masters. And if I feel ambitious and just enjoy going to school for now, there's always more I can do in the BA/Masters arenas. For now I just need to get through my first UMPI experience lol and savor getting my Bachelors. We'll see what I'm cut out for after that. Hopefully it leaves me just as excited as I am now, and I'll proceed. Thanks for the candid reply!

Sounds like you are on the right path then! Good luck! I think it's easy to start dreaming of the next steps when getting a BA/BS is much more efficient than it was even a decade ago. Our minds start rolling haha. Trust me I have been there.