Doctoral Degrees Online: Questions and Answers

Have you ever wondered about the validity of earning a doctoral degree online? Many people have, and it is a good thing to check into the many options available today. There is a lot of bad press about Ph.D. online doctoral degree programs as the issue of doctoral degrees online can be a piece of paper sometimes. Online degrees received via the paper mill approach is a real issue. Be assured though, if you take the time to conduct some good research, earning credible doctoral degrees online or a Ph.D. online is possible.

There are some important things to take into account if you are thinking about starting a doctorate degree online and this article is going to address two of the most frequently asked questions about doctoral degrees online -are doctoral degrees earned online credible and how do you know if the Ph.D. online degree program you choose is a good one.

Having completed a doctoral degree myself, before you could earn a Ph.D. online, has always made me curious about whether earning a doctoral degree online would be as valid, or credible, as earning one completed through a traditional brick and mortar campus program. Researching this question has led me to accept that the answer to my question is yes -- earning a doctorate degree online can be credible. The caveat though is that the Ph.D. online program is completed through a college or university that has an accredited Ph.D. online program.

So, how do you know if the doctorate degree online program you are looking at is from an accredited Ph.D. online program? The answer to this question is - you need to conduct a little bit of research to determine if the Ph.D. online program you are interested in has met the rigorous accreditation standards of one of these organizations: 1) the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, 2) the North Central Association Commission of Accreditation and School Improvement, 3) the Middle State Association of Schools and Colleges, 4) the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges, 5) the Western Association of schools and Colleges, and 6) the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges.

The six regional accreditation organizations, identified above, routinely review college and university programs to determine whether they meet the national standards set for being accredited to offer and confer different undergraduate and graduate degrees. Since the burgeoning of online degree programs, they have added accrediting online degree programs as well as on campus degrees.

It is possible to earn a masters degree online without ever stepping onto a campus but, this is typically not so with doctoral degrees online. Earning a Ph.D. online or a doctorate degree online, from an accredited college or university, most often requires some time on campus or completing a residency or internship in an appropriate work-site.

Working on a doctoral degree online could be just the thing for someone who lives far away from a college or university or whose work or home responsibilities prohibit them from earning a doctoral degree on campus. If I had to do it again, would I get a Ph.D. online? You bet! I may even look into earning another master's degree since learning about doctorate degrees online.