Are Online PhDs as Reputable as Traditional PhDs?
The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of our modern civilization and continues to change the way we live from day to day. As the world adapts to a wired global society, some changes are occurring faster than others. For instance, online universities are taking the academic world by storm, making it possible for nearly anyone to earn nearly any degree over the Internet. The most recent addition to this cyber-academic community is the ability to attain a doctorate—the highest level of education offered at traditional universities—online. But is the quality of education really the same? Does trading a whiteboard for a webcam truly earn the student the same respect offered by the long-established ivory towers of conventional classrooms? This might come as a surprise, but the answer is: Sometimes.
Is Your Online PhD Accredited?
The first and most important aspect of an online institution's credibility lies in its accreditation. Out of the plethora of schools that offer online degrees, many are accredited by the Council for Higher Education, but some are not. Because they lack brick-and-mortar buildings and a firm pedigree, accreditation is more important for online programs than it is for traditional ones. In short, if the institution offering the doctorate is not accredited, paying for the degree is akin to throwing money into a blender.
However, there are many reputable (read: accredited) online institutions that offer perfectly legitimate degree programs that require the same amount of effort as traditional programs. For example, the University of Arizona offers an online doctor of philosophy in nursing that it claims “has the same rigor of a traditional program” and requires periodic visits to the university's Tucson campus, as well as a five- to 10-day program in August. This raises the second issue involved in the parity of online and traditional doctorates: rigor.
How Rigorous is Your Online PhD Program?
Aside from reputation and accreditation, the core determinant of how well-respected any particular degree program is focuses on its thoroughness and difficulty. Because they have only recently emerged on the academic scene, online institutions have not had the same opportunity to prove their programs' mettle as most traditional universities. While this is a serious topic of discussion in academia at the moment, it is one of the areas in which a traditional doctorate holds more water than an online version.
Is There Any Face Time With Professors?
The fact is that the reputation of brick-and-mortar institutions, combined with the added credibility their programs earn through the face-to-face interaction between students and faculty, simply outclasses most online degrees. Strides have been made, however. For example, many online institutions now require both webcam conferences and attendance at occasional in-person seminars as regular parts of their curriculum.
Even so, the gap has not been entirely closed. For this reason, online doctorates that are affiliated with traditional, reputable institutions may be more valuable than those awarded by strictly Internet-based organizations.
Additionally, because most doctoral degrees are geared toward research and less toward the nuts and bolts of a profession, there is a stronger negative reaction against their legitimacy than against an online master's or specialist's degree. The belief is that, at the doctoral level, face time with a professor is invaluable and a chat room is a poor substitute. As University of Georgia Administrator Ronald Cervero puts it, it's important not to give up the “intensity of the teacher-student relationship at the doctoral level.”
At this juncture, whether or not an online doctorate is as reputable as a traditional doctorate is entirely dependent upon the institution that awards it, the field in which it is being pursued, and the personal opinion of the individual being asked.
Article Resources:
"Community Colleges Friendlier to Online PhDs," University of West Georgia
"How To Compare Online PhD Programs," Articlesbase, December 2009
"The Online Doctorate: Flexible, But Credible?" American Association of School Administrators