Accelerated PhD programs online make it possible for working professionals who want to enter academia or simply advance their knowledge and careers within a manageable time period. More universities are offering accelerated formats in their online PhD programs, and the most popular degrees (from Business to Counseling to Education) can now be earned online. Since an accelerated PhD format is still up and coming, you might have some questions as to why and how to pursue your doctorate degree online.
Requirements to Apply
There isn’t a list of requirements that every PhD program will require. You might expect all or some of the following requirements:
Master’s degree in the same or similar subject
Personal statement
Recommendation(s) from professor(s)
GRE (Graduate Record Examination) general scores
GRE subject test scores
Transcript(s) from past institution(s)
Writing sample or other sample that demonstrates your work in the subject (portfolio, project summary/report, etc.)
Résumé or CV
Application fee
Since earning a PhD means you will have achieved the highest level of expertise in your field, expect the requirements to be lengthy. It will take you weeks, if not months, to assemble all the materials you’ll need to apply to any accredited PhD program online, accelerated or not. Plan well ahead, make a spreadsheet of all you’ll need for the various programs where you plan to apply, and give your support system (professors writing you recommendations) plenty of time to participate in the application process with you.
Choosing the Best Degree Program
The best PhD program is going to be one that works for your career and intellectual goals. Accreditation is an essential place to start. It’s never recommended to choose a program that isn’t accredited by either a national or regional education accrediting agency or field-specific accrediting agency (like the American Psychological Association for a degree in Psychology or Counseling, for example). Beyond accreditation, choose a program that has faculty members with similar research interests as you so that you’ll have someone to work with when you write your dissertation. If having flexibility in your course work is important to you, don’t select a program that has rigid course requirements. Some other factors to consider when choosing a program are: time to completion, cost/tuition, resources available to online graduate students, job placement of recent graduates, and graduation requirements (dissertation expectations, deadlines, etc.).
Benefits of Accelerated and Online Programs
If it didn’t take as long or cost as much money, many people would return to school for a graduate degree. The salary increase in most fields is undoubtedly a big selling point for people with a graduate degree versus an undergraduate degree. Accelerated PhD programs help break down those obstacles so that you can earn the highest level of degree in your field. An accelerated format means that you take classes for less amount of time overall. This saves you money because you’re not paying fees for more semesters and because you’re able to use your degree for a promotion or career change much faster than in a traditional program. An online format means that you take classes from home. This saves you money because you’re not commuting to classes, disturbing your work and family schedule, or having to relocate to earn your degree. This format is really a win-win and eliminates any excuses you had before for not pursuing your PhD.
From Bachelor’s Degree to PhD
One way that a PhD program becomes an accelerated PhD program is by offering acceptance to students who only hold a bachelor’s degree. Many of these programs will also award a master’s degree to their students once they’ve earned enough credit hours (usually around 30) on their path to a PhD. So even if a program doesn’t advertise itself as accelerated, if it offers acceptance to bachelor degree holders, it will probably take you less time to complete your PhD than if you had to pursue a terminal master’s degree prior to applying to a PhD program. Many of these programs will allow you to take your master’s degree and run if you get deep into the program and determine that a PhD isn’t for you after all. This gives you the option to come away with a graduate degree and the time you spent in the program won’t be wasted.
Accelerated Courses and Summer Semesters
The primary way in which a PhD program can be accelerated is through accelerated and summer course offerings. Accelerated courses are shortened semesters where you complete and earn the same credit hours in 5 to 8 weeks rather than in 16 weeks. This way, you could possibly complete all your PhD coursework in your first year. Summer courses are also a great way to accelerate your degree. Since most programs offer summer courses, this might be an excellent way to choose the program you really want (that’s not officially “accelerated”) but accelerate it yourself. Be aware of restrictions and types of courses offered over the summer. If you’re just looking to accelerate your degree by a semester, summer courses could fit the bill. On the other hand, if you want to shave off over a year from your completion time, a program that offers accelerated courses year round might be best instead.
Access to Research Materials
Perhaps a less obvious way to accelerate your PhD is considering the dissertation phase of your degree. This phase usually takes much longer than the course completion phase, so it’s vital that you have access to the resources you need to complete your dissertation in a timely manner. If you’ve chosen a program that doesn’t give you online access to the materials you need to do research, it’ll take you forever to finish your dissertation and degree. Sometimes an accelerated PhD really means an accelerated dissertation and not necessarily accelerated course work, so keep that in mind when choosing a program.
Online Expectations
It might seem counter-intuitive, but earning your PhD is better suited to an online format than most other degrees. Since most PhD programs only require a few semesters of course work beyond the master’s degree level, most of the work toward finishing your degree involves your individual research. Since you’re in charge of conducting this research and writing your dissertation on your own (for the most part), it’s easy to do this from a distance. In fact, many PhD students who complete their course work on campus actually move away from the area afterwards and write their dissertation from elsewhere. If you start from the beginning through an online program, you won’t have to go through the headache of uprooting your family and life to attend classes toward your PhD in person.
If you’ve enrolled in any online course before, you can expect the same in a PhD program. Most PhD programs offer the same graduate courses to their PhD students as they do to their master’s degree students, so you can expect a diverse group of students. The university and professor will determine the style of online course, but you can expect online discussion forums and chats, streaming lectures, and online assessments. Pursuing a PhD can be really isolating even when you’re on campus, so it’s a good idea to network with other graduate students through your program and make connections from a distance. These other grad students can become your like your graduate school family and make earning your PhD a less daunting task overall.
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