are there any legit online phD programs?

[Anonymous]

I'm from DC but living overseas for my spouse's work and it occurs to me that earning a phD might be a really good use of my time, since it would be useful in my industry and real work isn't available here for me. Are there any truly credible online programs? My area would be HR, or organizational development, possibly business, etc., or international relations/development... most of the stuff I check out seems sketchy. I went to two different Ivies (one for undergrad and another for my master's degree) if that matters.

[Anonymous]

There are PhDs in HR?

[Anonymous]

If you went to 2 ivies I would expect you to know the answer to this question.

[Anonymous]

Try looking into programs you might be interested in first, and then see if there is an online option available. Many of the traditional schools are expanding their online offerings. Don't start looking at the University of Phoenix or Kaplans first.

[Anonymous]

While I am sure there is much work that now can be done online, I would be highly skeptical of a PhD program that was wholly online.

[Anonymous]

No, you cannot do a PhD online. Seriously??

That said, in many areas of the social sciences and / or humanitiies you can do you research away from campus. So if you were willing to spend 1-2 years here in the US you could go to a real school and do the rest of your work where you are living.

Otherwise, the answer is no, you cannot become a world expert on a field by clicking on web forms and never speaking in person to scholars in the field. Seriously?

[Anonymous]

Um, No.

[Anonymous]

It's not online, but look into British universities. If you have a master's already, many doctoral programs do not require coursework. You propose a dissertation, research, and write. You visit for a few weeks a year but can work remotely. The downside is that you have to be capable of producing real scholarly work without much supervision. And you would need a real library wherever you are. I have no idea what the options are in your fields but might want to check it out.

[Anonymous]

Online PhD's are scams and jokes to extract money out of naive people. Even if you can do most of your work from home or are in a program with no course requirements (unusual for US programs), you still need to meet with your advisor and dissertation committees. Why do people think getting a PhD is something you can just piddle with in the background while you have no employment options? Any PhD worth doing is an intense, academic, rigorous, full time endeavor. Also I have no idea how getting a PhD would help you in HR jobs, and people who want more business backgrounds usually get MBAs.

[Anonymous]

As far as I can tell, the only value to the online advanced degree programs is when an employer, generally public, pays you more if you have an advanced degree but then you have to factor in the crazy costs to most online programs. As far as a PhD, no, no ,no, and no.

[Anonymous]

No

[Anonymous]

OP --

Not only a resounding NO, but please be very careful of doing damage to your duoble-Ivy record. A questionable academic line-item can wipe out good ones. Bad degrees drive the appearance of good ones right off your resume.