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New Online Doctoral Degree Programs – September 2019

There are three schools that have announced the launch of new fully or partially online doctoral program this fall: Baker College; Butler University; and the University of New Hampshire. These new doctorates include programs in business administration, information law, and medical science.

Baker College – Doctor of Business Administration All-But-Dissertation (DBA-ABD) Program

Michigan’s Baker College, a private, non-profit school located in the city of Flint, has launched an online Doctor of Business Administration All-But-Dissertation (DBA-ABD) program that is designed for students who have taken all of the didactic course requirements for a DBA degree but who have not completed a doctoral dissertation. The program is designed to move students through the doctoral dissertation process under the guidance of an experienced faculty mentor. Applicants to the program are required to have completed 30 credits of doctoral-level coursework through an accredited college or university. The DBA-ABD program consists of 24 credit hours of instruction and mentorship and can be complete in 18 to 24 months with no campus visit requirements.

Butler University – Doctor of Medical Science (DMS) Program

Indiana’s Butler University, which is located in Indianapolis, has launched a Doctor of Medical Science
(DMS) program that is designed to provide Physician Assistants (PAs) with a pathway to earn a terminal degree in their field. The program, which recently began accepting students for start dates in spring, summer, and fall of 2020, is designed for PAs who are certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) and/or hold a state license to practice as a PA. The program does not require applicants to hold a master’s degree, although applicants are required to have formal training from a PA program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on the Education of the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). Courses are delivered online in six-week modules and 50 credit hours (17 courses) are required to graduate. This is a non-thesis doctoral program that requires students to complete a capstone project prior to graduating.

The University of New Hampshire – Juris Doctorate (JD) in Intellectual Property, Technology, and Information Law Program

The Franklin Pierce School of Law at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in Concord began offering the first Juris Doctorate (JD) program that provides most of its coursework online this fall. The program is a two-year JD in Intellectual Property, Technology, and Information Law program that allows students to complete courses online but requires four campus visits per year. On-campus residencies take place twice each fall semester, once each spring, and once each summer, for a total of eight. Each residency lasts for three to five days. Plans for the UNH online JD program were initiated after the New Hampshire Supreme Court determined that graduates from a JD program that utilizes online instruction are eligible to sit for the state’s bar examination. Currently, New York is the only state that specifically caps the number of credits law students may earn through online courses at a level that renders graduates from the UNH program ineligible to sit for the state’s bar exam. However, potential applicants to the UNH JD program who intend to sit for the bar exam in a state other than New Hampshire are advised to consult with the state bar association to determine their state’s policies regarding online and hybrid degree programs versus campus-based programs.

New Program Launches