Degree Completion Program
Doctoral Degree
Degree Program Requirements
| Required Semester Hours | 55 |
| Semester hours that may be earned by Prior Learning Portfolio Assessment,and/or transfer credits (in the degree major) | 18 |
| Graduate Philosophy Course | 4 |
| Doctoral Symposium Course , or by credit transfer in the degree major | 4 |
| Dissertation Writing Course | 4 |
| Research Methods Course, or by credit transfer | 6 |
| Dissertation Proposal | 4 |
| Doctoral Dissertation | 15 |
Prerequisites
Applicants for the Doctoral Degree Completion program must have an earned graduate degree or equivalent and four (3) years of experiences in the area of the degree major; or past college doctoral level credit awards and two (2) years experiences in the degree major.
Additional Information on Degree Program Requirements
Students must achieve a total minimum of 55 semester hours of graduate credits to be qualified for graduation.
Credit Transfers: Up to 45% of the total degree requirements may be met by appropriate credit transfer assessment and approval. The requirements for the Dissertation Proposal Course and the Doctoral Dissertation Course may not be met by credit transfer. All requests for credit transfers are reviewed by an Academic Administrative Committee. Transfer credits will be considered for acceptance from higher education institutes which are accredited by an accreditor approved by the US Department of Education, or are state licensed or approved to confer degrees. Students who have taken courses outside the USA, will have transfer credits considered if the higher education institution(s) have accreditation or approval by a country's Ministry of Education. Breyer State University-Alabama reserves the right to require applicants to have a degree evaluation of course and program equivalents for courses taken outside of the USA, by a credentialed degree evaluator. Copies of transcripts are acceptable for initial assessment. Once enrolled, official copies of transcripts must be forwarded to the university.
Prior Learning Assessment: Semester hours awarded through the Prior Learning Portfolio Assessment Project require students to complete a guided Portfolio Project providing definement, validations, and skills/knowledge validations, verifications of experiences and career/job accomplishments and correlations to scholarly course content completions. Students are provided full, comprehensive guidelines for creating their portfolios, along with one-to-one faculty mentoring. There is a limit of a total of 18 semester credits allowed by portfolio assessment.
All awarded credits by portfolio assessment are upon review and approval by a faculty mentor who is degreed and experienced in the area of the student's degree major. Up to 45% of degree requirements can be met via credit transfers and/or by Prior Learning Assessment Portfolios. Students must complete the remainder of requirements at Breyer State University-Alabama.
All awarded credits by portfolio assessment are upon review and approval by a faculty mentor who is degreed and experienced in the area of the student's degree major.
Symposium Course: Students are required to take and complete a symposium course in the degree major,working with a qualified faculty mentor and course work by learning contract design/and research. Transfer of course in the degree major may be considered for this requirement.
Doctoral Dissertation: All doctoral dissertations are reviewed by a committee of doctorate prepared faculty. Upon approval of the completed doctoral dissertation, students must complete and pass a dissertation defense examination given by their faculty mentor.
Tuition: Tuition fees include all courses in the degree program. Students will be required to purchase textbooks for needed courses.
Advisor: Upon enrollment, students are provided an administrative advisor, with a doctorate degree, who works with the student throughout the degree program, providing advisement and facilitating communication with assigned faculty mentors for completion of required course work.
Faculty Mentor: All students are assigned a qualified faculty mentor who is degreed and experienced in the area of the student's degree major. Faculty mentors will review the student's completed prior learning assessment portfolios and determine approval or denial for the award of academic credits; and faculty mentors work with the students to complete course work in the area of the major, including the doctoral symposium course; faculty mentors are also the instructors for the dissertation proposal course and the dissertation course.
All courses in the degree program are facilitated via online classrooms. There are no travel requirements.
Degree Majors: In instances where a student would like to enter the degree program in a specific major that we do not have a contracted faculty mentor for; students may elect to seek out a qualified faculty mentor for their program. Students may present their selected faculty mentor to the administration who will work with the mentor and assess their qualifications related to the student's degree major. If the mentor is appropriately qualified, the mentor may be contracted by the University to be the student's faculty mentor for their degree program. Potential mentors are screened according to university standards and guidelines before being considered for work with the student. Potential mentors must have an earned doctorate degree to be considered.
Assessment: Prior to enrollment, students must have a full degree assessment completed. Applicants work with an assigned administrative advisor during the assessment process. Full details and required information and submissions are provided after an application is made for the degree completion program. The completed assessment details exact requirements for degree completion, as well as options for earning credits by additional course work or competency-based examinations.
This degree program allows the flexibility for self-paced work and completion. Students are provided a period of six years to complete their degree program. Extensions may be approved for appropriate reasons.
» Apply Now For A Preliminary Assessment
The Preliminary Assessment is offered to all interested persons who meet the program entry requirements. There are no fees or obligations involved in having a preliminary assessment completed. All applications are assigned to an administrative advisor who works with the applicant to complete the degree assessment process. Only student's who have had an assessment completed may enroll in the degree completion program.