One of the obvious examples that comes to mind about reaching a Doctorate’s or a Master’s Degree is time. Typically, a general 8-to-9-year span will be the equivalent needed to earn and complete all of the required credits to graduate with a Doctorate or Master’s Degree. Especially depending on the subject or career field matter that is chosen.
To start off, the Master’s or Doctorate’s degrees depend on the career field, below there will be a few examples to allow as a general rule of follow to achieve such a higher education. Technically, a student needs to pursue a Bachelor Degree route since a Master’s Degree is still considered too far away when it comes to credits. But a taking the route towards a Bachelor’s Degree will set up a direct college credit course to continue further for a Master’s Degree.
In reality, every degree has a route to reach that specific qualification to graduate with honors and a degree. A student needs to take into consideration the amount time and length of years needed to complete a high-end degree. Some Ph.D. degrees take 9 years to reach or more. This also depends on what university that is attended and what they require each semester for accredited credit calculations.
For example, in Canada, a student can successfully graduate with a Master’s Degree in 1 to 2 years after they have completed their Bachelor’s Degree.
For a typical route associated with a Master’s Degree, these classes will need to be taken:
- Cognition and Learning
- Ethical Leadership in School Reform
- Science Integrated Instruction
- Technology Integrated Instruction
- Arts Integrated Instruction
- Mathematics Integrated Instruction
- Engineering Integrated Instruction
- Qualitative Methods in Educational Research
- Data Driven Decision Making
- Social Justice and Educational Equity
- Educational Research Methodology
However, before a student can think about a Master’s Degree they will need to approach and succeed at completing an Associate’s and a Bachelor’s Degree. What type of credit courses will a student need to accomplish a Doctorate Degree? What extracurricular activities are also looked at as a creditable degree source? While a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree needs to be completed before a Doctorate Degree is even fathomable. Some colleges require students who are pursuing a Doctorate to complete a graduate entry exam such as:
- Graduate Record Examinations (GRE)
- Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)
It is no shock that a specific field career study will be the sole focus for a Doctorate Degree after finishing the prior degrees to reach this huge point. Fifty percent of the time that happens after completing a Master’s Degree is that a student will now look for a college that primarily focuses on Doctorate Degrees only.
What will be needed when applying for a Doctorate Degree:
- Undergraduate and graduate transcripts
- Resume or CV
- Recent GRE or GMAT scores
- Letters of recommendation
- Statement of purpose
First… what career fields require a Doctorate Degree? Check out below:
- Doctor of Arts (D.A.)
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Doctor of Business Management (Ph.D)
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
- Doctor of Theology (Th.D.)
- Doctor of Public Health (DPH)
- Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
- Doctor of Healthcare Administration (DHA)
- Doctor of Professional Studies – Instructional Design Leadership
- Doctor of Finance (DPH)
- Doctor of Social Work (DSW)
- Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)
- Juris Doctor (JD)
This means each student who studies for a Doctorate and during will need to complete and research dissertation structures. Dissertations are basically a thesis statement that is required from each student if they wish to graduate.
A doctorate degree requires anywhere from 60 to 120 semester credit hours (or, approximately 20-40 college classes). Most Ph.D.’s require the full 120 hours, while most applied doctorates are closer to the lower end of that spectrum. For example, the DBA and DHA at Franklin University require only 58 hours.
The beginning of a doctoral study will focus on an exact specific field of study. By expanding the student’s vast amount of new knowledge in scholarly writing, improvement on research skills and enhancing the understanding of this specialization study.
By preparing for the ultimate accomplishment as a doctoral student during this time… the dissertation. The final few years of doctoral study will be focused on the preparation of this doctoral dissertation or thesis that will be submitted and presented to alumni. A student’s doctoral dissertation is a written document focused on the research interest they choose and spent their time developing through academic research in the first portion of their doctoral program. Depending on the choice, a degree program or – Ph.D. or professional doctorate – the focus on a dissertation on a newly developed theory or practical application of research that is conducted. Once accomplished and finished, a student can successfully defend their dissertation, they will be awarded with a doctoral degree and can add that coveted “Dr.” to their officially stated title.
The big question is, “Can one skip a Master’s Degree and go straight for a Doctorate?”
As a matter of fact, yes. It is possible.
The only way to do this is by immediately enrolling into a fitted Ph.D. course that will end with a Doctorate Degree after a student has finished their Undergraduate Degree. No gap year will be welcomed but if a student immediately enrolls into a Ph.D. course field they can bypass needing to apply for Master’s Degree first since it will already be implemented in with a Ph.D. course field.
A majority of students choose the path of skipping their Master’s Degree to complete a Ph.D. Technically while doing so, the school term will be extended since a student will not be granted a Master’s Degree, instead the student will spend their time pursuing all of the missed credits needed to graduate with a Doctorate Degree.
However, What Are the Differences Between Master’s and Doctoral Degrees
A master’s degree is designed to deepen career-oriented knowledge and skills. A doctorate degree is a heavily research-based degree, designed to develop critical research, analytical and writing skills in an effort to fill industry knowledge gaps. A Ph.D. is an abbreviation for “Doctor of Philosophy.” It is the highest academic degree one can achieve.
In addition to a Master’s Degree, it’s an extension of a Bachelor’s Degree showcasing what vast and vague career fields could be focused on, when applying for a job. Nowadays, for social media coordinator or social media management, a Bachelor’s in Journalism or Technology is needed. That’s the better point about achieving a Bachelor’s Degree.
The type of careers available when an individual has a Bachelor’s Degree are:
- Computer and information systems managers
- Architectural and engineering managers
- Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers
- Compensation and benefits managers
- Airline and commercial pilots
- Computer hardware engineers
- Aerospace engineers
- Computer network architects
- Chemical engineers
- Actuaries
The type of careers available when an individual has a Doctoral Degree are:
- Professor (depending on the subject matter)
- Anthropologist
- Administrator
- Chiropractor
- Psychometrician
- Audiologist
- Linguist
- Epidemiologist
- Historian
- Lawyer
- Statistician
- Systems engineer
- Veterinarian
- Research scientist
- Podiatrist
- Psychiatrist
- Pharmacist
- Biostatistician
- Orthopedic surgeon
- Obstetrician
- Neurologist
- Dentist
- Physician
- Ophthalmologist
- Orthodontist
- Endocrinologist
- Optometrist
- Rheumatologist
- Gastroenterologist
- Plastic surgeon
- Neonatologist
- Urologist
- Cardiologist
- Neurosurgeon
- Anesthesiologist
- Vascular surgeon
The fact of the matter is that with a Doctoral Degree an individual could apply to any career position in the world and 90% of the time receive acceptance that they have won the job or career. However, with a Bachelor’s Degree a student would not be able to come a doctor or a historian.
Normally, all universities will follow the same protocols when it comes to credits. For example, the American InterContinental University requires students who have past credits may submit unofficial transcripts for evaluation prior to beginning the first term of study for a Bachelor’s Degree.
Accepted credits can be from:
- Experiential Learning
- Professional Training & Certifications
- Standardized Assessments/Examinations
- College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) Examinations
- DANTES Subject Standardized Testing (DSST) Examinations
- Advanced Placement (AP) Examination
- AIU Accelerate™ Assessments
- Other recognized examinations may also be evaluated at the discretion of the University
AIU may also accept military credit for comparable courses or electives, including:
- Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)
- AU – ABC
- Military Training Course
- Service Colleges
Looking into benefits that are given to military individuals plus their spouses can also help with credit building, where if someone has already been deployed and experience a bit of training, that can act as a certain number of credits to an accredited Bachelor’s Degree. Along with a multitude of other sections such as single parent, female, under 30, going back to school, native of a country, etc… where scholarships can be given out to only the individuals who fit the criteria (can act as added credits).
For Bachelor’s Degree the flexibility time to complete it, is up to the student. However, a Doctoral Degree will have a strict timeline frame for when everything needs to be completed. This is because of the thesis attached to the degree level.
A Bachelor’s Degree program usually starts with a variety of general education courses to meet the degree requirements. However, of the 180 credits required to earn a Bachelor’s Degree will be in general education. These courses may include:
- University Studies or College readiness courses
- English Composition
- Humanities (such as History or Philosophy)
- Math
- Science
- Social Behaviors (such as Economics)
- Other General Education Coursework
General education courses are designed to help you build a strong basis of skills that can be helpful in the workplace, such as communications, technological competence, and math. Technically this stage with courses is a re-vamping of the high school years leading up to the freshman year of college. Re-learning and adding to what a student already has been taught. Some of this may seem like a repeat but it’s to prepare those students to become efficient in those general education areas.
Which Degree to Choose?
Ever hear of “choose when the time is right?” Because that is the idea to follow, since some students may not understand the extent of a 9-year college studying span which is almost a decade. Whichever degree route a student chooses should be proud for how far they were able to expand their higher education. Nonetheless, with universities in the 21st century offer gap years and allowed time off without losing any college credits. This time off is aimed at improving the mental health of students who do nothing but study endlessly towards a high-end degree.
Students can choose a flexible time scheduled as to avoid burnout as must as possible. Statistics showed that student burnout rose drastically from August 2020 to April 2021 according to the experts. “In August 2020, the first time we did the survey, student burnout was at 40%. Now universities allow students a bit more freedom when it comes to recovery from strenuous amount of time dedicated to higher education learning.
Here are a few interesting facts about Doctoral Degrees to put into full focus what this degree holds:
- Doctoral Degrees Are Obtained By 5% of the Population
- Full-time Ph.D. students typically do not have to pay tuition. In fact, through stipends and assistantships, some Ph.D. candidates earn more than what bachelor’s degree holders earn.
- Ph.D. students learn to write grants and obtain funding from investors for their research, experiments, travel, and salary.
- Approximately 50% of those who earn a traditional Ph.D. obtain faculty positions.
- Most of the work on a traditional Ph.D. is research, but there is one semester of classes.
- A thesis is a collection of articles with an introduction relating all of the articles and describing the methods, theory, and experiments the Ph.D. candidate has conducted.
- Over the course of a career, Ph.D. recipients will earn $1.3 million more than those with only a bachelor’s degree.
- Approximately 10,000 Americans traveled to Europe for Ph.D. study before Ph.D. programs were available in the United States.
- Not all fields have a Ph.D. degree program.
Students deciding to choose either a Bachelor’s or Doctoral Degree must understand what is at stake as well as what is going to be required of them to complete a higher learning education such as a prestigious degree as these two.
