Doctor of Business Administration, DBA
The DBA program seeks to serve the educational and career development needs of executives and professionals. It differs from the traditional PhD program in a number of ways. Traditional PhD programs are designed to prepare students who want to become full-time professors, emphasizing developing new theories and conducting scholarly research. Unlike most traditional doctoral programs, the DBA is designed for working adults who cannot take time off from work and is not a fully residential program. The residential component is on weekends (Friday and Saturday) once a month. The rest of the learning takes place online. The chosen method of delivery is “web-enhanced,” where the faculty and students interact in multiple ways during the period between the weekends they attend in-person classes. For their dissertation research, students will be encouraged to select a subject of relevance to the business world, which will answer previously unsolved problems, generate new knowledge, and respond to the challenges faced by business executives.
The College of Business accepts applications for admission to the DBA program. Applicants are reviewed by the Office of Graduate Studies and the College of Business DBA Admission Committee.
Program Learning Goals
- Program Goal 1: Mastery of Content: Graduates will demonstrate knowledge, cognizance, analysis, and solution for managing diverse organizational challenges.
- Program Goal 2: Ethical Leadership: Graduates will be cognizant of ethical challenges and leadership issues pertaining to a business environment.
- Program Goal 3: Global Perspective: Graduates will develop knowledge regarding the global issues, practices, challenges to be successful leaders in a global economy.
- Program Goal 4: Communications: Graduates will be effective rhetorical savvy to be compelling, persuasive, and influential in the management of modern corporations.
Admission Requirements
- A Master's degree from an accredited college or university with a minimum 3.0-grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 grading scale.
- Official transcript(s) for all college work (undergraduate and graduate from each institution previously attended) are required for admission.
- Seven or more years of professional or managerial experience that requires high levels of responsibility
- Interview with the DBA Admission Committee
- Two essays: Statement of Purpose essay (maximum two pages) and the Proposal of Research Interest essay (maximum five pages). The Statement of Purpose essay should describe the applicant's motivations for pursuing the DBA program and the goals the applicant would like to accomplish. The Proposal of Research Interest essay should outline planned research objectives or practical problems of interest, how they are relevant to academic literature and real-world business practices, what research methodologies are employed, how data are collected, how research outcomes can contribute to academic literature and solve real-world business problems, etc.
- Three letters of recommendation from supervisors and/or colleagues who can attest to your professional and managerial experience by describing your job responsibilities and accomplishments in detail.
- A non-refundable fee
DBA Program Requirements
EDBA 7311 | Research and Academic Writing | 3 |
EDBA 7312 | Applied Statistical Analysis I | 3 |
EDBA 7313 | Qualitative Research Methods | 3 |
EDBA 7314 | Applied Statistical Analysis II | 3 |
EDBA 7317 | Dissertation Mini-Proposal I | 3 |
EDBA 7318 | Dissertation Mini-Proposal II | 3 |
EDBA 7321 | Applied Research in Accounting | 3 |
EDBA 7322 | Finance Theory and Applications | 3 |
EDBA 7323 | Information Systems Research | 3 |
EDBA 7324 | Organizational Leadership Theory and Applications | 3 |
EDBA 7325 | Strategic Business Analysis | 3 |
EDBA 7326 | Business Analytics and Supply Chain | 3 |
EDBA 7327 | Marketing Theory and Applications | 3 |
EDBA 7328 | Global Economic Systems and Issues | 3 |
EDBA 8691 | Dissertation I | 6 |
EDBA 8692 | Dissertation II | 6 |
EDBA 8693 | Dissertation III | 6 |
Total Hours | 60 |