Isabel and I recently finished the first of six 1-week on-campus residencies scheduled to satisfy the core course requirements of the distance learning doctoral program. We did not know what to expect, but it was certainly more intensive than we thought it would be.
Essentially, there are five sessions per day for class. Each of these sessions is two hours long (that's 10 hours of class per say). In addition, lunch and dinner are served family-style and faculty and students both attend. The faculty were seated among the students and this time was considered to be our faculty advising sessions.
Of course, Monday and Friday are only half-days, but Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were incredibly full. We got back to our room, exhausted, about 10pm to 11pm each evening and started all over again the next morning with breakfast a 7am.
Then we discovered that there was homework. There are assignments for each of the 5 courses on a schedule of 30-days, 60-days, 90-days, and 120-days. Any one of the assignments is not particularly difficult, but there are 5 different assignments each month and they require a lot of time in reading, research, and writing.
Distance learning does not mean the program is easy. Of course each university is going to have their own way of doing things. But, if you want a real meaningful doctorate, you should choose a program like the one we did.
Oxford Graduate School is a distance learning Christian university, and it requires 3 to 5 years of work to complete the degree requirements. When you finish this program, you can be proud of your degree.
