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Online PhD Programs & Online Doctoral Degrees

A doctoral degree – sometimes referred to as a doctorate or doctorate degree – is the final degree in the hierarchy of academic degrees awarded by post secondary educational institutions. Many PhD courses and doctorates are designed to qualify you to practice a particular profession, such as medicine. Doctoral degree programs can take anywhere from three to ten years of postgraduate study, and also usually require that you submit and defend an original thesis.

Click on the “request info” button next to the school of your choice to receive more information about on-campus or online PhD degree programs.



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Online Doctoral Programs & Online PhD Degrees from Accredited Colleges

The abbreviation “PhD” is often thought to mean the same thing as “doctorate,” but that isn’t always the case.  A PhD is actually a specific type of doctorate earned by graduates in a variety of science and humanities disciplines.

You can earn a doctorate degree online or through traditional on-campus education. If you decide to pursue one of the many available doctoral programs or online PhD degree programs you will have to work hard, but you may also be well-rewarded. These programs challenge you with the most sophisticated content possible, because online doctorate degrees represent the pinnacle of achievement in distance learning. Earning your doctorate or PhD online could be a wise investment as well - the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimated in January 2013 that professionals with a doctorate had about twice the median weekly earnings of all workers in 2012 ($1,624 a week for those with a doctorate, compared to $815 for all workers). According to those same BLS estimates from January 2013, those with a doctorate earned a median weekly wage in 2012 that was $558 more than the median weekly earnings of those with a bachelor's degree and $324 more than the median weekly earnings of those with a master's degree.

There are two common types of doctorates:  professional doctorates and research doctorates.  Much rarer are higher doctorates, which are only issued in a few European countries and require the recipient to be a leading expert in their field.

  • Professional Doctorates are awarded for completing doctoral study in a profession, such as dentistry (DDS), law (JD) or medicine (MD).  In many of these fields a doctorate is required to legally practice the profession.
  • Research Doctorates are awarded for completing doctoral study in a field of research.  The most common research doctorate is the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), but others include the Doctor of Engineering (DEng) and Doctor of Education (EdD).