I started when I was 40. My class average age is 38 (range 28 to 48)...

But Cheah, if the uni allows their students to complete within 2 years, they will be breaching the rules set by the 3 accreditation bodies... I understand that the minimum is 3 years..

(But I am talking about DBA)

This post has been edited by juniortok: Jan 19 2015, 04:02 PM

UK, part time

If that is the case, I suspect the school is not accredited (by all 3 agencies but maybe 1-2) because I have experience with 3 friends of mine who could not get their PHD because they did it full time and the school refused to let him pass because it will affect their accreditation by the 3 accreditation agencies.

Starbucki, I dont understand your question....

Oh...besides all the serious reasons, I do it for a very important personal reason. I worked very hard for my family in the last 10 years (and 5 years for myself before that). I think it is time for me to get my reward. Besides a personal achievement, I look forward to going UK every Feb, June and Oct. I go with 100% intention to enjoy the trip and learning. The last time I stopped over at Dubai, which I have never been. This time Paris, which I have never been too. Next time I will stop by Amsterdam. Last time I flew economy. This time I fly premium economy. Hopefully, I strike a lottery next month and I fly business in June. If not, economy again. All these remind me of my life, make me reflect that I am a person. Not a dog.

Having said that, I make plans too. I have discussed with a couple of banks who said that they would support me in terms of providing me with data (not giving me money). I have gotten a few developers who said that they will help me publish in China. I have made contact with 2 universities (starting to make friends) so that when I get my degree, they will hire me as a adjunct professor. I will only get my degree in 4 years time, but I have started doing all these (and more which I didnt list). This is called long term greed (Goldman Sachs motto). I have not achieved anything yet, but I have a game plan which is half way through my execution.

I get you about the financial costs of doing this. But there is bigger picture here. DBA/PHD is a 4-5 years program with a lots of commitment (a lot of work, trust me). What is the opportunity cost?? If you invest the RM200,000 into a business today and work as hard for it....you might even build a small listed company if you have the vision and network or a side business that make you stable income few years later. This sounds silly but its totally true. So, if you dont plan your DBA well, your IRR is definitely negative (Senior Lecturer income is only 10k per month, no bonus). So, it is very important about why you want to do it. So, why you want to do it?

The accreditation bodies are AMBA, AACSB (I cant remember the last one). While I don't choose a school based on its accreditation, I was very skeptical with those without any. There were many advertisements in Hong Kong for DBA courses from various universities. Some say total costs of HK$200,000 to be completed within 2.5 years. etc (I have heard of that uni from Australia). Many similar cases. Besides my current school, I attended HK Poly U talk and they said that one cannot complete the course for less than 3 years because of the reasons I mentioned. I also know that another friend of mine who did the Phd of Finance with University of Melbourne, he also had the same problem. But I suppose you dont need to worry la. Your school is a good school.