Now a days, with all these “online schools” offering PhD’s, does this mean that just anyone can call themselves a Doctor? Or attach Dr. to their names? For example, if I graduated from University of Phoenix (or any of those other quacky schools) with a PhD, could I now call myself Dr. Angela just by typing it up on a business card? Or are there certain requirements to be able to call yourself a doctor? If a college professor studied years and years to get a PhD, and another college professor got a “PhD” online, doesn’t that just seem unfair?
Thanks! For some reason I thought there might be some guidelines or regulations, but that makes sense that it’s really about WHERE you got the degree from.
I don’t really know.
Sincerely,
Dr. Chris
It is unfair, yet the “quacky ones get ultimately nowhere unless they are con artists. You can even go on certain websites, who oficcially change your title (no schooling required) to PhD., mba, or w/e. Theres a loophole in everything.
Well, yes. If you’re really defensive about the term “Doctor,” I can see why that would be upsetting. But PhDs (even online ones) take time and effort, and somebody who puts the effort in online is still more deserving of the title than someone who, well, doesn’t. Also, when hiring, employers always look at which school you went to, so in a practical sense people who get PhDs at less impressive schools will likely have less of a chance than someone with a PhD from, say, Harvard.
Anyone with a doctorate, either PhD or professional, or even honorary can call themselves doctor. However if you prove the degree is bogus it would be rather easy to shame those doing it.
Thanks
Bill
You can buy a PhD from a company online and call yourself a doctor, yes. Just like Kent Hovind did! But it’s not going to get you a job (at least, not when they find out you lied). Professors can’t get a job teaching with a fake PhD (not every online program is fake, though).
Only a doctorate degree from an accredited college counts. Online degree mills, which are non-accredited, don’t.
If you have never attend a specific school do not knock it. Second if you have the ability to pass your classes and study for years and finish a Doctorate program then you can consider yourself a Dr. Just because a program is “on-line” does not mean it was easy to complete, considering they usually teach the same level of curriculum as any other school.
The main requirement is that you actually pass your classes, you will not receive any degree without the requirements of the program, IE, C or better average for bachelor’s level, B or better Master’s level, ETC.
You’ve hit upon a great subject. There are on-line universities which will issue you a diploma as a Doctor of some subject (such as Social Science or Religion.) Once you sign up for the course, you’ll pay for 10 to 15 books, and you’ll be asked to read them and write a report about one of the books.
They tell you that because of the first amendment to the Constitution of the USA that each US citizen has the right to free speech, and therefore, they are free to call you a doctor and you are free to call yourself a doctor.
Of course, you’ve paid for nothing except a batch of books that you could have picked-up at the library, or at a yard sale. You get a pretty diploma, which you could have made yourself by using almost any word processing program.
So, yes, you can call yourself a doctor. And yes, it is unfair to all those who studied a subect for years and actually met specific requirements and earned a PhD.
Good luck, Doctor.
For a PhD to mean anything, you have to earn it. Whether you go through on line classes or complete work at a university, there is a lot of hard work to be done in order to get a valid PhD from an accredited school. Remember the traveling snake oil salesmen of an earlier time?? They often used the title doctor but it didn’t mean a thing and many people of that day knew they were con artists.
I have known people to complete on-line bachelors degrees and they were valid. Not all on-line programs are scams. Just make sure they are accredited. A friend is working on courses from a university in my state, Masters level, and much of the work, discussion and forums, is done on line.
Anyone can type up a business card and put anything they want on it. Don’t trust what you see without other documentation.
In much of Europe, PhD students don’t take “classes” in a classroom or online or anywhere else. They conduct research and write about it. In the US, our PhD is really only about 1/2 coursework.
Thing is, many people think getting a PhD is about going to X number of classes and taking a test just like high school or the undergrad, it just doesn’t work that way. The PhD is an entirely different educational experience and in some fields “online” should be fine since the research is being conducted away from the campus (such as in the outback of Brazil) anyway. Who cares if you emailed your dissertation to LA or flew back there to turn it in? In this way, distance work on a PhD is nothing new at all.
Whether online or classroom, a PhD requires a considerable amount of research and writing. Any regionally accredited college offering the degree online will require a huge investment of time and effort.
As for “all these ‘online schools’” – you might want to look at which schools are offering degrees online. The list includes some of the finest colleges in the world and some of the lowest and everything in between. Just like the list of colleges offering degrees in the classroom.
Since UoP is regionally accredited (just like every major university in the USA), anyone that earns a PhD there is “Dr.” Those who don’t like the idea should take it up with the regional accreditor that said UoP could award those degrees or the US Dept. of Education who recognizes the accreditor.
Or, we might want to wake up and notice that it’s not 1981 any longer. We conduct all sorts of business online – education is ideally suited to the medium.
Yes, but it forces us all to ask more questions about the doctorate, which is probably a good thing. As someone who has two doctorates, which took me a combined total of 12 years to earn (not counting the undergraduate or masters degrees), I do get a little resentful when I see someone has an “equivalent” degree which cost them a lot of money but no time to complete. However, I get even more resentful when I see a university hire someone with either a mail order or a quickie online degree, because the university should make the distinction and only hire those with real degrees.
Sure, anyone can call themselves Dr., but it won’t mean anything, and if you lie about your credentials for a job, you’re looking at fraud.
It’s not that unfair–if someone wastes their money on a fake PhD or gets one from a no-name school with lax requirements, they are not likely to get the kind of job that requires a real one. Professor jobs aren’t just handed out to anyone with a doctorate. It’s hard enough to get one if you don’t come from one of the top 25 or so ranked schools in your field and/or don’t have any publications to your name by the time you finish. Someone who buys a fake degree won’t even have a dissertation, much less the clout of publications, a reputable school, advisor recommendations, etc.
Some PhDs can be done mainly online/distance, but for most fields, it’s not advisable.
Actually not all online schools are bogus like everyone says. Just because you didn’t sit in a classroom doesn’t mean you didn’t do as much work. Electronically is the way almost everything is done so why is it seen as inferior when it comes to education, when it’s fine to use the internet to do everything else? Of course there are bogus schools but you can find them offline as well. A real Ph’d takes time and effort to earn, whether it be online or offline. If a student goes to a REAL university but all of their classes are online, is it still considered bogus?
No, not just anyone can call themselves ‘Doctor’. Of course, one would need credentials. Usually to be called Doctor, one must need a Doctorate degree, or one must have graduated from medical school.