If Communication, the Words of the English Language, English Literature, and Education sound like exciting topics to explore, then completing a Doctorate in English may be the right choice for your future!
Although all doctorate degrees are not available online, a Doctor of English degree is available from many schools. Completing a doctorate online is not necessarily easier than completing a doctorate in person, but can be a whole lot more convenient.
Choosing an Online School
Online schools such as Liberty University have an excellent reputation and a high graduation rate and are still affordable. However, some online schools have low graduation rates, indicating low student satisfaction, and also have not developed a reputation that will assist you in your future career as an expert in the subject of English.
Researching online schools is an important part of the process of choosing where you would like to study in order to complete an online Doctorate of English.
In order to continue to feel challenged and excited by coursework, the quality of online education that you enter into is important. Some things to look for when researching online schools are accreditation, whether the degree is fully online, faculty credentials, and whether the online faculty are the same faculty who teach on campus.
Checking to make sure that online student services are available and user-friendly is a great idea as well.
What to Expect
An online PhD in English is not offered very widely yet, however, a doctorate in English Education is available at many institutions. The PhD is oriented more around research while the Doctorate of English Education will equip its holder to teach on virtually any level, depending on their educational track or specialty.
Some online Doctorates in Curriculum and Instruction will have specialty tracks available in English Education as well.
Depending on how quickly you would like to complete your online doctorate, online doctoral programs will often more readily accommodate a student’s schedule than in-person doctoral programs. A typical online doctorate in English will take 4-6 years to complete. Degree programs that require a written dissertation will take 6-7 years to finish. Two or three of those years are typically spent on coursework while the last 2-4 years will be spent researching and writing a doctoral project or dissertation and include a public defense of your dissertation.
Some institutions will allow graduate students to move at a slower pace since they are usually working in their field of study while they earn their doctorate.
Depending again, on one’s specialty, courses in a Doctorate of English program will often include classes in Literature, Language Arts, Technology and Media Literacy, Curriculum Methods, and Composition.
The subject of English is broad, so specialties may include focus areas such as the History and Foundations of English, Curriculum Theory, English Literature, and many others.
What’s Next?
Completing a Doctorate in English is a huge accomplishment, as it requires hard work and diligence. Completing an online doctorate also takes a lot of discipline and self-motivation. Once a doctorate is finished, one can work in one’s field with the satisfaction that the most information possible has been explored educationally within a body of knowledge.
Those who complete a Doctor of English degree often pursue careers in school or university settings. However, some will research, write, or work as librarians or mentors or pursue careers in other work settings that require skills and knowledge in the subject of English.
