Online university offers numerous doctoral degree programs

Online university offers numerous doctoral degree programs

In order to improve their job qualifications and increase their potential earnings, a growing number of working professionals are returning to college. These nontraditional students often pursue online doctoral degrees in an effort to obtain higher education while continuing their careers.

Schools such as Northcentral University are increasing their online doctoral degree programs in order to better serve its adult students. Some of the university's fastest growing degrees are at the university's School of Behavioral and Health Sciences in its marriage and family therapy programs. Last fall, Northcentral became one of the first schools to offer online master's and doctoral degree programs in this field.

"Other marriage and family therapy degree programs have residency requirements, which can be costly and difficult to schedule," said Ron Hendricks, chief marketing officer of Northcentral University. "Marriage and family therapy is a unique profession and requires a curriculum that is clearly focused on training [therapists]."

The school recently announced that the majority of its 8,000 learners are 40- to 50-year-old working professionals who are pursuing online doctor of business administration (DBA) degrees.

By Mark Danson