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online business admin doctoral degree

Doctor of Business Administration

Start your online doctoral degree in business administration

Develop a mindset of change and innovation that breaks the sea of sameness. Our Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) can help you gain the strategic vision and skills to position yourself as a business leader. And since courses are only 8 weeks long, they won’t get in the way of your busy life.

Ignite Your Passion

Start when you're ready

Courses

Browse courses for your online business admin degree

Education should hold practical value. That’s why our courses meet rigorous academic standards and provide you with skills and knowledge immediately applicable to your career.

Skills-aligned program icon

Look for this icon to see which skills you’ll learn in a course.

Requirements: 54 credits

You’ll need 54 credits to complete this online DBA degree. 

Dissertation

You’ll begin your dissertation in your third course and follow a schedule of milestones throughout your program. This helps you manage your dissertation in smaller segments and helps identify any research methodology challenges early, so surprises or delays can be addressed.

18 Core Courses

Here’s where you’ll pick up the bulk of your program-specific knowledge. By the time you finish these courses, you should have the confidence and skills needed in this field.

Symposium

While some doctoral programs require on-campus residency, we’ve shifted to an 8-week online symposium. In the required course you’ll:

  • Receive a detailed overview of each milestone in the doctoral journey
  • Understand what the University expects from doctoral students
  • Understand what doctoral students can expect from the University

Schedule

Your academic counselor will help schedule your courses for a Doctor of Business Administration. You may also enroll in an optional, zero-credit, zero-tuition/fee one-weekend seminar in Phoenix.[1] The seminar provides an opportunity for personal interaction with faculty and peers as well as instruction around the framework of your dissertation.

[1] The seminar provides an opportunity for personal interaction with faculty and peers as well as instruction around the framework of your dissertation. Students are responsible for their own travel costs.

Skills-aligned program icon

Earn career-relevant skills in weeks – not years.

Learning shouldn’t take years to put into practice. That’s why we’re empowering you to build career-relevant skills with every five- to six-week course.

We’ve worked with labor market researchers like Lightcast to find in-demand skills for occupations and mapped those to our related associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.

Tuition

Affordable, fixed tuition

Lock in the peace of mind that comes with fixed, affordable tuition. You’ll enjoy one flat rate from the moment you enroll until the day you graduate from your program. That’s your Tuition Guarantee.

Tuition Guarantee

Affordable, Fixed Tuition

$810

Cost per credit

COA Components Doctoral Degree
Tuition and Fees¹
Tuition and Fees¹
Tuition and Fees¹
$19,392
Books, course materials, supplies and equipment
Books, course materials, supplies and equipment
Books, course materials, supplies and equipment
$1,704
Transportation
Transportation
Transportation
$1,632
Miscellaneous personal expenses
Miscellaneous personal expenses
Miscellaneous personal expenses
$660
Living Expenses²
Living Expenses²
Living Expenses²
     Food
     Food
     Food
$3,180
     Housing³
     Housing³
     Housing³
$6,144
Federal student loan fees
Federal student loan fees
Federal student loan fees
$96
Dependent care expenses
Dependent care expenses
Dependent care expenses
$0
Disability related expenses
Disability related expenses
Disability related expenses
$0
Total COA
Total COA
Total COA
$32,808

1The tuition component is based on a per credit weighted average for the credential level across the entire University.

2The University allows the same living expense amounts for students in all living arrangements and dependency statuses.

3The living expense component for students receiving Military Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) only includes an allowance for food.

Scholarships

Starting with your first course, every new, qualifying student will be awarded up to $3,000. Because scholarships shouldn’t just be for the chose few – they should be accessible to all working adults, like you.

$1 Million

In scholarship opportunities

Financial aid

You have options when it comes to paying for college tuition and expenses, such as federal grants and loans. Our finance advisors can answer your questions about financial aid and can help guide you through the process.

Federal Student Loan Basics

Careers & Outcomes

What can you do with a Doctor of Business Administration?

Learning can lead to earning. Discover where your degree might take you and make informed choices about your future.

A DBA can prepare you to be a:

  • Management analyst
  • General manager (GM)
  • Executive director
  • Operations director

Ready to get started?

Start your application for free or request additional information.

What you’ll learn

When you earn your online degree, you’ll be equipped with a concrete set of skills you can apply on the job. You’ll learn how to:

  • Integrate the Scholar Practitioner Leader (SPL) Model throughout the doctoral journey and beyond.

  • Cultivate a leadership identity that reflects a mature and strategic understanding of the tenets of effective management praxis.

  • Develop doctoral research that identifies and addresses opportunities for innovation in complex managerial contexts.

8% Growth

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for management occupations is projected to be faster than average between 2021 and 2031.

The BLS Projected Growth for 2021-2031 is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This data reflects the BLS’ projections of national (not local) conditions. These data points are not specific to University of Phoenix students or graduates.

Admissions

Apply for free – no application fee, no obligation.

Starting your degree is a big decision — and we want you to feel great about it. That’s why we remove obstacles from your application.

  • No GMAT/GRE
  • No admissions essay or letter of intent
  • No academic or professional references
  • No cost to request transcripts

Receive highly rated 1-on-1 support

You’ll have a support team of real people you can lean on to encourage your success as a student. Start a conversation about your future with one of our enrollment representatives today.

Gabriel G., Enrollment Representative

Call or chat with us 7 days a week.

G. Galindo - Enrollment Representative

Gabriel G., Enrollment Rep

Receive highly rated 1-on-1 support

You’ll have a support team of real people you can lean on to encourage your success as a student. Start a conversation about your future with one of our enrollment representatives today.

Call us at 844-937-8679 or chat with us 7 days a week.

An education that fits your busy life

Balancing family, work and school

Work toward your degree without giving up what matters most. Start your degree year-round and take one class at a time.

Online learning

Enroll in online classes and attend class whenever it fits your life, day or night.

Around-the-clock support and resources

You have a support team available up to 20 hours a day, 5 days a week. And our academic counselors, who are with you every step of the way, have earned a 5-star rating from 90% of our surveyed students.[1]

[1] Transactional Survey, August 2021-22 (18,645 respondents)

Phoenix provides support and resources for busy students

Faculty Spotlight

Professionals dedicated to you

Your success is a top priority for our deans and faculty members. They bring an average of 26 years of experience and hands-on perspective to the classroom, and help bridge the gap between academics and industry knowledge.

Kathryn Uhles

I’m dedicated to equipping students with the knowledge, skills and abilities to meet their career goals.

Kathryn Uhles
Dean, College of Business and IT, University of Phoenix

Accreditation

Count on the quality of your education

programmatic accreditation

Our DBA has been reaffirmed for accreditation until 2027 by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), ensuring the quality of your education.

What does that mean in real life? ACBSP-accredited business programs are committed to quality standards. The quality of the program is regularly benchmarked against specific criteria that prepare students for the business industry. Accreditation occurs on a 10-year cycle with regular quality reviews.

View the completion and first-year persistence rates for the University of Phoenix ACBSP-accredited business and accounting programs.

A C B S P accredited

Frequently asked questions about this business doctoral degree

While there are some subject matter similarities in a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, you must take into consideration what each program offers and the differences between them before choosing which might be right for you. We’ll explain the three programs so you can determine which might meet your goals.

A Doctor of Business Administration is a specialized degree with a practical focus that incorporates a multidisciplinary and systems thinking approach. Our online DBA attracts business professionals who want to improve their administrative and managerial skills. They want to contribute to the practice of management and solve real-world organizational and business problems. Our DBA degree combines scholarship, practice and leadership to prepare students for lifelong learning, social and workplace contribution and the ability to exert positive influence in organizations and in life.

A Doctor of Philosophy is a specialized degree with an intensive theoretical research focus. A PhD attracts students who would like to pursue a career in academia or conduct research that contributes to business knowledge or theory. A PhD program will have you conducting research with the goal of addressing a gap in knowledge or need in business management. University of Phoenix doesn’t offer PhD programs.

A Master of Business Administration is a graduate degree with a focus on theoretical and practical training for general business management functions. Our MBA program attracts business professionals who want to work in a managerial capacity or follow their entrepreneurial aspirations. Earning an MBA may be ideal if you have less time to devote to a program.

Our Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program is designed for business professionals who want to contribute to the practice of management and solve real-world organizational problems. Our online DBA will equip you with working knowledge based on the latest business research, theories and trends. You can sharpen your administrative, managerial and decision-making skills to help ensure organizations remain sustainable in a competitive environment while positioning yourself as an experienced professional in the field.

To be eligible for our Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program, you must have a graduate degree from a regionally or an approved nationally accredited college or university or equivalent graduate degree earned at a recognized foreign institution. You’ll need a minimum 3.0 GPA on your graduate degree posted transcripts as well as a record of current or past employment. International applicants, or applicants without appropriate previous academic experience in an English language environment, must pass English Language Proficiency Test. Other eligibility requirements may apply. Please contact an enrollment representative to learn more about program-specific admission requirements.

Similar to most doctoral programs, our Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program will help you develop advanced quantitative and qualitative research skills. Unlike Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs that focus on theoretical research, our DBA degree emphasizes applied research where academic theory helps you devise solutions to practical business problems.

As part of the online DBA program, you’ll take three research focused courses:

These courses give you a foundational understanding of research methodology and theoretical frameworks. You can learn how to critically analyze scholarly literature, interpret data, create an effective research plan and generate actionable interventions. These courses are also designed to support the research required as part of your dissertation.

Yes, our online Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) has been reaffirmed for accreditation until 2027 by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), ensuring the quality of your education. Learn more about accreditation at University of Phoenix.

While widely available, not all programs are available to residents of all states. Please check with a University Enrollment Representative.