About Doctoral Programs at GCU
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A doctorate is the highest degree in the United States postsecondary education system. It is also the least achieved, due to the requirement of creating new knowledge by completing a dissertation, which is original, individual research that is defendable and publishable in the form of a five-chapter book.
Because of the uniqueness of the dissertation process, completely dependent on each doctoral learner, there is no way to predict the total cost or time it will take for each learner to complete their dissertation journey. This information is offered as a guide to help you understand the process, but the path toward your degree and the timeframe to complete it will be determined by your effort and the pace of your work.
For doctoral programs, the university calculates minimum time to completion by first calculating instructional time. This is completed by multiplying the instructional weeks per course, by the number of courses in the base program of study. GCU adds one week for Christmas when the university is on an official break. GCU also adds an additional two weeks for breaks for each year, as a reasonable amount of time learners would be out of class. Research Continuation courses, periods of non-enrollment, and repeating courses will increase time to completion.
No doctoral program at GCU is intended to meet any state requirements for licensure, certification, or as a clinician.
This program requires completion of a minimum of 65 credits, which will take a minimum of 45 months. Students who have not received final approval of a dissertation at the completion of those credits must enroll in Research Continuation courses until they have completed an approved dissertation. Research Continuation courses are three-credit courses, charged at the same per-credit tuition rate as all other doctoral courses. Research Continuation courses, if necessary, will add to the cost and time to complete this program. This program had fewer than 10 graduates over the last five years. Therefore, GCU is providing data for all students who completed any GCU dissertation-based doctoral program between Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2024. Over that time 2,341 students took an average of 6.2 years to complete all program requirements and required on average 11.2 Research Continuation courses to complete their dissertation. These program graduates paid an average of $52,855 in tuition and fees, including continuation courses, over the duration of their program. The maximum number of credits eligible for Title IV funding that a student can take in their initially enrolled program version, assuming they earn passing grades and otherwise remain eligible to receive Title IV funding, is between 90 and 95. As of Dec. 31, 2024, this program had fewer than 10 students who did not finish within that number of credits. Therefore, the following data is for all students who enrolled in any GCU dissertation-based doctoral program before Dec. 31, 2024. The number of students who did not finish within the maximum number of attempted credits for all GCU doctoral programs is 299, or 1.1% of all students who started in any GCU dissertation-based doctoral program since the college’s inception.
This program requires completion of a minimum of 60 credits, which will take a minimum of 39 months. Students who have not received final approval of a dissertation at the completion of those credits must enroll in Research Continuation courses until they have completed an approved dissertation. Research Continuation courses are three-credit courses, charged at the same per-credit tuition rate as all other doctoral courses. Research Continuation courses, if necessary, will add to the cost and time to complete this program. Between Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2024, 897 students graduated from this program. Those students took average of six years to complete all program requirements and required on average 10.2 Research Continuation courses to complete their dissertation. These program graduates paid an average of $51,836 in tuition and fees, including continuation courses, over the duration of their program. The maximum number of credits eligible for Title IV funding that a student can take in their initially enrolled program version, assuming they earn passing grades and otherwise remain eligible to receive Title IV funding, is 90. As of Dec. 31, 2024, the number of students who did not finish within the maximum number of attempted credits is 93, or 1.2% of all students who started the PhD in General Psychology program since the program’s inception.
This program requires completion of a minimum of 60 credits, which will take a minimum of 39 months. Students who have not received final approval of a dissertation at the completion of those credits must enroll in Research Continuation courses until they have completed an approved dissertation. Research Continuation courses are three-credit courses, charged at the same per-credit tuition rate as all other doctoral courses. Research Continuation courses, if necessary, will add to the cost and time to complete this program. Between Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2024, 52 students graduated from this program. Those students took an average of 4.5 years to complete all program requirements and required on average 4.5 Research Continuation courses to complete their dissertation. These program graduates paid an average of $48,670 in tuition and fees, including continuation courses, over the duration of their program. The maximum number of credits eligible for Title IV funding that a student can take in their initially enrolled program version, assuming they earn passing grades and otherwise remain eligible to receive Title IV funding, is 90. As of Dec. 31, 2024, this program had fewer than 10 students who did not finish within that number of credits. Therefore, the following data is for all students who enrolled in any GCU dissertation-based doctoral program before Dec. 31, 2024. The number of students who did not finish within the maximum number of attempted credits for all GCU doctoral programs is 299, or 1.1% of all students who started in any GCU dissertation-based doctoral program since the college’s inception.
This program requires completion of a minimum of 60 credits, which will take a minimum of 39 months. Students who have not received final approval of a dissertation at the completion of those credits must enroll in Research Continuation courses until they have completed an approved dissertation. Research Continuation courses are three-credit courses, charged at the same per-credit tuition rate as all other doctoral courses. Research Continuation courses, if necessary, will add to the cost and time to complete this program. Between Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2024, 1,226 students graduated from this program. Those students took an average of 6.5 years to complete all program requirements and required on average 12.4 Research Continuation courses to complete their dissertation. These program graduates paid an average of $53,796 in tuition and fees, including continuation courses, over the duration of their program. The maximum number of credits eligible for Title IV funding that a student can take in their initially enrolled program version, assuming they earn passing grades and otherwise remain eligible to receive Title IV funding, is 90. As of Dec. 31, 2024, the number of students who did not finish within the maximum number of attempted credits is 184, or 1.1% of all students who started the EdD in Organizational Leadership program since the program’s inception.
This program requires completion of a minimum of 60 credits, which will take a minimum of 39 months. Students who have not received final approval of a dissertation at the completion of those credits must enroll in Research Continuation courses until they have completed an approved dissertation. Research Continuation courses are three-credit courses, charged at the same per-credit tuition rate as all other doctoral courses. Research Continuation courses, if necessary, will add to the cost and time to complete this program. Between Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2024, 159 students graduated from this program. Those students took an average of six years to complete all program requirements and required on average 10.3 Research Continuation courses to complete their dissertation. These program graduates paid an average of $53,160 in tuition and fees, including continuation courses, over the duration of their program. The maximum number of credits eligible for Title IV funding that a student can take in their initially enrolled program version, assuming they earn passing grades and otherwise remain eligible to receive Title IV funding, is 90. As of Dec. 31, 2024, the number of students who did not finish within the maximum number of attempted credits is 13, or 0.7% of all students who started the Doctor of Business Administration program since the program’s inception.
This program requires completion of a minimum of 60 credits, which will take a minimum of 39 months. Students who have not received final approval of a dissertation at the completion of those credits must enroll in Research Continuation courses until they have completed an approved dissertation. Research Continuation courses are three-credit courses, charged at the same per-credit tuition rate as all other doctoral courses. Research Continuation courses, if necessary, will add to the cost and time to complete this program. This program had fewer than 10 graduates over the last five years. Therefore, GCU is providing data for all students who completed any GCU dissertation-based doctoral program between Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2024. Over that time, 2,341 students graduated from GCU’s doctoral programs. Over that time students took an average of 6.2 years to complete all program requirements and required on average 11.2 Research Continuation courses to complete their dissertation. These program graduates paid an average of $52,855 in tuition and fees, including continuation courses, over the duration of their program. The maximum number of credits eligible for Title IV funding that a student can take in their initially enrolled program version, assuming they earn passing grades and otherwise remain eligible to receive Title IV funding, is between 90 and 95. As of Dec. 31, 2024, this program had fewer than 10 students who did not finish within that number of credits. Therefore, the following data is for all students who enrolled in any GCU dissertation-based doctoral program before Dec. 31, 2024. The number of students who did not finish within the maximum number of attempted credits for all GCU doctoral programs is 299, or 1.1% of all students who started in any GCU dissertation-based doctoral program since the college’s inception.
Learners seeking accommodations are required to complete the Accommodation Request Form and provide supporting documentation to Student Disability Services (this includes dietary requirements). Please contact Student Disability Services at (602) 639-6342 or disabilityoffice@gcu.edu at least thirty (30) days prior to arrival for residency.
Learners who complete all the coursework and not the dissertation, also known as All But Dissertation (ABD), may be offered a chance to transfer many of their courses into a master’s degree in substitution, dependent on their previous earned degrees.
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