Improving the Air Force Civilian Graduate Education System Through Increased Use of External Funding for PHD Candidates

Abstract

Each year, the Air Force sends scores of officers to civilian universities to earn doctoral degrees. This is a significant monetary investment, involving millions of dollars in tuition as well as the larger cost of the officers salary during their time in school. This paper argues that the Air Force could better capitalize on its educational investments by increasing the standard time allowed for a doctoral program from three years to four and one-half years, doing away with the prerequisite of a masters degree, and systematizing the use of external assistantships, grants, and fellowships to pay for tuition. These changes would have several benefits, including cost savings for the Air Force, a richer educational experience for the individual, and higher completion rates.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2010
Accession Number
AD1019200

Entities

People

  • Clark L. Allred

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Personnel
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Computer Programming
  • Department Of Defense
  • Electronic Mail
  • Employment
  • Engineering
  • Information Systems
  • Military Education
  • Money
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Science
  • Social Sciences
  • Students
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Education

Readers

  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Naval Personnel Management
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.