What Is a Doctor of Engineering Degree and How Does It Work?

[YoshiMoshi]

I've recently learned that "Doctor of Engineering" degrees were a thing. It's seems to be a collaboration between the school and the company they work for. Does anyone here have one?

Are these programs meant to be completed while continuing to work in industry full time? I couldn't find this information. All the companies I've worked for, you have to work full time for the company to get tuition assistance from them.

I looked online and John Hopkins University for example costs $65,000 a year! They expect the company the student works for to pay for it. Really? I've never heard of company's tuition assistance program at companies, that would support such a high cost! Normally it's more like $7,000 a year limit. I'm flabbergasted at the cost.

The concept seems great though, a way for midcareer people in their late 30s or 40s to get a doctor level degree. And it can be completed online.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I've recently learned that "Doctor of Engineering" degrees were a thing. It's seems to be a collaboration between the school and the company they work for. Does anyone here have one?

Are these programs meant to be completed while continuing to work in industry full time? I couldn't find this information. All the companies I've worked for, you have to work full time for the company to get tuition assistance from them.

I looked online and John Hopkins University for example costs $65,000 a year! They expect the company the student works for to pay for it. Really? I've never heard of company's tuition assistance program at companies, that would support such a high cost! Normally it's more like $7,000 a year limit. I'm flabbergasted at the cost.

The concept seems great though, a way for midcareer people in their late 30s or 40s to get a doctor level degree. And it can be completed online.

PhD online?!
I guess via zoom.

 

[YoshiMoshi]

It's the first tine I've heard of a doctor of engineering degree. So I don't think it's to common. I'm hopping someone can chime in who has one.

 

[f95toli]

I am not sure about the US but they are quite common in Europe.
It can also mean different things; in the UK you for example have an EngD which sounds like what is being described here; this is something you do while working.
However, in some places a "doctor of engineering degree" it is just what is awarded if you belong to an engineering department; it is otherwise the same thing as a PhD and many people will just call it that

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I am not sure about the US but they are quite common in Europe.
It can also mean different things; in the UK you for example have an EngD which sounds like what is being described here; this is something you do while working.
However, in some places a "doctor of engineering degree" it is just what is awarded if you belong to an engineering department; it is otherwise the same thing as a PhD and many people will just call it that

How is EngD any different than PhD?
In my country I never heard of it, I know of PhD in Engineering, how does it differ from a PhD?

 

[YoshiMoshi]

For EngD Degree: See as an example: https://www.engr.colostate.edu/se/deng/#
For PhD in Engineering Degree: See as an example: https://www.engr.colostate.edu/se/phd/

It looks like the EngD requires 11 courses related to the field and 9 credits of research.
It looks like the PhD requires 6 courses related to the field and 24 credits of research.

I'm the type of person who would rather take courses over research, so I think the EngD would be better choice for me over PhD.

My only concern is "making the wrong choice". Especially sense I have never heard of a EngD degree, I'd be worried that people wouldn't know what it is and so forth on my resume, while a PhD is universally recognized as the highest degree you can earn.

I plan on working in industry and not academia, and it seems that the EngD degree would be a better choice. However I still wonder about people not knowing what it is.

If anyone has an EngD degree, could they say if they regret or don't regret getting it instead of a PhD?

 

[f95toli]

How is EngD any different than PhD?
In my country I never heard of it, I know of PhD in Engineering, how does it differ from a PhD?

Again, it varies between different countries.

Here in the the UK the two main differences seems to be that most (all?) of the people who do an EngD do so while working and the topics are part of the R&D of their company; and that an EngD can be made up of several smaller projects rather than one big project which is typically the case for a PhD.
For the companies supporting the EngD it can be a way to encourage career development; while at the same time benefitting from a closer connection to the university awarding the EngD (indirect access to expertise and even facilities).

 

[Frabjous]

A chart from JHU
https://engineering.jhu.edu/doctor-of-engineering/about-the-program/deng-vs-phd/

 

[YoshiMoshi]

Hey thanks so much! I'm in the states.
Has anyone on here done such a thing, PhD part time, one class at a time? It seems that a 42 credit PhD one 3 credit course/dissertation "course"/research "course" at a time would allow someone to get their PhD without quitting their full time job. Not only that, if it's fully online, you don't even have to drive to school, so you save time on that. I used to have to drive 1 hour each way to get to school. You can view the lectures live or on the weekends. Even at 3 credits each Spring and Fall semester would allow you to complete your PhD in 7 years without quitting your job. This is very appealing to me.
To me it seems to be too good to be true.
From what people have told me doing a PhD is like a full time job, so you can't work full time while earning it. Most job postings are like
Bachelors + 8 years of experience
Or
Masters + 6 Years of experience
Or
PhD + 3 years
Or something similar. Where a degree is equivalent to so many years of industry experience. To be able to progress both at the same time seems great. Not only that, but at $3,000 or so per course, it would put you under most companies tuition assistance programs. Meaning it would be essentially free to the student. Although it is weird there is a cost to it.

Free to me, don't have to drive, one class at a time, can view the lectures for the actual course work whenever you want, don't have to quit my full time job in industry... seems to good to be true? I don't see any downsides to it. Kind of seems just like common sense to do it then. The 7 year commitment is rough, but at 3 credits at a time, it should be doable.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

Courses are the easy part of such a degree. I do wonder how those universities quantify original and creative research work with a specific credits' number?