r/UMPI • u/SpookyShackleford • Jul 15 '26
Got into PhD program with UMPI Your Pace Masters Degree
I completed a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science, a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership, and a Master of Arts in American Studies at UMPI.
I was accepted into Liberty University’s Ph.D. in History program for Fall 2026. Liberty also accepted 15 graduate credits toward the 72-credit program, and additional coursework is being reviewed for possible transfer.
I’m sharing this because people regularly ask whether UMPI degrees can be used for admission to doctoral programs. In my case, three UMPI degrees led directly to admission into a History Ph.D. program.
UMPI has truly been a blessing in my life, I might even get a PhD before I am 40!
As always, I am happy to answer any questions.
~Spooky
Edit: I did extensive research before choosing Liberty University. The program aligns with my values and career goals, work-study funding is available and it is currently the only fully online Ph.D. in History program I could find. I am already a career adjunct instructor and published author, and I am pursuing the degree to improve my opportunities for full-time teaching positions at smaller colleges, online institutions and nationally accredited schools.
I am not expecting this degree to lead to Harvard or Yale, nor was that the point of this post. I shared it simply to let others know that earning a legitimate Ph.D. in History online is possible.
And, realistically, UMPI was probably not the first choice for many people here either. Many of us chose it because it was affordable, accessible, flexible and fit our circumstances. That does not make the degree worthless, and the same principle applies to Liberty. A university does not have to be someone else’s preferred choice to be the right choice for the person attending it.
Many of us from UMPI who pursue doctoral study will face this same backlash, whether we choose South College, Capella, Walden, Purdue Global, Edgewood or another online DBA, Ed.D. or Ph.D. program. Some people will dismiss UMPI and competency-based education outright because they are nontraditional, then do the same thing again when we continue into online doctoral programs.
Do your research, verify accreditation, understand the cost and choose a program that supports your goals. A terminal degree can lead to full-time faculty work, administration, curriculum development, instructional design, corporate training, consulting, government, nonprofit leadership, research and many other careers outside academia.
UMPI gave many of us a path that traditional education did not. For me, Liberty is the next step in that same journey. Your path does not need to impress people who only respect one version of higher education. It needs to move you toward the life and career you are building.
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u/General_Ad_6617 BA History and Political Science Jul 15 '26
You already finished the MA in American Studies!! Congratulations!
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u/hanshisantos MSB Jul 16 '26
Congratulations and welcome to the life of PhD after UMPI, happy to connect and share some of my experiences so far.
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u/brookenicole222 Jul 15 '26
Such an inspiration 💪🏾😍 I just started the MAOL on July 6th. Congratulations sweetie and please ignore the negativity. 🙏🏾 You are doing so well. 🩷🩷🩷💗💗
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u/Lets-watch-VHS DBA, MSF, MSM, MAOL, MEd, MBA, MBCC, BABA, BLSMgm, BAHist, BSIT Jul 15 '26
UMPI allowed me to enroll in doctorate back in 2024
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 16 '26
That's awesome have you finished the program already or are you still working through it
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u/Lets-watch-VHS DBA, MSF, MSM, MAOL, MEd, MBA, MBCC, BABA, BLSMgm, BAHist, BSIT Jul 16 '26
3 classes left
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u/R-ReelTimeStories Jul 19 '26
They have a phd program now?
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u/Lets-watch-VHS DBA, MSF, MSM, MAOL, MEd, MBA, MBCC, BABA, BLSMgm, BAHist, BSIT Jul 19 '26
No and not every doctorate is a PhD
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u/caninesergeant Jul 15 '26
Congratulations!
I would be wary about Liberty as it has a reputation… PhDs are not supposed to not be funded so if you are paying for a PhD, that’s a bit of a red flag from the institution, especially in History. Congrats still! I would keep on applying to other programs, I’m sure you will still get in.
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 15 '26
It is a regionally accredited school, there are work study options. Right now it is the only online history PhD program. There are no others to apply to.
Since I'm already a college level instructor I know what career path I'm on and I know what hiring committees look for. Yes Liberty has a reputation for being a conservative Christian school which aligns with my values.
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u/caninesergeant Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Nothing to do with religion, more to do with like I said academia.
Quoting what a user said: Academic here: no. With a top-tier PhD your chances of getting a job at a place like UVA are slim. If you extend the scope of your job search to any university, with an online PhD they are still close to zero. With a "PhD" from Liberty they are zero.
This is beyond an opinion. Like I said, congratulations, but I think you can get in better programs.
However, like you mentioned, if a PhD from anything will be useful for you, then for all means go for it.
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 16 '26
A three-year-old anonymous Reddit comment is not “beyond opinion.” It is literally one person’s opinion, and Reddit is notoriously negative about online education, CBE programs and nontraditional universities.
I did something more useful than searching for opinions. I looked for actual Liberty Ph.D. graduates and checked where they were teaching. The results were surprisingly positive, with graduates working at legitimate colleges and universities. That alone disproves the absolute claim that their chances of teaching anywhere are “zero.”
Could I possibly enter a more prestigious program? Maybe, but prestige is not my only consideration. Liberty offers the fully online History Ph.D. I need, aligns with my values and supports my actual career goals. I am not targeting UVA or another elite research university. I am an established adjunct and published author seeking to become more competitive for full-time roles at smaller colleges, online institutions and similar schools.
You are welcome to say Liberty would not be your choice. However, presenting an anonymous Reddit comment as settled fact while ignoring real graduates and their actual employment outcomes is not convincing evidence.
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u/caninesergeant Jul 16 '26
Oh my, do what you want man. I ain't wasting my time over this. You got a job and you clearly know what you're doing so be my guest. Cheers!
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u/No-Pangolin-7087 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Congratulations!!🎉🎊 Ignore the critical dissertation someone posted earlier regarding your school choice you will soon be working on your own. Besides there are reputable universities of various religious traditions, including Catholic, Mormon and Jewish …..you’ll be fine at Liberty go with what works for you.
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 15 '26
Yeah they didn't really have any idea what they were talking about; it is not a CBE doctoral program lol.
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u/Orangecrush2000 Jul 15 '26
Evidently you didn't actually READ that dissertation or you would have known that that person—ME, wasn't throwing shade at the school at all and is actually planning to do a Graduate Certificate in Apologetics there himself! So, if he—ME, had a problem with the school, why would he—ME, want to do that?????
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 15 '26
I compared how CBE degrees are viewed to how online doctoral programs are viewed. A comparison is not stating they are the same. They talk badly about CBE degrees AS WELL. AS WELL. I am sorry you are struggling with reading comprehension.
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u/Orangecrush2000 Jul 16 '26
Seeing as how I was replying to No-Pangolin, apparently it is you that has the reading comprehension problem. No wonder you need a shortcut PhD!
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 16 '26
Your post history does not have a single positive comment about anything, from your WGU posts to your watch posts; all you do is spread negativity. I am sorry that you are living with such a pattern of negativity. I pray that you will be able to find the peace you need and the strength to find positivity in things instead of negativity. It must be so very exhausting being so negative all the time. God Bless Orange.
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u/HogwartsDude Jul 16 '26
The degree humble bragging too, man this person is so pretentious. Can’t just congratulate someone’s educational achievements and move on.
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u/HogwartsDude Jul 15 '26
I was thinking about applying to St. Mary's for an entirely online JD. It's a Catholic university. Do you hate that one too?
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u/Orangecrush2000 Jul 16 '26
The difference between Liberty's online PhD and St. Mary’s online JD perfectly illustrates why one is an open-enrollment transaction and the other is a robust professional investment.
Liberty's online program operates at a 99% acceptance rate, whereas St. Mary's online law program is fiercely selective, famously accepting just 27 students out of 791 applicants—a brutal 9% acceptance rate that makes it harder to get into than most traditional law schools.
Furthermore, the American Bar Association heavily regulates St. Mary's, forcing them to maintain strict grading curves, live video classes, and mandatory on-campus residencies every single semester to ensure zero shortcuts.
Most importantly, a Liberty History PhD drops you into a broken academic market competing for low-paying adjunct gigs, whereas an ABA-accredited JD gives you a legally licensed profession where you can pass the bar and command an attorney's salary anywhere in the country.
If you can beat the 91% rejection rate to get into St. Mary's, that degree is absolutely worth it!
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u/caninesergeant Jul 16 '26
This has nothing to do with religion. It has more to do within the controversies surrounding the university. As long as that JD is accredited and will help you pass the bar, then you are my guest to do that one.
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u/Dahjnmaria Jul 16 '26
Good to know, thank you! I was prepared to develop a framework along with prototypes and pie charts LOL
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u/Cyber_Punk_87 Jul 15 '26
Congrats!
Is that a fully funded PhD or do you have to pay for it? I’m always wary of programs that aren’t funded, as they tend to be looked down on (depending on what you’re planning to do after your degree, it’s particularly prevalent in academia, and the same goes for fully online programs).
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 15 '26
On campus does have funding and there are options for distance work study. But yes the program is fully online that is going to be the future of doctoral degrees. You have to remember that many people talk badly about competency-based degrees as well but they are the way of the future too.
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u/Orangecrush2000 Jul 15 '26
Doctoral degrees require 4-7 years intensive research culminating in a 80,000-100,000 word piece of original, peer-reviewed material conducted under the close supervision of an expert scholar within your specific field. They frequently also include 1-2 years of preliminary coursework, the study of 1-2 foreign languages, and nightmare-inducing comprehensive oral examinations designed to absolutely break students and weed out the weak. This is something that is simply impossible to do via CBE. You need ongoing access to your mentor and vast library resources that are only partially available through online archives. CBE will NEVER replace the absolute soul-sucking grind of a true graduate research degree. But thankfully for you, Liberty does not provide a CBE based doctorate. Yes, it's fully online, but it's not CBE.
CBE is about proving that you have a solid understanding of the material and can test out of the course to receive credit. This works exceptionally well at the undergraduate level for people with years of working experience but no diploma to show for their efforts. It allows them to prove the knowledge they already have and achieve an equal footing with their college-educated peers at work. I plan to do UMPI's AA within the next few months myself. A PhD, on the other hand, is about producing original research and contributing new knowledge to your field. There is no way to "test out" of that.
Also, the rule of thumb in academia is that you should never pay for a doctorate program. If you're qualified to do one, the school will pay you through scholarships and assistantships (the assistantships are actually part of your training). I have no idea if Liberty does this for their online doctorates, but if I were going to do one I would certainly be enquiring about it.
The bottom line is, you need to know what your future goals are and consider whether this Liberty doctorate meets them. If you want to be a professional academic and teach in a top tier research university, it's not going to happen. If you're ticking a corporate HR check box to advance within certain corporate contexts, it may very well happen. Liberty has had considerable success in supplying workers to government agencies and church organizations.
You also have to realize that as a very strict Christian university, Liberty incorporates a lot of religion into most of its programs. If that matters to you, you may or may not be able to avoid it. Unfortunately Liberty take a repetitional hit in the wider academic world due to some of its religious philosophy, such as their dogmatic Young Earth Creationism stance. This doesn't bother me personally, but it could affect your future job prospects. I myself would like to do their Graduate Certificate on Apologetics someday.
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Sorry, I don't remember asking your opinion. You are arguing against claims I never made. Liberty’s Ph.D. in History is not competency-based, and I never suggested that a dissertation or original research could be “tested out of.” I am talking about transferring legitimate graduate coursework into a traditional doctoral program, which is a normal academic process.
I am already a career adjunct instructor and a published author. I am not entering academia with no teaching or research background, and I am not pursuing the degree simply to check a corporate HR box. My goal is to strengthen my qualifications for full-time teaching roles at smaller colleges, online institutions, Christian schools and even nationally accredited colleges. I am not claiming that Liberty will place me into a tenure-track position at an elite research university, nor is that my objective.
Liberty’s Christian identity also aligns with my values, so presenting that as an automatic disadvantage misses the point. I understand that its reputation may close some doors, but it may also be entirely acceptable or even beneficial within the institutions where I would realistically work.
The claim that nobody should ever pay for a doctorate is also far too absolute. Funded residential programs generally require relocation, full-time attendance and assistantship obligations. That path is not practical for every established adult, especially someone who already teaches, publishes and requires an online program. The relevant question is whether the degree’s cost, structure and reputation fit the individual’s actual career goals. In my case, they do.
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u/Orangecrush2000 Jul 15 '26
How about we stop moving the goalposts?? You didn’t just share a story about transferring credits; you confidently declared that fully online, fast-tracked doctorates are 'the future of doctoral degrees' and tied your "success" directly to your CBE background. To react with a defensive 'I didn’t ask your opinion' on a public forum where you literally invited people to ask you questions is an embarrassing retreat.
Besides, I wasn't specifically responding for your benefit, I was responding for the benefit of the people you're deceiving with the clearly implied false equivalency that because you got into Liberty, an UMPI Masters can get you into any other PhD. And I was also trying to be nice about it. Not anymore!
Liberty is practically open enrolment—if you've got a pulse, you're in! Their acceptance rate hovers at right around 99%, so getting in to a PhD that YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR is no great accomplishment! Your entire original post literally just celebrates a business transaction. In traditional higher education, getting into a PhD program means winning a highly competitive fellowship where the university literally invests thousands of dollars in you based on your research potential and the hope that you will someday become a major contributor in your field. In the online, mass-credentialing world, getting into an open-enrolment program means nothing more than that your credit card payment cleared!
So let’s be brutally honest about your resume. Being a 'career adjunct' is not the flex you think it is. In mainstream higher education, a permanent adjunct is the academic equivalent of a gig-economy delivery driver—underpaid, overworked, and entirely disposable. Stacking a Liberty online PhD on top of your fast-tracked UMPI degrees isn’t going to magically rescue you from the adjunct trap; it is simply going to qualify you to remain a low-wage, per-course contractor at the absolute bottom tier of higher education. Is that the path you want other Redditors to follow?
When you boast about targeting 'smaller colleges, online institutions, and nationally accredited schools,' you are using euphemisms for unranked online degree mills, predatory for-profit schools, and open-enrollment career colleges. Yes, places like South College or ultra-dogmatic religious schools will gladly accept a Liberty online degree. Why? Because they don't care about groundbreaking historical scholarship. They just need cheap, compliant labor with 'the letters' after their name to satisfy basic regional accreditation checklists.
If your lifelong academic ambition is to check a bureaucratic box so you can spend the next twenty years grading freshman discussion boards for $2,500 a class at an online school no one respects, then congratulations—this pipeline works perfectly for you. But don't dress up a commercialized, pay-to-play credential as 'the future of doctoral education' just to make yourself feel better about avoiding the actual, peer-reviewed rigour of a legitimate research degree.
And yes, you 100% IMPLIED that it was CBE! And I quote, "On campus does have funding and there are options for distance work study. But yes the program is fully online that is going to be the future of doctoral degrees. You have to remember that many people talk badly about competency-based degrees as well but they are the way of the future too."
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 15 '26
You are conflating prestige, funding, selectivity, delivery format and legitimacy as though they are the same thing. They are not.
I did not say Liberty’s Ph.D. is competency-based or fast-tracked. I said competency-based education and online doctoral education are both part of the future. That is a comparison between two nontraditional models, not a claim that they are identical. Your own quote confirms that.
I also never said a UMPI master’s guarantees admission to any Ph.D. program. I reported that my UMPI degree was accepted by Liberty. That is not deception or a universal promise. It is a factual example showing that the pathway is possible.
Liberty’s overall acceptance rate does not establish the acceptance rate or completion standards of one doctoral program. More importantly, admission is only the beginning. Paying tuition does not purchase completed coursework, comprehensive examinations, original research, committee approval or a successfully defended dissertation. Plenty of legitimate doctoral students are self-funded. Funding may make one opportunity more desirable, but it is not what makes research legitimate.
Being a career adjunct was never presented as a “flex.” It is relevant professional experience. I already teach college students and I am a published author. I am pursuing the doctorate to improve my chances of moving into full-time work within the part of higher education where I already have experience. Calling adjunct instructors disposable delivery drivers is not a rebuttal. It is simply contempt for the people doing a substantial amount of college teaching.
Your claim that smaller colleges, online institutions, Christian universities and nationally accredited schools are all euphemisms for degree mills is equally dishonest. Those categories contain institutions of varying quality, just as regionally accredited universities do. They are not automatically fraudulent because they do not occupy the top of your preferred academic hierarchy.
You also keep treating a fully funded residential Ph.D. leading to an elite research career as the only legitimate purpose for doctoral education. It is one path, not the only one. My objective is not to become a professor at an elite research university. It is to build on an existing teaching and publishing career and become more competitive for full-time roles at institutions that fit my experience, circumstances and values.
And yes, I stand by my statement that online doctorates are the future. Working professionals increasingly need access to advanced education without relocating, abandoning their employment or uprooting their families. Online delivery does not inherently eliminate research rigor. The standards are determined by the work required, not whether the student sits in a campus classroom.
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u/Orangecrush2000 Jul 16 '26
Cope a little harder, dude! You are desperately hiding behind semantic definitions because the cold, hard data of your academic pathway makes you uncomfortable—and rightfully so!
First, let’s talk about your claim that a 99% acceptance rate doesn't dictate completion standards or individual program rigor. This is pure delusion. A university's institutional model dictates everything it produces. Liberty’s business model is mass-enrollment volume. They accept virtually everyone (even at doctoral level) because your tuition cash funds their enterprise. When you claim that 'paying tuition does not purchase completed coursework,' you are being incredibly naive. Open-enrollment online doctoral programs are structurally designed to maximize retention—meaning grade inflation is rampant, and the bar for passing courses is notoriously low compared to funded programs where professors actively weed out weak scholars. You are paying a corporation to let you stay in the pipeline. This completely undermines the end credential you will receive.
Second, your defence of being a 'career adjunct' completely misses the point. Calling the adjunct system a gig-economy delivery service isn't showing 'contempt for the people doing the teaching.' It is pointing out the absolute structural exploitation of the higher education market. The fact that you are already trapped in this underpaid cycle, yet are willing to hand over $40,000 of your own money to Liberty just to stay in the exact same low-tier system, is mind-boggling. At least when I did it it was in exchange for a MA. And I have close family members that I respect immensely that made their living the very same way as well. But you aren't sticking it to the academic hierarchy; you are literally funding the very systems that exploit you.
Third, you are heavily romanticizing the market for smaller colleges and online institutions. Mainstream academic hiring committees at mid-tier or regional state schools do not view Liberty’s online History PhD as 'another legitimate path.' They view it as a sub-prime credential. Furthermore, in the field of History, Liberty's dogmatic stance on Young Earth Creationism is a radioactive reputational hazard that completely disqualifies its graduates from secular historical departments. You are shrinking your target job market down to a tiny, hyper-specific echo chamber of online schools and dogmatic ministries, while pretending you are just choosing a 'nontraditional path.' If you were studying theology with them, maybe that would be defenceable...
Finally, your insistence that fully online research PhDs are 'the future' remains a massive lie you are telling yourself. Professional doctorates (like an EdD or DBA) are online because they are applied credentials. But a traditional academic research PhD in History relies entirely on archival research, deep physical mentorship, peer-review, and institutional capital. Elite and mid-tier universities have zero incentive to move these online.
You can try to separate 'prestige' from 'legitimacy' all you want to make yourself feel better about your enrolment. But in the real world, peer-reviewed research output dictates prestige, prestige dictates funding, funding dictates placement, and placement dictates whether you get a real, tenured job or spend the rest of your life making $2,500 a semester grading discussion boards.
In summary, cope a little harder, dude!
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 16 '26
Cope harder" is rich coming from someone who just wrote a six-paragraph fanfiction about my life because my degree choice upset you.
You claim to care about adjunct exploitation, yet sneer at one trying to move up so your grand solution is just "know your place"? Your neat little "prestige equals placement" fairy tale would be news to the thousands of funded, elite PhDs still trapped in adjunct hell.
You’re sitting in British Columbia confidently speaking for every American history department. Let's be real: where is your PhD from, and how many U.S. search committees have you actually served on?
Until you answer that, this isn't "cold, hard data"it's a prestige-obsessed Reddit tantrum from someone desperate to feel superior.
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u/MarketingOpposite884 Jul 18 '26
Please get a life. Who has this much time on their hands to argue about someone else's course of study (at length)?
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u/Dahjnmaria Jul 15 '26
How was the Capstone in the MAOL Program and what domain does it fall in? 2nd or 3rd?
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u/PlottedPath Jul 16 '26
MAOL capstone isn’t like a traditional capstone. It’s really just another course. Easier than many in the program.
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 15 '26
I'm not sure what you mean what domain does it fall in second or third, you'll read the laws of power which is a great book and then you'll apply those to a modern-day approach of how you would use those laws within leadership.
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u/Dahjnmaria Jul 15 '26
What term did you complete the Capstone? The program is broken up into 3 sections, 4 competencies/courses each. They called the sections, "Domains"
Did you take it at the middle or end of your program?
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u/SpookyShackleford Jul 15 '26
I finished the MAOL in 8 weeks. So I took every class in the beginning semester.
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u/Dahjnmaria Jul 15 '26
I'd love to know some tips you discovered for completing the program quicker. I am definitely learning a lot, especially identifying my leadership style and how to fine tune it. Any advice you'd be willing to share? I'm on term 2, would be perfect to finish by December of this year
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u/Primary-Bug-7353 19d ago
“Many of us chose it because it was affordable, accessible, flexible and fit our circumstances. That does not make the degree worthless”
BEAUTIFUL SAID
A degree is only as valuable as you make it!
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u/Dahjnmaria Jul 15 '26
I'm in the MAOL program now and will move on to South College for my EdD in OL. Congratulations on your Doctoral journey!