A Doctor of Business Administration is the highest level of academic achievement available in business education. If you’re an experienced manager weighing your next career move, or a working professional considering a shift into teaching, you’ve likely asked yourself: What is a DBA degree, exactly?
Equivalently rigorous to a PhD, a Doctor of Business Administration is designed to develop real-world leadership and research skills for people already working in the field, not to train someone from a standing start. At Crestmont University, the Doctor of Business Administration program gives working professionals a structured, flexible path to a terminal degree, completed 100% online. This guide covers the program’s structure, format, requirements, tuition, and accreditation, so you can decide if it’s the right next step.
Most people researching this degree are comparing several options at once — an MBA, a PhD, or a DBA from a different school — and trying to work out which one actually fits their situation. The sections below walk through exactly what the coursework, research requirements, schedule, and cost look like at Crestmont University, so you’re comparing real specifics rather than general claims.
What is a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)?
A Doctor of Business Administration is a terminal degree, the highest credential available in business. It sits at the same academic level as a PhD, but it points in a different direction: a DBA applies research and strategy to real organizational problems rather than building new theoretical frameworks.
The degree suits two groups of professionals in particular. The first are executives, senior managers, and decision-makers who want to sharpen strategic and analytical skills at the highest level. The second group consists of professionals moving toward business education, who use the degree’s research training as their entry point into academia.
A Doctor of Business Administration builds critical thinking, planning, and entrepreneurial skills that apply directly to complex, interconnected markets. It’s built for people already working at a senior level, not for someone starting a business career from zero.
Doctor of Business Administration program structure at Crestmont University
Crestmont University’s Doctor of Business Administration includes three components: 10 core business courses, 5 specialization electives, and a 5-course research pathway that builds toward a capstone project.
Core Business Courses
Core coursework covers the fundamentals every senior business leader needs: global economics, finance, accounting, organizational change, leadership theory, international business, entrepreneurship, and e-commerce strategy.
A student specializing in marketing still studies economics, finance, and accounting, because an effective marketing strategy depends on understanding how those fields interact.
DBA specializations
After the core, students choose one of four specializations, each built around five focused courses:
- Entrepreneurship and Business Management: Venture creation, innovation strategy, and startup leadership, built for founders and executives driving innovation inside larger organizations.
- Global Business and Leadership: International markets, cross-cultural teams, and global strategy, built for executives expanding into international markets or leading multinational teams.
- Healthcare Management and Leadership: Healthcare systems, policy, and administration, built for healthcare administrators and clinical leaders working on care delivery.
- Information Systems and Enterprise Resource Management: Digital transformation and enterprise technology strategy, built for technology leaders driving organizational change.
The research pathway: Doctoral Research Project or dissertation
The capstone is the most demanding part of the program, and the part employers and academic institutions weigh most heavily. Students choose one of two 15-credit research pathways.
A Graduate Research Course (GRC) dissertation is the traditional academic route: a theoretical research study that advances knowledge in a business field. It suits students aiming for an academic career who want deep research expertise.
A Doctoral Research Project (DRP) takes an applied approach instead. Students partner with a real company — often their own employer — to study an actual business problem and implement a working solution. It suits students who want to stay in the industry rather than move into academia.
Both pathways end with a Comprehensive Competency Assessment.
What you’ll learn: Program learning outcomes
By the end of the program, Doctor of Business Administration graduates can do four things at a doctoral level.
They can frame complex organizational challenges by combining established theory with direct, first-hand experience, reading a messy, ambiguous business problem the way a researcher reads a case study, not just the way a manager reacts to it.
They can build a strategy on applied research instead of a hunch, replacing “we’ve always done it this way” with a methodology that can withstand scrutiny.
They can apply an innovation strategy in ways that strengthen how an organization actually performs, translating doctoral research into decisions a board or leadership team can act on.
And they can lead in a way that builds real trust, grounded in ethical decision-making and evidence rather than title or authority alone.
How the program works: Format, schedule, and support
Crestmont University’s Doctor of Business Administration is built around a working professional’s schedule, not a traditional academic calendar.
The program runs in six-week modules rather than long semesters, so students complete focused blocks of study instead of carrying a single credit load for months. Coursework is asynchronous — meaning there are no fixed class times — so students can join live seminars or watch recorded lectures whenever it fits their week, and get responses from instructors within 24 hours. There’s no campus residency requirement, so the degree can be completed 100% online, from home, or while traveling.
Two forms of support run through the entire program. Student success advocates check in regularly, help students navigate deadlines, and keep progress on track from enrollment through the final research defense. Faculty chairs guide each student’s research directly, and that relationship often continues as a mentorship well past graduation.
Who you’ll study with: The executive cohort
Doctor of Business Administration students at Crestmont University study alongside peers who are already VPs, directors, and senior managers across healthcare, technology, finance, manufacturing, and other industries, in the U.S. and abroad. Those relationships often lead to consulting engagements, advisory roles, and future leadership opportunities well beyond the degree itself.
Real-world application: What sets a DBA apart
The clearest difference between a Doctor of Business Administration and a traditional PhD lies in their focus on applied work. DBA research tackles a live business problem and produces a usable solution, rather than only contributing to academic literature.
At Crestmont University, that research has touched fields as different as banking, nursing, and telecommunications. Students frequently study problems inside their own organizations: companies can share full or partial data, since even limited information is often enough to identify a real, solvable problem.
A student working in healthcare administration, for example, might use the Doctoral Research Project to study a staffing or cost problem inside their own hospital system, then implement and measure a proposed fix as the actual research findings. That same structure repeats across specializations: the research topic changes, but the requirement to produce a working, measurable solution — not just an academic paper — stays constant.
Along the way, students build skills that carry directly into senior roles: advanced analytical thinking, applied research methods, and doctoral-level academic and business writing. Faculty chairs work closely with each student to understand both the business problem and the industry in which it sits.
Who pursues a Doctor of Business Administration?
People choose a Doctor of Business Administration for a range of reasons:
- To move into a research or academic career
- A personal interest in education and in contributing new research to the field
- To pursue a promotion or build a competitive edge in a current role
- To bring new strategy and problem-solving capability back to their own organization
- A sense of personal achievement in reaching the highest level of expertise in the field
You might be interested in: What is the difference between a PhD and a DBA degree?
Doctor of Business Administration admission requirements
Requirements are largely the same for U.S. and international applicants, with one added step for students outside the U.S.
For all applicants:
- A completed application form
- An interview with an executive enrollment advisor
- A $45 application fee (non-refundable after seven days, where applicable)
- Official transcripts from an accredited institution, sent directly to the Office of the Registrar within six weeks of the start date
- A valid, government-issued photo ID
- A signed enrollment agreement received before the deadline for your intended start date
International applicants who need a foreign transcript evaluated for U.S. equivalency also complete a SpanTran evaluation request.
Tuition and program timeline
Most students complete Crestmont University’s Doctor of Business Administration in about two and a half years, studying through six-week modules rather than a traditional semester calendar. Total program tuition is $36,675, covering the full path from core coursework through the final research defense.
Accreditation: what a Doctor of Business Administration from Crestmont University means
Accreditation tells you who has verified an institution’s or program’s quality — and the answer isn’t the same for every organization involved.
Crestmont University holds institutional accreditation from the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), which the U.S. Department of Education recognizes as an accrediting agency. DEAC accredits the institution as a whole; it does not accredit individual programs.
Crestmont University is also a recognized member institution of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), a national advocate for accreditation quality across U.S. higher education.
At the state level, Crestmont University is licensed to operate by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE), under the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009.
Separately, Crestmont University’s business programs — including the Doctor of Business Administration — hold programmatic accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), which evaluates teaching quality and measurable learning outcomes specific to business education.
Is a Doctor of Business Administration right for you?
A Doctor of Business Administration is for professionals who already have real-world experience to build on: people ready to turn years of practice into research, strategy, and a terminal credential. If you’re weighing a move toward academia or want to bring doctoral-level problem-solving back to your own organization, Crestmont University’s program gives you a structured, flexible way to do it, without pausing your career to get there.
Explore the Doctor of Business Administration program at Crestmont University, or talk to an Executive enrollment advisor about your specialization and timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a DBA and an MBA?
An MBA is typically a two-year master’s degree that covers broad management fundamentals, often for people early in their careers. A Doctor of Business Administration is a doctoral-level, research-focused credential designed for experienced professionals with significant management experience who want to apply doctoral research to real business problems.
What’s the difference between a DBA and a PhD in Business Administration?
Both are at the same academic level and are legitimate research doctorates. A PhD is built primarily for academic careers and theoretical research. A DBA is built for working professionals who want to apply doctoral research to practical, real-world business problems, often without leaving their current career.
Do I need a master’s degree to apply for a DBA program?
Most Doctor of Business Administration programs, including doctoral programs generally, expect applicants to hold a master’s degree or equivalent graduate-level experience before beginning doctoral coursework. Contact an Executive Enrollment Advisor to confirm how your specific academic and professional background applies.
Is a Doctor of Business Administration a professional doctorate or an academic doctorate?
A DBA is generally classified as a professional doctorate, focused on applying research to real organizational problems, while a PhD is classified as an academic doctorate, focused on generating new theoretical knowledge. Both require original, doctoral-level research to complete.
How long does the DBA capstone (dissertation or research project) take to complete?
The capstone is a 15-credit component completed in stages — from an introduction and literature review, through methodology, to findings and conclusions — and is typically the final and most time-intensive phase of the roughly two-and-a-half-year program.
Can I complete a Doctor of Business Administration while working full-time?
Yes. The program is built specifically around working professionals’ schedules, using six-week modules, asynchronous coursework, and no campus residency requirement, so students can keep working full-time while completing the degree.
