Josh
Rolla,#2Consumer Suggestion
Mon, April 16, 2012
Sounds like the real question is why somebody would choose a program like that. A real doctoral degree is a serious undertaking that normally takes 5-7 years of full-time work. The only reason you would get a doctoral degree is if you want to become a researcher in that field. Most real doctoral programs in computer science and engineering (certainly all of the ones worth anything) will pay for everything and will even pay you a small stipend. In return, you will spend pretty much all of your time doing research and writing academic papers. These programs involve little to no coursework -- the real job is doing research good enough to be published in peer-reviewed journals. Also, you generally choose your prospective advisor before you even apply somewhere -- this person generally determines the rest of your academic trajectory.
I am not sure what a "DPS" in "Computing" is, but I can assure you nobody will be particularly impressed by it. If your level of commitment is so low that you have to do this as a part-time program, then a doctoral degree really doesn't make sense for you. Most importantly, a doctoral degree is not something you get just to pad your resume and make yourself look more employable -- if anything, it limits your career opportunities. It sucks that you spent so much money on this, but a little research upfront could have prevented this occurrence.