I have had admission to study online Phd programme at Walden University, in the United States. The study area is Public Policy and Administration( speciality in Local Government management). The total cost of the study is $41, 000. This is killing and quite expensive. Please could somebody advice me on any funding opportunities either in United States or UK. I am a British and a Ghanaian. Is there any university here in the UK that offer online phds programmes in project management, management with funding. Please help.

I'm not sure I'd do a PhD at Walden... http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Walden%20University

Ouch!!!! For goodness sake don't go there! Nasty :-( i can't answer your question I'm afraid but would urge you to reconsider, they just want your money, and lots of it!

Just out of curiosity, could you tell us what you expect to get for $41k - that would pay for a lot of tutorial materials, support, books, marked assignments. Are these specified? Would you be assigned a tutor with appropriate credentials?

I don't think I would risk a commercial distance-learning course - all I tried was an A-level, with tutor support - even if these are provided as part of the package, what you can't accurately gauge in advance is the quality - in my case both were sub-standard and not worth the money.

In terms of help, many British schools offer online business qualifications, but I doubt very many online PhDs

If you want to do an online/distance course with a reputable institution, why not try Birkbeck or the Open University? You might not get funding, but their fees should be much more reasonable, and you will get a real degree at the end of the course!

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/
www.open.ac.uk

Those unis don't offer solely online PhDs as far as I'm aware - they still take PhD students as any other university. Online PhDs are generally a bad idea - you need to have time with your supervisor as well as the support facilities of the University itself. You can't realistically do this online, especially in a totally different country.

Also the area you're looking at , are you sure you want to be doing a PhD? Would an MBA or a Masters in a management area be more suitable or are you actually looking to do research in the area?

Dear folks. Thanks for your incredible response to my queries. I think Open University do not have online Phd programmes. I know most of their courses are 1 and 2nd degrees. As I have a masters degree already I think doing another Master degree will be a repetition and will mean Iam not advancing any professional career. I think $41, 000 for Phd is a huge financial commitment. I am not sure the returns that it can offer. I think I may give it a go if I can get a sponsorship on full time phd programmes in the areas of Town Planning, Public Policy and Administration, Project Management, Sustainable Development, and etc. Please let folks come back with anwsers to my questions. Thanks

A colleague of mine is doing his PhD with the Open University - not sure where his supervisor is based but it is possible to do PhDs remotely - you don't really do them on line as there are no classes to speak of (other than research methods). Some universities will let you do research methods remotely even if it isn't an online degree.

The OU has a nominal requirement that their full-time PhD students are based within 15 miles of Milton Keynes (which is where the campus is), but some faculties are more flexible in this regard - and they are much more flexible for part-time students. I was offered a full-time studentship with them (which I didn't take up for a variety of reasons), and they were initially very reluctant to allow me to be based remotely (I'm about 400 miles away from MK), but said they were willing to give it a go as long as I was prepared to travel to MK relatively regularly.

Anyone who's been to MK will probably appreciate why I didn't want to move there ;-)