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Doctor of Philosophy in Business Admission Requirements

University of the Cumberlands has established the following qualitative and quantitative requirements for admission into the Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration Degree Program.

A master's degree in a business-related field is preferred; however, applicants holding an undergraduate degree in a business area and a master's degree in a non-related area will be accepted. Applicants must have graduated from a regionally-accredited institution of higher education or an appropriately certified foreign institution approved and documented by director of the program. Students may be accepted into the program before completing a master's degree but must have completed the degree before beginning coursework for the Doctor of Philosophy in Business program.

All applications for admission must be submitted to the Graduate Admissions Office.

Transfer and Course Credit Policy
A maximum of fifteen semester hours of credit may be transferred from an accredited graduate institution with the approval of the Program Director and the Registrar.

  • Transfer credits must be in courses equivalent to courses in the program
  • All coursework offered for transfer credit must have been earned within the last five years prior to admission to the program
  • Grades for transfer credits accepted into the program do not count in the program GPA

Requirements

Admission to our University is very competitive as well as selective and we review each application by the same standards.

  • Application and Application Fee
  • Submit official transcripts from all applicable colleges/universities attended; must be received directly from the issuing college or university.
  • Doctoral degree admission requires a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5* on a 4.0 scale from the conferred master’s degree as well as in any subsequent graduate study. Admission to a Doctoral degree requires a master’s degree or higher from a US Department of Education recognized accredited institution, in a field related to the doctoral degree of application.
  • Any international course work completed must have official transcript evaluations completed and submitted to the University by the evaluation firm. Evaluations MUST include GPA for admission. Approved Evaluation Firms are:
    • World Education Services (WES)
    • American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRO)
    • Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE)
    • International Education Research Foundation (IERF)
    • Educational Perspectives (EP)
  • Documentation of language fluency for non-native speakers of English, such as a score report from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the 8 International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or a report from Duolingo. This requirement is waived for students who have completed bachelor’s or master’s level coursework in the U.S. at an accredited institution. The minimum acceptable TOEFL or IELTS scores for admission are: 
    • Paper-based TOEFL (PBT) - 550 
    • Internet-based TOEFL (IBT) - 79 
    • IELTS - 6
    • Duolingo - 100

All admissions materials should be submitted to Graduate Admissions:

University of the Cumberlands
Graduate & Online Admissions
649 S. 10th Street Suite C
Williamsburg, KY 40769
Phone 606.539.4390
Toll Free 800.343.1609
Email gradadm@ucumberlands.edu