National University

What you'll study

The DBA requires foundational doctoral coursework taken in sequence, followed by specialization courses and dissertation work. Core instructional topics and course emphases indicated on the program page include:

• Initial doctoral orientation (introduced coursework such as SKS 7001 for evaluation-track students) covering academic expectations for applied business research, conceptual frameworks, scholarly writing, reference management, and development of a researchable applied business question and brief research plan.
• Verification of graduate-level competency across 12 business areas: Marketing; Business Finance; Accounting; Management; Legal Environment of Business; Economics; Business Ethics; Global Dimensions of Business; Information Systems; Quantitative Techniques and Statistics; Leadership; and Business Applications — including a comprehensive case study to demonstrate competency across these areas.
• Strategic planning and innovation in organizations, including organizational assessment tools, human resource practice evaluation, and consideration of technology, sustainability and ethics within global markets.
• Ethics and legal applications in business taught through cases, with emphasis on academic integrity and stakeholder accountability.
• Specialization coursework (four courses) aligned to one of the available doctoral specializations (the program offers a range of specializations such as global business management, advanced accounting, and strategic marketing).
• Scholarly literature review and academic writing course focused on exhaustive peer-reviewed literature searches, planning and writing synthesized literature reviews, and identifying dissertation inquiry areas.
• Univariate inferential statistics and quantitative methods coursework to build the ability to perform and interpret parametric and non-parametric tests, select appropriate statistical techniques, and design quantitative studies suitable for dissertation research.

Entry requirements

Admission requires a conferred master’s degree from an accredited institution. The university may accept up to 12 semester credit hours in transfer (with a maximum of 9 semester credit hours that may apply toward specialization courses) for graduate work completed with a grade of B or better. Graduation standards include completion of a minimum of 36 credit hours through the university, a cumulative GPA of 3.0 (B), satisfactory completion of a DBA pre-candidacy prospectus, university approval of the dissertation manuscript and oral presentation, and submission of the approved final dissertation manuscript (original unbound plus electronic copy). Official transcripts documenting the master’s degree and any accepted transfer credits must be on file, and all financial obligations must be cleared prior to issuance of the diploma.

Career prospects

The DBA is aimed at professionals seeking senior leadership, executive, or high-level managerial roles where applied research and evidence-based decision-making are valued. Graduates typically pursue advanced practice-oriented positions in organizations, lead initiatives to solve complex operational or strategic problems, develop organizational curricula or training programs, or combine scholarly methods with management responsibilities. The program positions candidates to bridge academic research and business practice rather than to pursue a purely theoretical research career.

Scholarships & funding angle

The program page does not list specific scholarships. Prospective applicants should consult the university’s financial services and graduate admissions offices about funding options, transfer credit policies, and any institutional aid, given that admissions and enrollment details (such as an application fee of $0 and no essays/exams) are specified on the program page.