Southeastern University

Southeastern University appears in the ranking of the 10 Most Affordable Doctorate in Non-Profit Management Online.

Located in Lakeland, Florida, Southeastern University is a private Christian liberal arts university. Founded in New Brockton, Alabama in 1935 as the Southeastern Bible Institute, the school relocated to Lakeland in 1946 and became a liberal arts college in 1970. Southeastern is the largest Assemblies of God educational institution in the country and operates six separate colleges: the College of Natural and Health Sciences, the College of Christian Ministries and Religion, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, the College of Education, the Jannetides College of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership, and the College of Arts & Media. Students may choose from two doctoral degrees, 16 master's degrees, and 55 bachelor's degrees. Since 2011, when President Kent J. Ingle took office, Southeastern has also launched 80 extension sites throughout the United States, an increase from the school's previous 50 sites the year before. These sites are found in 29 different states, including Florida, which oversees 19 of these locations. The degrees offered include a number of master's, bachelor's, and associate degrees in leadership and ministry.

Southeastern University Accreditation Details

Southeastern University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award doctorate, master's, bachelor's, and associate degrees. Southeastern is also recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), and a number of its degrees and programs have earned specialized accreditation as well. Accreditation is a voluntary activity initiated by a school that requires a rigorous self-evaluation and an objective, independent appraisal of the overall educational quality by peers. Accreditation helps students determine if an institution is acceptable for enrollment, helps determine if the school exceeds or meets minimum standards of quality, helps institutions determine whether they can accept transfer credits, and helps employers determine whether a graduate is qualified to seek employment at their organizations. Accreditation also enables graduates to sit for certification examinations and involves advisory boards, graduates, students, faculty, and staff in institutional planning and evaluation.

Southeastern University Application Requirements

Prospective students must provide evidence of experience with leadership, excellence in scholarship, character, and a potential to conduct scholarly research and present results at the doctoral level. Those interested in the online Doctorate in Strategic Leadership must submit a completed application, a current professional resume or curriculum vitae, official transcripts from all institutions attended, and hold a regionally accredited graduate degree with a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. In addition, applicants must provide a 1,000-word admission essay that addresses why he or she chose Southeastern University for doctoral studies, his or her experiences or talents that can lead to success, his or her goals for the program, and how the student will contribute to others. Additional documents include two professional letters of recommendation that address the applicant's ability to complete the doctoral program, experience with leadership, and character as well as a 600-word research paper that demonstrates the applicant's problem-solving, analytical, writing, and research skills by addressing the question, "What is currently the most pressing issue in leadership?"

Tuition and Financial Aid

Students pursuing the online Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Southeastern University will pay $795 per credit hour. At a total of 60 credit hours for the degree, students will pay a total tuition cost of $47,700 for the program. Southeastern employs a financial aid staff dedicated specifically to helping graduate students as the financial need and available funding options differ between undergraduates and graduates. These staff members can help students with military benefits, private loans, federal aid, church-matching scholarships, and coordinating employer assistance benefits. Southeastern University also offers convenient payment plans. To apply for financial aid, graduate students must first complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). According to Southeastern, approximately 98 percent of all students receive some type of financial aid to help offset the cost of tuition.

Online Doctorate in Strategic Leadership Available

Innovative leaders with strategic aptitudes are highly demanded by organizations in all industries. As the business landscape continues to grow and change, businesses and organizations need visionaries on the front lines who can identify challenges, develop strategies for how to overcome them, implement these plans, and lead their teams to success. In Southeastern University's Doctorate in Strategic Leadership (DSL) program, students are equipped to fulfill these needs in their respective industries.

Throughout the online program, students are trained to expertly design change strategies and perform analyses, whether as an external or internal organizational consultant in education, ministry, business, or other fields. Topics of study include qualitative and quantitative research methods, teamwork dynamics, cultural intelligence, various leadership models, and organizational management and systems. The coursework gives students the key practical and theoretical knowledge on which they can build their decision-making skills and contribute to the field by writing for popular magazines and books as well as presenting at business conferences. During the final semesters of the DSL program, students are required to complete a major capstone project such as conducting an actual organizational consultation or writing a book manuscript.

The 60-credit-hour curriculum consists of core courses that cover topics such as teamwork dynamics, cultural intelligence, motivation and influence, followership, ethical leadership, servant and authentic leadership, organizational change and strategies, situational and transformational leadership, and organizational systems and management. Students will also be exposed to leadership theory, and areas of emphasis within this field include leadership skills, traits, and styles such as servant, spiritual, authentic, transformational, charismatic, transactional, implicit, and situational leadership.

Students may also expect to take several courses in research methods and will cover areas such as quantitative research methods, qualitative research methods, and foundations of research in which they will become proficient in evaluating and analyzing both types of research methods. Throughout this course, students will examine the impact of analysis on decision-making and research design that informs professional practice. To round out the degree, students are required to choose five electives from areas such as creativity, critical thinking, and design thinking or coaching, consulting, teaching, course design, and publishing. Other elective courses to choose from include Entrepreneurship, Planning and Forecasting, Organizational Culture and Design, and Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. The final capstone project courses are designed to make an original contribution to the professional field and to demonstrate program mastery. Students enroll in the capstone project sequence at Southeastern University while they are studying for and taking the final comprehensive examination.