Strategies Used to Overcome Challenges and Graduate from Online Doctoral Programs: An Exploratory Case Study
Authors: Shur Eli 
Published: December 2024

Aim/Purpose: This qualitative, exploratory case study aimed to explore the challenges that doctoral graduates experienced during their online programs and the strategies they used to overcome these challenges and obtain their degrees at universities in the United States.

Background: About half of the students enrolled in online doctoral programs in the United States will drop out. Doctoral student attrition is costly personally, professionally, and financially, affecting students, universities, and society. Prior research identified a need to explore the experiences of online doctoral students to improve online doctoral completion rates.

Methodology: A qualitative exploratory case study included questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group interview of online doctoral graduates who graduated from universities in the United States within three years of graduation.

Contribution: This study contributes to the current body of academic knowledge by broadening the understanding of academic thriving and suggesting strategies that doctoral students can use to improve their experiences of thriving in their online doctoral program, thus increasing the chances of online doctoral completion. Furthermore, this study contributes to the emerging research on capturing the experiences of online doctoral students.

Findings: Online doctoral graduates identified five challenges they faced during their programs, including academic and relationship challenges, doctoral program integration, financial difficulties, health challenges, and isolation. In addition, they identified six strategies that assisted them in completing their programs: mental toughness, building supportive relationships, health-promoting practices, spiritual connection, having strong reasons for graduating, and being proactive.

Recommendations for Practitioners: By cultivating the components detailed in the Six-Factor Online Doctoral Success Model, which was developed from this study, online doctoral students, university administrators, and faculty can develop strategies within the online educational environment that facilitate the experience of academic thriving of online doctoral students and may increase the retention and completion rates of doctoral students within these online programs.

Recommendation for Researchers: Integrate components of the Six-Factor Online Doctoral Success Model in online doctoral programs.

Impact on Society: Improved online doctoral completion rates would likely meet the increasing demand for graduate-level innovators in the U.S. Professionals with terminal degrees can potentially lead to improved leadership, more innovation, and expansion of evidence-based practices used in multiple areas benefitting society at large. Also, this study provides greater insight into humans thriving in high-pressure situations.

Future Research: Develop a quantitative tool to measure the components of the Six-Factor Online Doctoral Success Model presented that can be used to assess incoming online doctoral students’ levels of academic thriving to determine fit for the program and areas of strengths and weakness that can inform the online student as they progress in the program.