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Doctor of Business Administration (DBAR) - DBA

CRICOS code (International applicants): 077414G

 On-campusExternal
Semester intake:Semester 1 (February)
Semester 2 (July)
Semester 1 (February)
Semester 2 (July)
Campus:Toowoomba -
Fees:Domestic full fee paying place
International full fee paying place
Research training scheme (RTS)
Domestic full fee paying place
International full fee paying place
Research training scheme (RTS)
Standard duration:Full-time candidates normally complete in 3 years. Part-time candidates normally complete in 6 years. Students have a maximum of 4 years (full-time) or 8 years (part-time) to complete this program. 
Program articulation:

From: Master of Business Administration; Master of Project Management

Notes

Where credit is granted, maximum and minimum duration will be adjusted in the same proportion as credit, for example, where the maximum of four units of credit is granted, maximum time will be four years.

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Contact us

Future Australian and New Zealand students  Future International students  Current students 

Freecall (within Australia): 1800 269 500
Phone (from outside Australia): +61 7 4631 5315
Email: study @usq.edu.au  

Phone: +61 7 4631 5543
Email: international@usq.edu.au 

Freecall (within Australia): 1800 007 252
Phone (from outside Australia): +61 7 4631 2285
Email usq.support@usq.edu.au 

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Program aims

The program provides a high-level, professional oriented program of study that gives students who are already business professionals, an advanced theoretical and empirical understanding of business challenges to enable them to identify and resolve these challenges in both the private and public sectors.

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Program objectives

On successful completion of the Doctor of Business Administration program students will be able to:

  • apply relevant theoretical knowledge to contemporary business problems

  • critique contemporary organisational practice in the light of relevant theory

  • determine, apply and evaluate the effectiveness and rigour of research methods to business problems

  • critically evaluate business research studies in order to assess their quality and applicability in improving the effective handling of business management problems

  • demonstrate superior oral and written communications skills relevant to business

  • analyse research data and reflect critically on the analysis.


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Admission requirements

Candidates for entry into the Doctor of Business Administration must meet each of the following entry criteria to the satisfaction of the Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts:

  1. a coursework Masters degree or equivalent level from a recognised institution

  2. five years' full-time equivalent work experience, including at least two years' full-time equivalent work experience in a managerial position

  3. submission of a satisfactory preliminary research proposal, as determined by the Higher Degrees Review and Admissions Committee.


Notes:

Admission to the Doctor of Business Administration is dependent upon the Faculty's capacity to supervise the proposed thesis. Prospective candidates should contact the Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts for up-to-date information regarding research areas before preparing their preliminary thesis proposals.

All students are required to satisfy the applicable .

If you do not meet the English language requirements you may apply to study a 精东传媒app-approved . On successful completion of the English language program, you may be admitted to an award program.

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Program fees

Domestic full fee paying place

Domestic full fee paying places are funded entirely through the full fees paid by the student. Full fees vary depending on the courses that are taken. You are able to calculate the fees for a particular course via the
Domestic full fee paying students may be eligible to defer their fees through a Government loan called provided they meet the residency and citizenship requirements.
Australian citizens, Permanent Humanitarian Visa holders, Permanent Resident visa holders and New Zealand citizens who will be resident outside Australia for the duration of their program pay full tuition fees and are not eligible for .

International full fee paying place

International students pay full fees. Full fees vary depending on the courses that are taken and whether they are studied on-campus, via distance education/online. You are able to calculate the fees for a particular course via the .

Research training scheme (RTS)

Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents and New Zealand citizens commencing a higher degree research program may have their tuition fees paid for by the Australian Federal Government under the Research Training Scheme (RTS). A RTS place entitles a student an exemption on tuition fees for a maximum period of 4 years full-time or 8 years part-time for a Doctorate program and 2 years full-time or 4 years part-time for a Masters by Research program. As part of the enrolment process students are required to submit proof of citizenship and transcripts of all previous academic study. It is with this documentation that USQ can determine a student's eligibility for a RTS place. Students who are eligible for RTS are:

  • those who have not consumed a RTS allocation previously;

  • those who have already utilised the RTS to successfully completed a research program. Once a student completes a higher degree research program full entitlements of the RTS are restored.


If a student's RTS entitlement expires before they have completed their program they will be required to pay full tuition fees for the remainder of the program. As there may be limited RTS places available, some students may be required to pay fees for all or part of their program. The Office of Research Graduate Studies will advise students of their eligibility for an RTS place.

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Program structure

The Doctor of Business Administration is a 24-unit program comprising 4 coursework courses from the Master of Business Administration (MBA) specialisation courses, 2 units of research coursework and 18 units of research. Students are required to undertake:

  • 4 coursework courses from the MBA specialisation courses. If a supervisor evaluates that the applicant should build more specific prior knowledge in a particular specialist area that is vital to the research topic, then the applicant can be required to complete up to four relevant specialisation courses from the MBA

  • and which must be completed successfully before progressing to the research thesis

  • plus an externally examined research thesis normally comprised of 18 units.


Note: The thesis courses are offered in three course codes: which is a 1-unit course, which is a 2-unit course and which is a 4-unit course. This structure allows students to enrol in the appropriate course load level depending on their enrolment status (full time versus part time) and depending on their completion of the two coursework units. A full-time equivalent load is equal to 4 credit points per semester.

Student progress and achievement will be measured by student performance in the initial two research training courses and thereafter will be evidenced by their achievement of research milestones as documented by successful confirmation of candidature and ongoing assessment of research progression reported in progress reports.

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Required time limits

Full-time students normally complete in 3 years. Part-time candidates normally complete in 6 years. Students have a maximum of 4 years (full-time) or 8 years (part-time) to complete this program.

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IT requirements

For information technology requirements please refer to the .

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Other program requirements

Students must complete successfully all coursework before progressing to the research thesis.

Should students wish to change their proposed research topic, they must apply for permission to do so to the Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts, stating their reasons and providing a new research proposal.

It is recommended that Australian students visit their supervisors at least once each year while they are completing their thesis. For overseas students, visits by Faculty staff could be arranged through the 精东传媒app鈥檚 agents/partners, subject to minimum numbers.

Students must maintain good standing in this program. Please refer to the .

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Exit points

Students are able to exit with a Graduate Certificate of Business Research (GCBR) or Graduate Diploma of Business Research (GDBR) provided they meet the relevant requirements for the programs. Students can transfer to the lower award of Master of Business Research (MBSR) (AQF9) provided all requirements for the award of the MBSR are satisfied.

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Credit

Normally no credit will be granted in this 24-unit research program. However, an applicant may have specialist knowledge built up in their previous Master鈥檚 degree or in a Master of Business Administration (MBA) specialisation as well as extensive working experience in their area of interest. The candidate may be granted up to four units of credit for the MBA specialisation courses based on their completed postgraduate studies and relevant extensive experience.

Recommended enrolment patterns

In this section:

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Recommended enrolment pattern - full-time

Students are able to enrol in any offered mode of a course (on-campus, external or online), regardless of the program mode of study they enrolled in.

It is recommended that students complete all of and before commencing the Doctor of Business Administration Thesis courses.

The flexibility of the DBA means that there will be a range of enrolment patterns and many students will have a unique enrolment pattern. Students requiring assistance should contact the Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts. A suggested enrolment pattern for a student commencing in semester 1 is set out in the following table:


CourseYear of program and semester
in which course is normally studied
Enrolment requirementsComments
On-campus
(ONC)
External
(EXT)
Online
(ONL)
YearSemYearSemYearSem
1111
1111Co-requisite:
Coursework course from the Master of Business Administration specialisation1111
Coursework course from the Master of Business Administration specialisation1111
Coursework course from the Master of Business Administration specialisation1212
Coursework course from the Master of Business Administration specialisation1212
*1212Co-requisite: and 2 units
*21214 units
*22224 units
*31314 units
*32324 units

Footnotes
*For the thesis component of their studies, students should enrol in either , or .

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Recommended enrolment pattern - part-time

Students are able to enrol in any offered mode of a course (on-campus, external or online), regardless of the program mode of study they enrolled in.

It is recommended that students complete all of and before commencing the Doctor of Business Administration Thesis courses.

The flexibility of the DBA means that there will be a range of enrolment patterns and many students will have a unique enrolment pattern. Students requiring assistance should contact the Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts. A suggested enrolment pattern for a student commencing in semester 1 is set out in the following table:


CourseYear of program and semester
in which course is normally studied
Enrolment requirementsComments
On-campus
(ONC)
External
(EXT)
Online
(ONL)
YearSemYearSemYearSem
1111
Coursework course from the Master of Business Administration specialisation1111
1212Co-requisite:
Coursework course from the Master of Business Administration specialisation1212
Coursework course from the Master of Business Administration specialisation2121
Coursework course from the Master of Business Administration specialisation2121
*2222Co-requisite: and 2 units
*3131Co-requisite: and 2 units
*3232Co-requisite: and 2 units
*4141Co-requisite: and 2 units
*4242Co-requisite: and 2 units
*5151Co-requisite: and 2 units
*5252Co-requisite: and 2 units
*6161Co-requisite: and 2 units
*6262Co-requisite: and 2 units

Footnotes
*For the thesis component of their studies, students should enrol in either , or .