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Interested in pursuing your Doctor of Business Administration at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½â€™s Weatherhead School of Management? Discover what you need to apply. 

Eligibility Qualifications

In the DBA program, we’re seeking creative practitioner-scholars who desire to hone their critical and analytical thinking skills and to form a learning community that promotes participants’ intellectual development and adds to the knowledge and understanding of evidence-based management. If that sounds like you, you’d be a great fit in our Doctor of Business Administration program. 

Ideal Candidates

• Hold a graduate or professional degree;
• Have at least 15 years of work and leadership experience;
• Are dedicated to creative leadership, continuing intellectual development, creating a collaborative learning experience and enhancing their communities as well as their organizations; and
• Are committed to completing a rigorous three-year doctoral program requiring periodic residency sessions at Weatherhead and at least 30 hours of study per week.

Application Deadlines

Required Application Materials

The following materials will be required to complete your application:

• Official transcripts
• Seven or eight essays
• Current resume
• Two letters of recommendation that include:
  • The recommender's name, title, organization and mailing address
  • The length of time the recommender has known the applicant
  • The recommender's role or capacity in their interaction with the applicant
  • The recommender's evaluation of the applicant's potential to be an active, involved and successful participant in the DBA program
  • You will enter the names, relationship and contact information of your recommenders in your application and they will then receive an email with a link to upload their letters.
• Application fee of $100 (non-refundable)

Qualified applicants will be selected for a personal admission interview.

Detailed instructions are available in our online application. If you have any questions about the application process, please contact Sue Nartker, managing director at 216.368.1943.

PhD in Management Extension

After completing the first two years of the DBA curriculum and in the summer of your second year in the DBA program, you may apply to the PhD in Management: Designing Sustainable Systems program, thereby extending your coursework an additional year. This fourth year is dedicated to independent doctoral studies and research classes that would permit you to meet the requirements of a PhD in Management degree offered by ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½â€™s School of Graduate Studies. 

During both the DBA and PhD programs, you’ll be required to prepare and submit your research papers to appropriate high-quality academic conferences for review and presentation. A core goal for both programs is for you to make original intellectual contributions while enrolled in the programs.

DBA Nonprofit Fellowships

The DBA program provides a limited number of DBA Nonprofit Research Fellowships to support a select group of students who are outstanding leaders in the nonprofit or public sector. Fellowships offer partial scholarships that help to defray tuition expenses. 

Candidates for the fellowships must meet the regular DBA admission criteria and in addition, show unusual promise for contributing to the development of the nonprofit or public sector. Individuals will be considered for partial funding for up to three years of tuition. Fellowships typically range between 10 to 20 percent of tuition which is then deducted from the full tuition amount.

Fellowship Applications 

Applicants to the DBA program who wish to be considered for a Nonprofit Research Fellowship must complete all of the application materials for admission to the DBA program and meet the following two requirements:

• Demonstrate a record of significant involvement within the nonprofit or public sector
• In addition to the seven regular essay questions required for admission, submit an eighth essay (limited to two pages) addressing the following questions:
  • How have your experiences in the nonprofit field, your interests, and your professional goals influenced your desire for admission to the DBA program?
  • What role(s) or impact do you want to have in the nonprofit sector?
  • What audiences would be the primary users of your research and why?

If you have questions about the DBA Nonprofit Research Fellowship, please email 
dbaprograms@case.edu. 

Ready to take your next step?

Considering the Doctor of Business Administration?

Learn more about this prestigious doctoral degree and gain a broad understanding of the program from our program director, faculty and alumni.

Interested in Learning More About Our School and Program?

Download a book of narratives from alumni and the founders of our then Doctor of Management program (now Doctor of Business Administration). 

Download the Voices of Practitioner Scholars Book