Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) Lead the Charge: Empower Your Team
51
Credit Hours
100% online, 8-week courses
Transfer in up to 50% of the degree total
Lead Your Business to Success with Our Doctor of Strategic Leadership Program
If you are a leader in business, you know that building a strong team starts with you. You have the experience, the skills, and the work ethic to help your team push through barriers to success. However, with business changing every day, you need new tools, skills, and strategies to make sure you stay ahead of the curve.
Earning our 100% online Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) degree can give you both theoretical knowledge and practical skills in leadership. You can focus on a variety of leadership principles essential to effective business management with courses culminating in an applied doctoral research project.
Our online Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree can equip you to lead as a business management professional. With Liberty’s mission to Train Champions for Christ, you can also learn new strategies for integrating a Christian worldview into your business practices. Through our doctorate in strategic leadership, you can learn how to direct organizational change, become an effective servant leader, and implement principles of executive management theory.
Your officially conferred degree name will be Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL).
Why Choose a Doctorate in Strategy Program?
Your success matters to us. That’s why we’ve designed our Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree to meet your needs as a professional, a student, and an individual. Our program is offered in a 100% online format and has no set login times. This format means you can complete your DSL online classes without having to travel to a campus.
Our online format also gives you the freedom you need to complete your coursework when and where you want – without disrupting your current lifestyle and responsibilities. With our 8-week courses and summer semester, you will have the ability to maximize your time and finish an online doctor of leadership degree sooner than you would in a traditional, on-campus program.
When you choose to pursue your online Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree with us, you are choosing a program from a school that constantly pushes for quality. Liberty University is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). This accreditation means that Liberty University’s doctoral programs meet high standards for academic rigor and quality that can help you stand out in the field.
What Will You Study in an Online Leadership Doctorate?
When you choose our Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree program, you will be provided with a challenging and rewarding curriculum that seeks to hone your leadership skills. In our DSL program, you can learn how to apply biblical servant leadership principles to business management. You will also develop skills in the analysis, planning, implementation, and evaluation of both the social and technical systems of business organizations. Here at Liberty, we can give you the education you need to be a Champion for Christ as you lead in the business world.
An online doctorate in leadership and management is designed to give you new skills and strategies to use with your experience and knowledge to solve real-world problems in the field. As such, your final doctoral project will focus on applying what you’ve learned to a specific problem in your industry that you can approach with your new skills.
Potential Career Opportunities
- Company executive
- Management analyst
- Management consultant
- Training and development specialist
Featured Courses
Degree Information
- The DSL program falls under our School of Business.
- View the Graduate Business Course Guides (login required).
- Review the Doctor of Strategic Leadership Handbook for details on the DSL degree program’s mission and foundational values.
Degree Completion Plan
Not sure what to choose?
Speak to one of our admissions specialists to help you choose the program that best fits your needs.
Tuition & Aid
Your success is our success, which is why we are committed to providing quality academics at an affordable tuition rate. While other colleges are increasing their tuition, we have frozen tuition rates for the majority of our undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs for the past 9 years – and counting.
Doctoral Full Time | $595/Credit |
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Doctoral Part Time | $650/Credit |
Eligible current and former military service members and their spouses may qualify for a special rate of $300/credit hour (learn more).
Tuition rates may change annually. For the most current information, please visit our LU Tuition Cost page.
All Tuition & Fees
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Admission Information for Our Online Doctoral Degree in Strategic Leadership
Admission Requirements
- Apply online or over the phone with an admissions counselor by calling (800) 424-9596.
- A non-refundable, non-transferable $50 application fee will be posted on the current application upon enrollment (waived for qualifying service members, veterans, and military spouses – documentation verifying military status is required).
- Send official college transcripts (mailed as sealed, unopened copies or sent via a direct electronic transcript system). A regionally or nationally accredited master’s degree with at least a 3.0 GPA is required for admission in good standing.
- Applicants whose native language is other than English must submit official scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or an approved alternative assessment. For information on alternative assessments or TOEFL waivers, please call Admissions or view the official International Admissions policy.
Preliminary Acceptance
If you are sending in a preliminary transcript for acceptance, you must:
- Be in your final term and planning to start your doctoral degree after the last day of class for your master’s degree.
- Complete a Master’s Self-Certification Form confirming your completion date. You may download the form from the Forms and Downloads page or contact an admissions counselor to submit the form on your behalf.
- Submit an official transcript to confirm that you are in your final term. The preliminary transcript must show that you are within 6 credit hours of completion for a 30-48 credit hour master’s degree or within 9 credit hours of completion for a 49+ credit hour master’s degree.
- Send in an additional, final official transcript with a conferral date on it by the end of your first semester of enrollment in the new doctoral degree.
Transcript Policies
Official College Transcript Policy
An acceptable official college transcript is one that has been issued directly from the institution and is in a sealed envelope. If you have one in your possession, it must meet the same requirements. If your previous institution offers electronic official transcript processing, they can send the document directly to luoverify@liberty.edu.
Admissions Office Contact Information
Liberty University Online Admissions Verification
1971 University Blvd.
Lynchburg, VA 24515
Ready to Apply?
Submit your application online or over the phone.
Military
Liberty University is dedicated to providing world-class educational experiences to military students across the globe.
Who May Qualify?
- Active Duty
- Reserve/National Guard
- Veterans/Retirees
- Spouses of Service Members and Veterans/Retirees
Military Tuition Discount
We want to help you find the doctoral degree you want – at a price you’ve earned. As a thank-you for your military service, Liberty University offers eligible current and former service members like you or your spouse multiple pathways to earn a doctoral degree for only $300/credit hour. Find out how you can take advantage of this unique opportunity as you work toward your goal of reaching the pinnacle of your profession – for less.
Tuition rates may change annually. For the most current information, please visit our LU Tuition Cost page.
Frequently Asked Questions
While researching doctorate degrees in strategic leadership, you may have questions about how this program can help meet your goals. Here are some common questions about Liberty’s DSL program.
What is a Doctor of Strategic Leadership? What is a DSL degree?
Liberty University’s Doctor of Strategic Leadership or DSL degree is a practical doctorate focused on applying effective leadership skills to solve business problems. Unlike many PhD programs, a DSL degree is a professional doctorate focused on applying your experience to real-world problems in business leadership. If you want to retool with new skills and strategies to apply your experience in new and effective ways, then Liberty University’s leadership program will help you get the training you need.
Is a doctorate worth it?
With a masters degree alone, you may run into limitations of where your skills and education can take you. You have the experience and the knowledge from years in the field, but you may struggle to demonstrate your expertise in a way that helps you stand out. With a doctorate, you can develop those skills further into a more effective toolset that can help you tackle even more difficult and important business problems, all while demonstrating that you are a top expert in your field.
Can you teach with a professional doctorate?
As a practical, results-based doctorate, Liberty University’s online Doctor of Strategic Leadership program is designed to help you show that you are an expert in the field of business leadership. While this degree is a practical, professionally focused program, it still provides the opportunity to teach at the college level.
Most universities require that you have a doctorate in order to teach masters or even some bachelors courses. This requirement means that earning your doctorate in leadership and management online can help you take advantage of teaching opportunities as well as increase your potential in the field. You may also be eligible for educational leadership roles with your specialized skills and doctorate.
What resources will be available to me in this program?
You will be granted access to a wide variety of online resources through Liberty University’s library portal.
How do I choose between a Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Strategic Leadership?
A Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) is a professional degree that provides you with the opportunity to develop practical skills. Regardless of career field, these skills may be applicable in leadership roles. If your goal is to advance your career and develop valuable skills, this program may be the right next step.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Strategic Leadership program may focus more on original research and less on practical skills. This program may be useful if your career aspirations lay in the world of academia.
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