MOBILE, Ala. — The University of South Alabama’s School of Computing has a cybersecurity coordinator. His name is Dr. Michael Black. He is an Associate Professor, a terminal degree holder, and by all official accounts, a success story of internal academic advancement. He began as a part-time instructor in 2002, earned a Ph.D. in 2015, and by August 2025, had ascended to the rank of Associate Professor.
But the path Dr. Black took to reach that title—and the nature of the degree that facilitated his rise—raises serious questions about the integrity of academic credentials at public universities. The Ph.D. that transformed Black from a lowly Instructor into a Professor was not earned through a traditional research university. It was purchased from Capella University, a for-profit, online institution, for a cost that has been reported to exceed $100,000.
The question critics are asking is uncomfortable but necessary: Did Michael Black earn a doctorate, or did he buy one?
The Degree in Question
Michael Black’s official university biography lists his education clearly: a Ph.D. in Information Technology with a specialization in Information Assurance and Security from Capella University, awarded in 2015. Before that, he held a Master’s degree in Information Systems and a Bachelor’s in Information Technology, both from the University of South Alabama.
Capella University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a fact it proudly promotes. On paper, this means its degrees are legitimate. But accreditation is a minimum standard, not a guarantee of quality or rigor. The real question is what that accreditation actually signifies in the context of doctoral education.
A 2024 study published in a Colombian academic journal examined the stigma facing graduates of online and for-profit doctoral programs, specifically naming Capella University alongside Walden University and the University of Phoenix. The research found that graduates of these institutions “often face stigma and limited opportunities for a full-time teaching track and full-time tenure track opportunities at Carnegie classified research one and research two universities”. The study documented that these for-profit online universities are among the top producers of doctoral degrees for African-American students, while also being among the institutions responsible for the highest levels of graduate student loan debt—with Capella alone accounting for over $399 million in student debt.
This is the institution that credentialed Michael Black.
The Cost of a Credential
Capella University is not a charity. It is a for-profit enterprise. The university has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, largely from students seeking credentials that traditional institutions might not award them. A federal lawsuit filed against Capella Education Company in 2014 alleged that the institution misrepresented its doctoral programs, with the plaintiff claiming that “the overwhelming majority of doctoral candidates (at least 90 percent) did not actually obtain their desired degree” in certain programs. While the court dismissed the case on procedural grounds, the allegations speak to a broader concern: what is the actual value of a Capella doctorate, and who is it designed to serve?
For Michael Black, the calculation was likely simple. He had been an Instructor at South Alabama for over a decade. He had industry experience, certifications, and practical expertise. What he lacked was the terminal degree that would unlock the title of Professor and the significant salary increase that accompanies it. According to University of South Alabama salary data, an Instructor earns an average of approximately $51,902, while an Associate Professor earns an average of $74,398—a difference of over $22,000 per year.
A Capella Ph.D. was the key that unlocked that door. It was a transactional solution to an institutional barrier. And the University of South Alabama accepted it without apparent hesitation.
The University’s Complicity
The University of South Alabama’s own tenure and promotion guidelines state that appointment to the rank of Associate Professor “requires evidence of significant academic and/or scholarly contributions by the candidate, commensurate with credentials outlined in these Guidelines for those ranks”. The question is whether a degree from a for-profit online institution, combined with a career as a full-time instructor, constitutes such evidence.
Black’s promotion timeline is revealing. He earned his Ph.D. in 2015. He was promoted from Senior Instructor to Assistant Professor in August 2019—four years after receiving the degree. He then moved to Associate Professor in August 2025, just six years later. In traditional academia, the path from Assistant to Associate Professor typically takes six to seven years and requires a substantial record of peer-reviewed publications, external funding, and national recognition. Black’s CV, as publicly available, does not demonstrate this level of scholarly output.
The University of South Alabama is not a research-intensive institution. It is classified as an R2 university, meaning it has “high research activity” but is not at the level of R1 institutions like Stanford or MIT. At regional public universities, teaching is often prioritized over research, and professional experience can carry significant weight. This context matters. Black’s industry connections, his certifications, and his practical expertise in digital forensics and cybersecurity may genuinely make him a valuable instructor for students seeking careers in those fields.
But there is a difference between valuing practical experience and lowering academic standards. The university’s decision to promote Black to Associate Professor—a rank that carries the expectation of scholarly leadership—sends a message about what the institution values. It suggests that a for-profit online degree, combined with years of service, is sufficient for the highest academic ranks.
The Stigma Is Not Just Elitism
Defenders of online education often dismiss criticism of institutions like Capella as academic elitism. They argue that traditional universities are gatekeepers who resent innovation and flexibility. This defense is sometimes valid. Online education has democratized access to learning, and many legitimate universities now offer rigorous online programs.
But Capella is not a traditional university that happens to offer online courses. It is a for-profit corporation whose business model depends on enrollment volume. The 2024 study on stigma and limited opportunities notes that these institutions are “for-profit on-line institutions or universities owned by for-profit organizations”. Their degrees may be accredited, but the accreditation itself is not a seal of rigorous quality control. It is a regulatory hurdle.
The internal policies of Capella itself acknowledge this perception problem. According to research on the topic, Capella has a policy limiting the number of its own graduates it will hire within any single school to 10 percent, explicitly to “avoid an adverse effect on our institutional reputation and integrity as viewed by the scholarly community at large.” If Capella itself is wary of hiring its own graduates, what does that say about how the broader academic community views them?
What Was Actually Purchased
Michael Black did not purchase a degree in the crude sense of buying a counterfeit diploma. He likely completed coursework, wrote papers, and may have produced a dissertation. But the nature of that dissertation—and the oversight it received—is fundamentally different from a traditional Ph.D.
Capella’s own dissertation manual describes a process that is structured, supported, and heavily guided by mentors. The manual outlines sixteen milestones, from topic approval to final publication. Students are expected to engage with their mentor “at least 3 times each week,” and the dissertation completion conference call is described as an opportunity to “present your research”. This is not necessarily a sign of rigor. It is a sign of customer service. Capella’s business model demands that students complete their degrees, not that they produce groundbreaking original research. The support structure is designed to ensure completion, not to enforce the kind of intellectual struggle that defines a traditional doctorate.
A traditional Ph.D. is not a product to be delivered. It is a trial by fire, a process of intellectual transformation that cannot be standardized or streamlined for maximum efficiency. The dissertation is not a milestone to be checked off; it is a contribution to human knowledge, evaluated by scholars who have no financial stake in the candidate’s success. At Capella, the mentor’s role is to guide the student through the process. At a traditional university, the advisor’s role is to challenge, critique, and ultimately certify that the candidate has produced work of scholarly significance.
The distinction matters. When a university hires a professor, it is not simply hiring someone with a credential. It is hiring someone who is expected to produce knowledge, mentor students at the graduate level, and contribute to the intellectual life of the institution. A Ph.D. from Capella may satisfy the bureaucratic requirement for a terminal degree, but it does not necessarily signify the kind of scholarly training that the professoriate demands.
The Real Victim
The real victims of this arrangement are the students. Students at the University of South Alabama who enroll in Dr. Black’s courses deserve an instructor with genuine expertise—and by many accounts, he has it. But they also deserve an institution that holds its faculty to meaningful standards, not one that treats a for-profit online doctorate as equivalent to a research degree.
More broadly, the credibility of the university’s academic programs is at stake. If the University of South Alabama awards the title of Associate Professor to someone whose terminal degree came from a for-profit online institution with a documented stigma problem, what does that say about the value of a South Alabama degree? Prospective students, employers, and accreditors may begin to ask uncomfortable questions.
Conclusion
Michael Black may be a competent instructor. He may have real industry expertise. He may be popular with students and valued by his department. None of that is in dispute. What is in dispute is whether the credential that transformed his career—and his salary—represents genuine academic achievement or a purchased commodity.
The University of South Alabama has made its choice. It has decided that a Capella Ph.D. is sufficient for the rank of Associate Professor. It has decided that years of service and practical experience can substitute for scholarly rigor. It has decided that the convenience of internal promotion outweighs the risk of devaluing its academic credentials.
Critics are right to question that decision. When a public university accepts a for-profit online doctorate as the equivalent of a research Ph.D., it is not just one man’s career that is at stake. It is the meaning of the degree itself. And that meaning, once diluted, is difficult to restore.