Birchwood University
Birchwood University is a private institution in Orlando, Florida, teaching fully online.
It publishes its fees in US dollars, holds a verified Florida state licence, and claims no institutional accreditation anywhere on its site.
That last point is not an omission on our part. It is what Birchwood itself publishes, and it is the fact this page is built around. CareerSkale works with Birchwood University to support applications. Birchwood University does not publish a partner listing for CareerSkale.
Checked 28 August 2026.
Who you would be contracting with
Birchwood's homepage states: "Birchwood University is a DBA privately owned by Birchwood University, LLC." Here "DBA" means doing business as — a registered trade name — not the doctoral degree. It is an unfortunate collision of abbreviations on a site selling doctorates, and it is worth reading twice.
The address given is 6100 Lake Ellenor Drive, Suite 100E, Orlando, FL 32809.
What it awards
Birchwood awards its own private institutional qualifications.
Doctor of Business Administration
Duration
2 years
$24,150 ($400 per credit)
Master of Business Administration
Duration
18 months
$14,775 ($325 per credit)
MS Data Science
Duration
Not published
$11,850
MS Cyber Security
Duration
Not published
$11,850
Duration
2 years
$24,150 ($400 per credit)
Duration
18 months
$14,775 ($325 per credit)
Duration
Not published
$11,850
Duration
Not published
$11,850
A dissertation is mandatory on the DBA (modules DIS 9800–9830). There is no by-publication or experience-based route. Delivery is "100% Online Programs", though the DBA curriculum includes an "International Global Practicum" whose travel requirement is not stated — ask whether it involves travel, where, and at whose cost.
Two things advertised but not published
A "Doctor of Philosophy" appears in Birchwood's navigation, but the page returns no programme content and no PhD appears on the fee schedule. Do not assume a PhD is available.
Conversely, the Florida Commission for Independent Education recorded a new doctoral programme for Birchwood in September 2025 — Global Strategic Leadership, 60 credit hours — which does not appear on Birchwood's own site. If that is the programme you want, ask for it by name.
What it costs
$24,150 for the DBA, plus a $150 non-refundable registration fee and a $125 graduation fee. Payment plans at 0% interest are offered. The MBA carries a $150 application fee.
Ask what the practicum costs if it involves travel, and confirm the refund position on the registration fee in writing before paying it.
We have a commercial arrangement with Birchwood and may be paid if you enrol. How CareerSkale works and is paid.
What it requires
- DBA: applicants must have "earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree… from a regionally accredited college or university. A minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00 or higher"
- MBA: a bachelor's degree in business or a related field, "cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher", two references and a $150 application fee
The asymmetry worth noticing
Birchwood requires incoming students to hold degrees from a regionally accredited institution — the recognised US standard. Birchwood does not hold that status itself.
That is not a technicality. It means Birchwood applies a recognition test to your previous qualifications that its own award would not pass. A reasonable applicant should ask why, and should ask what that implies for anyone who later wants to use a Birchwood doctorate to enter a programme applying the same rule.
How recognition works
Birchwood University claims no institutional accreditation. It names a Florida state licence and memberships of QAHE, FAPSC and CECU, plus a commercial credential-evaluation arrangement with WES. None of those four appears on the CHEA directories or the US Department of Education's database, which are the registers used to verify higher education providers in the United States.
The licence is real. We verified Florida CIE licence #11386 in the Commission's own meeting agenda of 25 September 2025, which records "BD Birchwood University, Orlando - #11386 New Program: Global Strategic Leadership - 60 Credit Hours - Doctoral - New" (Florida Department of Education agenda).
Florida law states what that licence is, and is not:
"The granting of a license is not an accreditation." — Florida Statutes s.1005.31(13)
"License means a certificate signifying that an independent postsecondary educational institution meets standards prescribed in statute or rule and is permitted to operate in this state." — s.1005.02(13)
A licence is permission to operate in Florida. It is not a judgment about the academic standing of the award, and any presentation of it as accreditation — by anyone, including an agent — is wrong.
What "no accreditation claimed" is worth
There is a version of this page that would read worse for Birchwood and be less accurate. Plenty of institutions in a comparable position assemble private accreditor logos into something that looks like recognition. Birchwood does not do that. It names a licence, names its memberships, and does not dress either up as accreditation.
That does not make the award more useful than it is. It does mean Birchwood is describing itself accurately, which puts the responsibility squarely where it belongs — on you, to establish whether an unaccredited private US doctorate does the job you need. If someone has told you Birchwood is accredited, they were not reading Birchwood's own site.
Questions to ask before you pay
- Does the International Global Practicum require travel, and what does it cost?
- Is the PhD in the navigation actually available, and if so on what terms?
- Is the Global Strategic Leadership doctorate open to applicants?
- Which entity issues the award, and which receives the payment?
- Given that Birchwood requires regionally accredited degrees for entry but does not hold that status, will your intended employer, licensing board or university accept its doctorate? Ask them in writing first.
On the WES arrangement
Birchwood names a credential-evaluation partnership with WES. Credential evaluation is a commercial service that compares a qualification against a national framework for a specific applicant and purpose. It is not accreditation, it is not conferred on an institution, and an evaluation obtained by one graduate does not bind any employer, university or licensing board considering another.
If an evaluation matters to your plans, ask which service the receiving authority actually accepts, and what result Birchwood graduates have obtained from it — then verify with the authority rather than the institution.
Who this may suit
Someone who has confirmed with the receiving authority that a licensed but unaccredited private US award meets their purpose, and who is not intending to use it for a regulated profession, credit transfer or further study at an institution applying a regional-accreditation test.
Sources checked 28 August 2026: birchwoodu.org · licensure and associations · tuition and fees · Florida CIE agenda
Compare Birchwood in our institution comparison, and read how to check an institution's accreditation for the difference between a licence, a membership and accreditation.