Capitol Technology University Online Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Artificial Intelligence

Capitol Technology University's online PhD in Artificial Intelligence is a 60-credit, research-based doctorate with posted tuition of $58,800 at $980 per credit. It takes a minimum of two years and typically three, with no on-campus classes or residencies.

It is the better fit of Capitol's two online AI doctorates if your research question is about artificial intelligence as a whole. You are buying independence and a supervisor, not a cohort and a campus.

Capitol is a private nonprofit technical university in Laurel, Maryland, in the Washington D.C. and Baltimore corridor. Its undergraduate programs are delivered on campus, but its AI master's and doctoral programs run 100% online.

This PhD follows what Capitol calls the European model. That means it is research-based: you are assigned an academic supervisor almost immediately and spend most of the degree on your own research project instead of sitting through a long sequence of lectures.

The program page lists 60 credits. Coursework named on the page opens with AIT 800 Artificial Intelligence Research Background, AIT 810 Artificial Intelligence Research Methodologies, AIT 820 Artificial Intelligence Future Demands and AIT 830 Strategies for Artificial Intelligence. The doctoral dissertation, defended orally, is the finish line.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

Capitol states the program is 100% online, with no on-campus classes or residencies required. That is the biggest practical difference from a campus PhD, and it is why people with jobs and families can consider it.

The model is built around independent research. You are assigned an academic supervisor almost immediately, so your main relationship is with one person who knows your topic. Plan on regular one-to-one contact, written feedback and long stretches of solo reading and writing.

If community matters to you, ask Capitol how doctoral students meet each other, whether through seminars, forums or conferences.

Who It Fits

• A working professional with a master's degree and a specific AI problem they want to study while they keep their job, since there are no residencies to attend.
• A military member or retiree. Active-duty servicemembers pay $875 per credit and retirees pay $925, instead of $980.
• A full-time high school or community college faculty or staff member, who receives a 20% discount on doctoral tuition.
• Someone with earlier graduate work who wants to ask about prior achieved credits, which Capitol says may be accepted.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants a faculty-run cohort, weekly classes and built-in classmates. A research-based doctorate is mostly you and your supervisor.
• Someone aiming for a tenure-track research university job. Capitol is a technical university with 1,065 students, so ask its graduates where they landed before betting a hiring committee will weigh the name the way it would weigh a large research school.
• Anyone who does not yet have a research question. The supervisor shapes your project, but you need to arrive with a direction.
• A reader who just wants applied AI skills. A one-year certificate or master's will get you there for far less than $58,800.

The page names four starting courses: AIT 800 Artificial Intelligence Research Background, AIT 810 Artificial Intelligence Research Methodologies, AIT 820 Artificial Intelligence Future Demands and AIT 830 Strategies for Artificial Intelligence. Read those titles as a ramp. You survey existing research, learn how to design a study, look ahead to where demand is going, and then plan your own approach.

The back half of the 60 credits is the dissertation. Capitol describes it as a doctoral dissertation with an oral defense assessed by an external expert in your field. That outside examiner is a real check: your supervisor cannot simply wave the work through.

Capitol also offers an online PhD in Machine Learning with the same 60 credits and the same $980 per credit. The AI version is broader, and the Machine Learning version is narrower and ends in a thesis or published articles. Pick by the question you want to answer.

Courses the School Names

• AIT 800 Artificial Intelligence Research Background
• AIT 810 Artificial Intelligence Research Methodologies
• AIT 820 Artificial Intelligence Future Demands
• AIT 830 Strategies for Artificial Intelligence

Standout Features

• Fully online with no on-campus classes or residencies required
• Prior achieved credits may be accepted
• Research-based European-model PhD with an academic supervisor assigned almost immediately

Tuition is $980 per credit for 60 credits, which comes to $58,800 for the degree. On top of that, Capitol charges a $55 per credit Information Technology Fee, listed for Fall 2026 through Summer 2027. Multiply it by your credit count and add it to the tuition total so your budget is honest.

Active-duty servicemembers pay $875 per credit and retired servicemembers pay $925. High school and community college full-time faculty and staff receive a 20% discount on doctoral tuition.

Because the degree typically takes three years, the bills spread across about three years of enrollment. Ask whether tuition is billed per course or per term, and whether extra time past the typical three years adds cost.

60 credits at $980 a credit comes to $58,800 in tuition, before fees.

The credential is a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence from Capitol Technology University, a private nonprofit. Capitol reports a 74% admit rate and a 43% graduation rate across the university, and enrollment of 1,065. Those are school-wide numbers, not doctoral completion rates, so they tell you little about your odds of finishing this degree.

What matters more is the dissertation and the oral defense, which an external expert assesses. A completed, defended dissertation is the document you will point to afterward. Ask the admissions team for the published list of dissertations and what graduates did next.

Where this degree can lead: Data Scientist Jobs, Jobs You Can Get With an AI Degree.

• At $58,800 in tuition plus the $55 per credit technology fee, this is a large bill for a degree whose labor-market value depends on your own work and network.
• Completion is on you. A typical three years assumes steady progress, and Capitol says the minimum is two.
• There are no residencies, which is convenient, but also means fewer organic chances to meet other researchers.
• The school's overall 43% graduation rate is a reason to ask pointed questions about doctoral completion before you enroll.

• What is the doctoral completion rate for this PhD specifically, and how many students finish in three years?
• Who would my supervisor be, and what research areas do they currently supervise?
• How many of my previous graduate credits could count as prior achieved credits toward the 60?
• Is tuition billed per credit as I go, and does extra time past three years add charges?
• How is the $55 per credit Information Technology Fee applied across 60 credits?
• Who serves as the external expert at the oral defense, and how is that person chosen?
• How do doctoral students connect with each other when there are no residencies?

Private nonprofit technical university in Laurel, Maryland, in the Washington D.C. and Baltimore corridor. Its AI master's and doctoral programs are offered 100% online while undergraduate programs are delivered on campus.

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• Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Artificial Intelligence

  MPhil, Master's

  Fully Online $665 per credit Score 76.1

• Master of Research (MRes) in Artificial Intelligence

  MRes, Master's

  Fully Online $665 per credit Score 72.1

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Machine Learning

  Ph.D., Doctorate

  Fully Online $980 per credit Score 98.1