A candidate for the D.M.A. degree must be a capable artist and practitioner that demonstrates intellectual attributes of a high order.
The D.M.A. program is generally designed to prepare students to be artist-performers and conductors in either university settings, or in the professional arena.
While the Ph.D. is the most common doctoral degree, and even often (mis)understood to be synonymous with the term “doctorate,” the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) recognize numerous doctoral degrees as equivalent, and do not discriminate between them.
A list of doctoral degree designations can be found at: doctorate.