Walden University Reviews

The classes are both challenging and inspiring, structured in a way that encourages critical thinking and analytical reflection. From the discussion posts that push me to engage deeply with the material to the practical techniques being taught, I already feel confident and motivated in my path to becoming a counselor. The coursework is demanding enough to ensure I retain and apply what I learn in my own life. I've had several "a-ha" moments that have made a real impact, and I’m extremely grateful for the knowledge I've gained so far. I’m happy to be attending Walden University and am already considering their doctoral program. Thank you!

When asked for further edification on subjects that are not comprehensible, SMEs typically direct students to the Writing Review Center or send a link to a video on paper structure, rather than explaining what could improve the submission for future real-world application. For example, I was told by an SME that the company I was researching was not a reliable source for its own mission and vision. Instead, I was advised to use a ratings and review platform as a more accurate and credible resource. When I asked the individual overseeing the Tempo program to explain this directive, he stated, "Companies lie all the time. If you go to the webpage for the flat-earther society, you will see that." When I questioned if this comparison was reasonable, given that the company I was researching is publicly traded, and why the company would lie about its mission and vision but an unrelated website wouldn't, he became defensive and refused to answer.

Another SME told me to make changes to a paper simply because she wanted me to, even though these changes were not aligned with the rubric. Additionally, the individual overseeing the program has encouraged me not to ask questions and to just make the changes to my papers without understanding the "why." His instruction was to follow the SME's way in school but do it my way in real life. My reason for choosing Walden was not due to it being a reputable institution or one that would reflect well on a resume; instead, I went with the cheaper option. I am learning the very hard way that cheaper is not better. Had I known this would be my experience in the beginning, I would have avoided this institution at all costs.

I have completed all of my courses and was set to graduate in May of 2024, however now I have no idea when, if ever, I will graduate. I will soon have to begin paying back over $30,000 of student loans for a degree I may never possess. I have an academic advisor who is like talking to a robot and a field coordination system with no connections with NJ agencies. Any attempts to contact anyone higher up have been futile. There is no one to talk to. I highly recommend that you take your money to a non-profit, reputable college or university.

My chairperson would tell me exactly how she wanted me to write the title and later tell me it was wrong. In other areas, she would tell me exactly how she wanted me to word it and then later make more recommendations to correct what she said previously. It feels that this is a game, and I am on the losing end as the one with no power. Yet, the faculty state that this is all a normal process. Now I have a new chairperson, and I guarantee you, in the end, it will be the same game. "Yes, these things will work, and you have great information," but will continue to string you along. I even utilized their alignment appointment system with other doctorate faculty who would look at my prospectus and tell me that I have great alignment, only for my chairperson to later state otherwise.

Other doctorate faculty would say yes, this is great, and you should have no problem going on to the next stage with a proposal, only for my chairperson to recommend more changes. They do not have a solid system, and a rubric was never filled out for me during each stage as it should have been. I was just now given the MyDR and Taskmanager link to upload my prospectus with other board members when I did everything in CANVA/Module for previous quarters.

Anyhow, for those who don't fully understand the language here I am using, to be blunt, it all feels like a scam. I think my doctorate is being held hostage. A few years Walden had a lawsuit brought against them for treating ** female students with bias and prejudice, specifically in the doctorate program where they dangle a carrot and tell you to try and catch it but keep pulling it further and further away. Yes, ** students successfully pass and obtain their doctorate. I am sure those are the passive ones who don't seem to have a problem, never make a complaint, and continue to take it until they pass. However, my mama didn't raise a fool, and I am not one to bend over and just take it.

When I ask questions, no one seems to have any logical answers as to what is going on or why things are not linear in this process of making needed corrections, fine-tuning things continually to where you should be able to reach an end after two semesters to then move on to the next stage. If I had to do it all over, I would have gone to where I received my Master's from the University of New England. That was the most challenging but best education I have ever received. They have professionals who will hold you to high standards but also hold themselves to those same standards.

I want to change programs without entirely starting the coursework at another University, such as the University of New England, but that isn't possible. All universities will have you start over if you are this far in the program with your research, so I encourage others to make sure they do not begin the doctorate program at Walden University until they do thorough research.

- During the two years, I had probably four different academic advisors (some of my classmates did not have that experience). It would have been nice to have one solid person; all of mine were very professional and nice.

- GRADUATION CEREMONY: Walden has two ceremonies a year, and the location changes, which is fine. But not only do they require you to purchase the grad regalia, they also charge $300 just to attend an in-person ceremony. After spending THOUSANDS, I feel they should not be charging that. I would have gone otherwise!!

In fact, it is actually much harder to earn a degree from an online university instead of the traditional university because there will not be teachers to physically nag you to submit your assignments and study for examinations. You have to be very self-motivated to achieve success while studying at Walden University. My advice to those who think they can earn an easy degree from Walden is to stay away, because you will in fact need to work hard to earn a degree from Walden University. Also, a Walden degree is well respected by employers. I am earning a high six-figure salary today because of my Walden education.

Because of this, I now have a 14 year old bill. The statute of limitations for a college bill is 6 years on average and the very fact that they NEVER sent this to collections, has me very concerned about the validity of this bill. I told them that I want to dispute this bill and they said that my application is proof enough. So, I cannot even dispute this within the university. I am now taking this outside the university. What is funny, is at the time, I had a trust fund that would have paid for this that my grandmother set up for me. So this is why I question the validity. If there was a bill, I would have simply submitted it to the bank for payment. It is now dissolved because there were only limited funds in there for college. They have yet, to show proof of my attendance, and I made it very clear, of the timeline and the reason for the inconsistency of their records.

1. Scholarships and discounts. I was told by the enrollment advisor that if I received a scholarship with Walden it would reduce the cost until I complete the program at Walden. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I had a scholarship with Walden as a social work student and I most definitely saw my scholarship go away and my school costs go up in the middle of my degree program (2019).

2. They say that the courses will strive towards social change and help you to grow as a student. It was very self paced, I mostly taught myself, and the teachers rarely provided feedback that helps students to strengthen their work or their writing.

3. Residencies are not only a joke but also a waste of money and time. Had I known I’d be spending for room and board, food, and traveling everywhere to pursue a degree while trying to accommodate my full time, very demanding schedule, I would’ve never attended Walden. I did what I had to do to move forward in my degree plan.

4. In dissertation pod I have had the worst experience ever. I’ve been in pod for at least 4 terms and got NO guidance on how to strengthen and improve my proposal and writing to move forward, first of all the first chair responds with, "Looks good," or if you text her she’s always traveling, when you manage to have a call with her, she has very little feedback to provide that helps you to move forward in a confident way as a doctoral student. The second committee member is completely non responsive, doesn’t attend meetings, when I look for her feedback on writing you get things like ‘looks good’.

The URR doesn’t follow the checklist, they pick and choose what to nitpick at. They send you to fix and make corrections, you follow their guidance completely and do exactly what they say, then resubmit it, only for them to send back a plethora more of mistakes that they never pointed out as an issue in the first place. Also to note you didn’t change anything about the paper that would misalign it, only corrected their critiques and sought feedback from first and second committee member for them to say ‘looks great or way better’ only for URR to continue to say it’s not right. At this point it’s a money pit and I feel I’m being sent through these hoops and circles for them to buckle and dime me. I understand the dissertation is rigorous and that there will be several edits but to not have guidance and be paying all this money is a HUGE issue.

5. I consulted with my advisor about changing from PhD program to DSW program and they showed me that I would only need to take three additional courses and do a capstone project if I went that route. When I decided this year to pursue this, I’m already at Walden and switched from the Clinical Social Work PhD program to the Clinical Social Work DSW program. I side by side compared the courses in the course catalog, the description of the aim of the course, and the course code numbers. I’ve already taken those courses and exceeded some of the courses that are required to be taken.

To expound in DSW you get to choose between quantitative, mixed, or qualitative reasoning research courses. In PhD program you had to do both, which I did. So how is it that the evaluator states that at the same school, with the same class codes, and the same requirements as before, I would not be able to just transfer over and complete the few courses initially projected in 2019 and the capstone project, but instead essentially start almost completely over. This is deceptive because in ANY college of university I have attended, they would allow you a change of major or degree plan. 4)3 courses that compared in the course catalog were allowed to transfer over. Another example of Walden deceiving students and trying to nickel and dime them.

6. When there is a dilemma with Walden there is little to no feedback, I’ve presented this issue to the enrollment counselor who’s supposed to help me transfer from PhD to DSW program, nothing from my academic advisor which might I add a huge red flag is going through four academic advisors in my time here, they leave like flies. I also reached out to the ombudsman and the next step is to figure out how to email the dean of the school of social work to get guidance because no one is responding to my very real and unreasonable question about a mere transfer process.

7. Walden is not honest and upfront about its prices, they project a way lower amount initially. Then you end up paying a whole lot more when you include residencies, materials for courses, the time wasted in dissertation pod with no guidance, etc. The financial aid team tells you mid semester when you ran out of funding for school, after you’ve already begun the term. When you ask them for resources and fiscal options they send you a link to fastweb which we know the link doesn’t work or had just another list of long scholarships for students that are first time 18+, not options for non traditional students. They also don’t work with you on a reasonable payment plan to pay for your school on your own.

8. Can never speak with anyone from your assigned school to discuss your concerns and get answers that makes sense.

Jennifer, from the President's office was supposed to call me. When she called I was at work. I have called her back 3 times. Her voice-mail says she will return my call within 3 days. It's been more than a week since my last call. I will not be continuing with Walden. I do however hope someone whom is in charge of accreditation looks into them soon. This is not a school. The "leaning resources" are a joke and I don't know how anyone could take this seriously. I paid outside psychology professionals with their PhD. to tutor me. These professionals were at a loss and had to refund my money because they couldn't understand what was being asked on the assignment/s. Don't waste your time or money. I've wasted over a year.

Fast forward to October 2020, and I am not attempting to purchase a house and there is a recent inquiry from Sunrise Credit Services on my Experian credit report. Unbeknownst to me I did not receive any letter or notification of this new debt that has a date of June 2019. Sunrise Credit Services Manager Angel **, claims that Walden refuses to negotiate this debt.

I spoke to Britney, Jean and Jackie in the Financial Center Department that stated the account was indeed sent to collections on July 31, 2014. According to Mr. **, Walden and Sunrise Credit Services did not become affiliated until 2016. I am very upset that this recent inquiry is jeopardizing my livelihood and attempted to ask for some resolve from Walden. Instead I am transferred to the most unprofessional representative who attempted to tell me I have called too many times and that some manager will call me back. After I told her that I wanted to be transferred to someone other than her, she laughed and said "Ok Girlfriend" and placed me on hold.

I regret that I have already done half of my masters here. Arlington University charges 1,800 for 4 classes (a semester) and it is much better school. If I had known this before going into Walden I would have chosen Arlington. Now I am STUCK because I was about to start preceptorship. Walden is not worth the money. Go someplace else. TOO EXPENSIVE!!!! DO NOT TRUST THEM because they do not tell you that classes are going to skyrocket more than 30% meanwhile you are in the program.

I started researching my dissertation from the day I started my program. I centered every paper around this central topic. In doing so, I was able to write my prospectus is 2-Weeks, my proposal in Month 8, my URR approval and Defense in Month 8, IRB and Survey completed in Month 9, Data Analysis and Finished Chapter 5 in Month 11, URR approval and Final Defense in Month 12, and Finally Form and Style, followed by CAO Approval in Month 12!!! You have to be dedicated and motivated... I woke up at 4 AM every morning to read journal articles and write...

When I received feedback on my manuscript, I would have it back to my committee within 24-Hours... I called my chair in Ohio when I needed guidance on content, and I would call my Methodologist (2nd committee member) in Doha, Qatar, when I needed analytical advice... I completed my Quantitative Dissertation in Education in a SINGLE YEAR!!! It is possible, but you have to drive the car... My committee was excellent, and I forced them to follow my direction but worked under their experience and expertise. However, in the end, it is My Study! I'm Published! I am working on my first Academic Journal Article, employed in Higher Education, and I am proud of My achievement! Finally, I am Proud to have My Doctorate Degree framed and nicely hung on the wall in My office at My University, where I very proudly work! Thank you, Walden University, Class of 2020!

My opinion is this, you are going to find some instructors who are strictly in it for a paycheck, the longer you are made to stay in, the more they get paid. BUT then you will find those real professionals who are there to TEACH and help you attain your goals. I was very happy with my final chair for my dissertation completion. So, whatever school you think you want to attend, get some information from previous students who finished not just quit. I hope that this review will help inspire you to not look at just negative reviews but also the positive ones before making a sound decision on your education.