Walden University

It is difficult to explain my ratings because some things were excellent and some very poor. It took me 7 years to complete an EdD and I took two leaves of absence. Things started out wonderfully, I enjoyed the teachers and classes, the idea that you work on your study all along and I liked the cohort sharing. As I got into the final phase I had three deaths in the family, moved and began a new job. I was given five different mentors when you should have only one and once I had to request a change because she made several costly errors. Since I moved I had to change my topic as it was supposed to be a local problem but I was not informed of this until later since my advisor did not catch that. I had plans to use my old school for the study but that was not acceptable. I should have fought for it but I did not think to do so at the time. Finally I was assigned a perfectly wonderful advisor who got me through everything. It was all quite traumatic for me and it got so I hated doing the work. Once I began the writing part of the study I took the same course over and over until I finished paying the full tuition for each time. Other graduate schools only charge half tuition since your contact with the advisor is less frequent, also the tuition was raised almost every term and in the last years they added some additional fee as well. The cost was killing me but by then I was trapped as I had invested so much already and needed to finish. When I began the tuition was about $3000 a semester but by the time I finished it was close to $5000. I know that walden has expenses too but most of the mentors are adjuncts, some latitude should have been given for that final writing course and tutti ion could have been grandfathered in so that I would not have had to pay the full tuition since I was not prepared for such rate increases. They offer writing retreats and annual workshops and while I went to one and it was great I could not afford the terribly high cost of another even though at one point I was told that you did not have to pay for the second one. The library resources are wonderful as is the continued access and I know that these research access fees are expensive for the university. I suppose overall the experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I often wished I had gone elsewhere. My overall impression is that the company is out to make money on the backs of their hardworking teachers and mentors as well as their students. All of my teachers were wonderful except for a few in the final stage and one in particular but the final advisor was terrific.

I had one chair and had to ask to have her replaced because she NEVER returned my emails. The new one acted really nice but sometimes took 3 months to get back to me. That is unacceptable! At $4000 per semester, it has cost me over $12,000 just in delays. I am a hard worker, dedicated and have academic integrity but these instructors do not. I got a C in one course because I submitted my work 2 minutes late. LITERALLY!!! My chair has NEVER read my dissertation. I complained each semester to the head of the program but he is of no help either. Why they allow instructors to continue to work despite the numerous complaints is unbelievable. BEWARE!!!

I received my Masters from Walden and was very impressed with the program. I learned a great deal and that is why I decided to pursue my doctorate from Walden as well. I have been in the program since May 2007. The classes in the beginning were challenging and informative and I was excited about getting to the dissertation and research stage of the process. I have been at the stage of waiting to be approve for research for two years! My first three chapters have been written for two years. I have had several committee changes and chair resignations. I have never missed a deadline and have never received anything but an A in my courses, except the one time my chair made a mistake and gave me an unsatisfactory grade because she got me confused with someone else and I have had for for my chair for two years!!! It was a headache to get it corrected and I had to provide numerous forms of documentation to prove it. The hold up is not me, they drag everything out, email responses, returning of paper submissions, assigning of committee members, everything! I do not normally complain but I wanted anyone who is contemplating getting their Doctorate Degree from Walden to know their practices. I am stuck. I have paid Walden thousands of dollars and do not want to give up on attaining my goal but I am running out of money and the excitement of conducting valid research is gone. It is so frustrating. Potential Walden students BEWARE!

Some of these people who are posting positive reviews of Walden may likely change their minds when they get to the dissertation phase. I loved it too for the first year, but then I began working on my dissertation. The documents on the website say that you will be guided through the process, but that did not happen for me. I have been bullied and essentially hazed by my chairperson as if I were trying to get into an elite fraternity. I have worked extremely hard for over a year on my dissertation, and my chair has not read past page 20 yet (out of 100+). I was told to hire an outside editor because Walden will only edit your chapters twice. Requirements have changed at least 5 times during my work, forcing me to try to hit a moving target. The Ed.D. program is a scam. They put you in a neverending cycle and keep taking your money.

At first I was very pleased with the EdD in Teacher Leadership program at Walden. Then I took EDUC 8015, the first of the Research courses, and we had to read the same two articles over and over for nearly every module. Nevertheless, I was earning an "A." After the third week, I became so sick that I had to ask for an extended deadline. The instructor suggested I contact Disability Services, which I did, and I was given the extended deadline. However, a week later I became so sick that I could not even complete the work by the extended deadline. By this time I had also missed the deadline to withdraw from the course. When I pleaded with the instructor to allow me to submit my missing work beyond the extended deadline she had given me, she refused. I contacted the advising team and was told that I could petition for a change of grade to No Credit and a waive of the tuition. Since the course was now half over, the Director of Disability Services intervened with the instructor for me and asked what grade I would receive if I completed the course without the missing work. The instructor said I "might" be able to earn a "C" at best. Since I did not want a "C" on my transcript, I petitioned, and given what the advisors had told me, I felt confident my petition would be granted. However, I was shocked when the director of EdD programs and the associate dean both agreed with the instructor and denied my petition! Even the director of disability services, who had said she would stand by whatever decision I made, agreed with the denial! I appealed the decision, sending along 51 pages of supporting medical documentation, but my appeal was denied! I was devastated, and watched helplessly as I received an "F" in the course. I contacted the advisors again and was told I could pay another $4000.00 and retake the course to improve my GPA with a better grade, but that the "F" would always be on my transcript. Although I only had two more years in the program, I decided to leave because of the unfair treatment I received. BTW, I'm a full-time professor of Education and had received all A's in a doc program at a B&M University prior to attending Walden. I made the mistake of leaving the B&M for Walden because of convenience.