Walden University

I graduated from ASU with Honors and chose Walden over ASU's MBA program. ASU lacks innovation, commitment to their students, knowledge checks, and forward progress. At ASU students are numbers in a large pool of academic brick and mortar learning methods that have not made forward progress. At Walden, I have learned so much more than I ever could have hoped for thus far (a year into my MBA work) and am ever more pleased with each passing course. The literature is straight from Harvard Business Journals, and today's CEO's. ASU is so in love with themselves that they have forgotten to love their students; Walden pays close attention to the delivery of your course materials, timeliness of responses, instructor feedback, and all areas of communication. I spend 30 hours a week easily on my MBA readings alone. I suppose I could skim some material (similar to ASU) and it would go unnoticed; however, I would feel cheated. I am engaged with the material provided and look forward to my readings, discussion postings, and course assignments. Walden's ability to keep me engaged is certainly no accidental pathway; they are an "excellent" University! Thank You Walden, Rachel Kova

I really enjoyed most of my experiences and had some great instructors. But, I had a few issues with delayed books/cds. And a financial class that was made tougher by the the European text but questions from U.S. terminology and poor support from the instructor. Also, I had all A's until my last instructor. Dr. Heller was a harsh grader and was poorly skilled at communicating how to improve at anything. We had a text that was all about empowering people and I felt like he made a clear divide: he was not to be questioned. It would not change anything nor would it lead to enlightenment.

This degree is what you make of it. It is online, it is not too terribly difficult, especially if you already have a business degree like I do. I went to a brick mortar university for my undergrad and I found that much more challenging than Walden's MBA. That being said, I was also taking 4-6 classes per semester at a time as opposed to 1. I have a 4.0 and am almost done with my cores (8 classes with 4 remaining). The work is not overly challenging, however it is time consuming. You have to work to get an "A". I can tell you exactly how to get an "A"... work your ass off. Weeks 1-6 are all typically the same except for Finance and Accounting. You have 1-2 discussion posts per week that are due Wednesday and responses to two peers by Friday. There will be some sort of assignment (3-5 page paper) due by Sunday. Week 7 is always set aside for your business plan section that corresponds to the class, i.e. Marketing does the marketing section. Week 8 is the Blueprint for Professional Growth (BPPG) which is a self-reflection of what was learned that term. For Accounting and Finance, think back to high school/college math classes. There are problems assigned every week as well as quizzes based on the homework. You can fake (BS) your way through some papers with proper research, but good luck doing that in Finance. I can certainly see how people can fail these courses. They are typically slackers that cannot handle the workload. It is a lot, but certainly manageable. You need to be disciplined and reasonably intelligent. The big question is, is this MBA worth the price and will it open any doors? I am not sure yet, I have yet to graduate. I was hoping to get into teaching at community colleges and other online schools, as well as opening my own business. I doubt anybody that gets any of these "for profit" degrees will be teaching at any top tier school. I was not expecting to be catapulted into an executive position or anything like that upon graduation. I think that when looking at other "for profit" MBA's, this is as good as it gets. If you have the options and are deciding between an online MBA at a "for profit" and a online MBA at a public university, go with the public every time. There are a lot of great public schools like ASU, U of A, Cincinnati, Washington State, and lots more that offer online MBA's as well as similar price points. I had no desire to take the GMAT and I did not have the high marks or the resume to get into one of the public programs. If I wanted an MBA, this was my best choice. I also hear people complaining about some of the caliber of students that Walden allows. All I can say is that I went to a pretty good State school and I had idiots in those classes too. I have had colleagues that went to Ivy leagues, and they had idiots too. Let's face, they are everywhere. We have all met people that have distinguished degrees and careers and did not seem like the brightest. How many doctors and lawyers have you met that were complete morons? There you have it. That is my take on the Walden MBA program. Good luck in whatever decisions that you make with pursuing your education.

Materials and books are shipped to you. Extensive online library. Courses and well outlined with clearly stated objectives. Some real time lectures would make this a 10/10. I enjoy a tough instructor, and mostly that's what I have found at Walden. They encourage independent learning, meaning one must search for one's answers. The overall expectation has been that a strong base must have been established in the undergraduate work. Institution is perhaps the let down here. I really had hoped that it is better known and was more accredited. I believe students want to feel in some ways secure about the school they attend and am still unsure about how it truly compares to other MBA programs. For instance, banks in Canada where I'm from could not grant me a student loan because they have not recognised the school yet (its still too new). Support: In spite of my doubts, the accounts receivable office has been unbelievably understanding that I am paying as I go and have worked with me to make payments incrementally. My academic advisor responds back to me within hours, as do my instructors. The value of the program has been worth my effort. I work full-time as I take my course, and in the last year my work has improved. I feel more confident and competent within my field. The program has taught me to take the initiative. I have an interview with one of the company leaders next week! 2 years ago, I didn't believe it would happen. Technology - so far so good. No major crisis. Suggest a portable computer and back-up drives.

I received my MBA in the spring of 2010 and was very pleased with the quality of the program. I went to a traditional university for undergrad and decided to go back and earn my MBA for professional development. I needed a program that offered online courses due to the unpredictable nature of my work schedule; I couldn't commit to a class room type of environment not even on the weekends as sometimes I had to work. I received excellent support from my professors and classmates. Accounting has always been my least favorite subject and while struggling in class I contacted my professor and she scheduled a phone call with me to discuss the subject. We proceeded to speak for 45 minutes until I finally understood. You can't get that type of quality time with professors at many large brick and mortar institutions; usually it's with a TA. The coursework is not as easy as you may think. My first year in the program was about as challenging as I expected meaning that I didn’t really stress out much. My second year in the program was much more demanding, rigorous and challenging. I had to work hard to earn every good grade I received. As a matter of fact, to add credibility to the program, I went to a presentation with an association I belong to at SMU in Dallas which is well known academically. The speaker was one of the professors from their MBA program who taught their HR Management course. He presented a topic he was currently covering with his students. It was the very same topic I was studying at the time at Walden which made me feel very good and secure with the quality of education I was receiving. An added plus – they deliver your materials to your front door. For the busy professional this is priceless!! Good luck and I hope my review helps.

Two of my buddies and I were going to start a traditional nights weekend MBA program. However after doing traditional colleges for my AA and BSA, and having a growing family, I tried Walden for on-line ease and hopefully not being too difficult. Boy I was wrong. I spend three (years) Christmas days doing homework and almost failed statistics. For those bashing the school it’s probably because somebody they know went there and they are trying to discredit it. My two buddies had their degrees in just over two years. I had mine in three. I am Walden Proud!

Walden's MBA program by far exceeded my expectations. I was able to create a business plan throughout the life of the program that will actually go into use. The instructor and peer support were very helpful. Great balance of challenging work with flexibility for full time working commitments. Highly recommended.

What an incredible waste of time and money. I have three previous degrees from traditional universities and decided to try the online experience. It was awful. After two full semesters I have a 4.0, but am switching to another university, and eating about $9,000. But, it's worth it for me to have a degree from a school that is respected. The students I had to work with were incredibly lazy. I honestly question the school's admission criteria. Some of the other student's work is abysmal, yet they still make it from class to class. If you want a valuable degree go elsewhere. If you can’t write and have zero work ethic, Walden is for you. I should have bought $9,000 worth of Cracker Jacks and hoped to find a degree there. It'd likely be worth more.

My experience at Walden U was not as I had originally anticipated. At Walden, I think most of the instructors try to work with and have more patience with hardworking adults, who have children and other major responsibilities. However, from my experience, there are a few that do not. For instance, I had a family crisis and one of the teachers, who I thought, would allow me to complete my work and grade it did not. She let me do all the work and did not grade it, so I did not pass that course. When I attempted to find the email that I sent her and she responded to, Walden University had purged the email system; thus not allowing me to appeal the grade. I usually saved everything, but I did not get a chance to save that email to an external email. When I first started the degree program, I used my hotmail account to receive email correspondence, but later they changed it where all of the student's email addresses were through Walden. Now, I can see why.

I would have to flat out disagree with the last person's assessment of the Walden MBA program. Most of his issues seemed to be with the University--not the program. I have two more courses before I complete my MBA in Project Management and have had only one professor that just gave me an "A" regardless of what I submitted. In my Business Finance course, I had the best professor (Dr. Jong Yi) that spent upwards of two hours *every week* explaining to me the lessons for that week because I had trouble. I received an "A" in that course as I have in all my courses so far, but I worked *very* hard to do so. Listen, there are people who will throw together an assignment and not care how it comes out. Some people cheat and plagerize. I did thorough research, worked in teams, and worked with my professors to get through each course (2-eight week courses per semester). That is why I thought I got a lot out of it. The one course that I got the most out of was a Marketing class where we fought a lot due to conflicting ideas regarding our team assignment. But let's face it--isn't that what the work place going to be like anyway? I gave Walden University a "9" overall because I have enjoyed my experience. Plan on getting the "Walden U" shirts, coffee mugs and stickers for my cars. I found the reading materials, course texts, articles, etc. top-notch and updated to reflect current trends. The PowerPoint presentations with the live videos were refreshing and took the place of the instructor lectures. Never had any measurable issue with support and I have been able to work on my school work while traveling numerous times for work and while on vacation at Disney World (not something I loved to do--I had to do it!). How else can you do that and attend a brick and mortar? Very impressed with the use of technology--definately got exposed to technologies I hadn't previously known about. It would have been ideal to attend an accredited school locally such as Georgia State, Emory or Kennesaw State here in Atlanta, but let's face it. Unless, I leased a private helicopter, how would I be able to make the weeknight courses with all our traffic? And Weekends? I am a parent, those are for piano lessons, laundry and karate. An at-home program works just fine for me. I schedule the time, and I control my learning. I also like the principle of social change that is the undercurrent of each course. The school is accredited and I know people who have gotten MBA's from Emory who many have the fancy paper, but still don't have a clue in the work place. So like everything else, your experience at Walden will be what you make of it. It is not perfect and your mileage will vary. But please know there are way more people that love the school than hate it.

I completed my undergraduate degree at Walden University in Business Administration. The administrative support I received was absolutely terrible. This problem wasn't limited to one department either. I had trouble with the Financial Aid department, the Bursars office, the Academic Advisors, the "Graduation Team", etc. Every issue I encountered required me to e-mail and call at least ten times (and this is not an exaggeration and I have the e-mail chains to prove it for anyone doubting me on this). Nobody would ever handle any of my problems, and I was constantly pushed off on other people. I have never received this poor of customer service from any other organization (and I've had to deal with a lot of notoriously poor organizations like the VA, DoD Records Offices, State Unemployment Office, and Credit Card companies). I have been done with the Walden program for two months now, and of course I still can't get anyone to respond to me and tell me if they are even working on processing/issuing my degree. Also, I still haven't received my Financial Aid award (Pell Grant and Stafford Loan) from 4 months ago. In fact, I was actually told today that I will not receive it, because the school didn't process it on time. Apparently the Financial Aid has to be processed during the term it is to be awarded for (although I submitted it two weeks prior to the term's end date, apparently it takes three months to process like everything else at Walden). Other than the administrative support, the program was ok. The courses were easy and you received a 100 on pretty much any assignment as long as you submitted it. Everything I learned in the program came from reading the text books, as the teachers provide little to no lecture. The program price is a little costly, but the convenience of doing your degree quickly (easily handled 3 six-week courses at a time to complete 19 classes in a little over a year of course time) and at your own time added to the value.