Walden University review: Cost, lack of response, grievance filed without so much as an acknowledgment... The list goes on! 106

I would also like to be added to any lawsuit. Walden has held me at the proposal point in my PhD for three years. Two committees have failed to adequately prepare me for the URR. I am 250, 000 in debt and stopping because it is way past diminishing returns. I have all my emails from both committees and all paper drafts. Last year when the URR shot down m proposal after working on it with my committee got 1.5 years I told my chair that I only have the energy to do this on more time and we have to get it right. They sent me down the garden path again. I have not gotten value from my purchase and want a refund. I had a 4.0 in my masters program and am a strong academic writer. There is no reason why I could not complete one last little paper.

My email is mewnakpublic@gmail.com

Please include me in the lawsuit. I knew from the beginning that my experiences with Walden would be life changing. I never imagined how negative those changes would be. melissarmblake@hotmail.com

Fortunately for me I spent less than half a quarter in the Walden PhD program and transferred to a not-for-profit graduate school with both an online program and a brick and mortar facility. I had a nightmare with the "advisors" and I simply could not see paying major money for a Walden degree that I would not even want to display. Walden has some pluses (online library is great) but I would have to advise anyone to stay away (unless you like dealing with institutions you owe money to and treat you like a major bank would).

My name is Gerald Lavarias. I am interested. Please email me here lavarias24@yahoo.com.. I'd like know what needs to be done.

Please see the following report by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/for_profit_report/PartII/Walden.pdf
Walden has been abusing their federal financial aid monies.
Corruption is rampant.
Spending more federal dollars on marketing and profit than their students.
Class action lawsuit to get all of our tuition refunded, would be a blessing.

I want to join the class action lawsuit as well. I have been in this EDD program fro 5 1/2 years and there is no end in sight. My second chair quit and my first chair resigned because I complained about her reviews. The program directors was demoted and the program has changed so many times, it's mind boggling. I have spent so much money in this trashy school and wasted my time. I want my money and be granted my degree. I have earned it.

please contact me lea_31@live.com i want to join the suit and if this is still going on?

I just found this site. I have been attending Walden since 2009 and was assured at that point that I would graduate by [protected] depending upon the Capstone project I planned. Well here I am in 2014 with a chairperson that fully supports my project and my graduation yet I am being blocked by the Walden URR who is essentially asking me to rewrite my entire section 2 (methodology). I have dropped nearly $100, 000 dollars and I still have no end in site. I have filed three petitions and appeals and am now writing a letter to the accrediting agency. i am an educator in higher education myself and I would never treat students this way. If a class action suit is in progress I would happily jump in.

Please include me in the lawsuit. My story is similar to everyone else's. I'm currently in the DBA and it has been not good at all. I've wasted three 9000 sections. cwoff@msn.com

Wow...I have read all the comments, and I must admit, I was waiting on one of the comments to be positive. Why? Because I am sitting on my bed, in Japan, working on my proposal, which has been approved by my committee chair, but has been declined by the URR review person, who, by the way, didn't respond to my proposal for 3 months. If there really is a class action lawsuit against Walden, please add me as another dissatisfied, cheated, frustrated, tired, hardworking students of Walden University. Oh yeah, and I could not find a Facebook page for Students-vs-Walden. My email address is: ivy.thompkins@gmail.com

Wow. These complaints sound very similar. I feel as though I am in the twilight zone. Has anyone sued and won for what apparently at deceptive practices at Walden University aimed at draining financial aid and leaving students in debt with no degree? Would a report to the HLC help to address our concerns. Fighting back is a must. Everyone cannot be telling a bunch of lies. These comments seem all too familiar.

There is a class action in progress and it has over 30 students. Contact

yolandacollege@msn.com

This story is as repetitive as sentences on the forum page. Doctoral "candidates" are left in debt, with no degree, and with a "gotcha" sticker to their efforts. Multiple chairs, no responses, no acknowledgements, no feedback, no learning. Write the individual above as the "case" is growing quickly. I will copy this person in on the link so they can use it. Good luck everyone !

I have experienced the same disservice by Walden University. I
have completed all of my coursework for an Ed. D. I started my dissertation work for several semesters without support of the Faculty. There are now telling me I would have to start all over to obtain my degree. As an educator in this great nation, this is absolutely unfair and unjust for all students attempting to gain more knowledge to support our nation's economy.

I am having a time with Walden, I completed all core courses, internship, practicum, and chapters 1-3
Now they want me to add 7 more courses, it is like a nightmare and I have written the school with no or poor response. I would love to be part of the suit. It's been pure hell.

Please write me.
rubyturner549@gmail.com

I have been working on my PhD in Heath Psychology for 3 years and working on dissertation for last 2 years with no progress. I had 1 Chair who left and I found another and guess what he suddenly didn't like my dissertation focus? I had to start writing chapter again and he suddenly left as well! My committee member left too! Has been a complete nightmare. They want me to register with no Chair and no committee member. Exactly who will be overseeing my dissertation? I am frustrated and have enormous amount of debt. Walden does not care about the student only making money. Please include me in the class action suit! Email- lauralane804@yahoo.com

Thanks.

I am trying to get people who are interested in a group action against Walden U together so we can approach attorneys. We need a homogenous group of people who have past academic success, did everything that was asked of them but were delayed by the URR after committee approval and delayed by committee members. We must contact staff members who admit to being told by Walden to delay the progress of students and ask them if they will testify. I have a facebook page called Ruined Bywalden https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006116177033.

my email address is mewnakpublic@gmail.com

I have just created a facebook page called Ruined Bywalden.https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006116177033Would you be willing to create a twitter account and tweet a few times per week things like

Has your life been ruined by Walden U?Do you have more than $200, 00 in debt?include some links about student debt and Laureate Education...( I owe $275, 000 and no PhD).
If we push every where maybe we can get enough people to form a group action.I am working on gathering folks together. If you friend the FB page it will make it easier to keep track of everyone.
Thank you, Edie Roth360 594 2953

PhD: Public Health: I worked on my prospectus for 1 year and my committee members never got back to me on my work in a timely manner, gave me stupid critques (usually about format or spelling as opposed to content) one had me rewrite my research questions several times, etc. FINALLY, they told me to send my prospectus to the OSRA for approval and a 3rd member was added from the Dean's office. He said my methodology did not meet Walden's criteria and I would have to re-write it! WTF I'm devastated and broke, worked 4 days a week not 5 but have to go back to 5 days a week now. I think I'm going to quit.
Their website says it is about 49, 000 to get a PhD, I am over 150, 000 in debt and just wasted a year on a paper that didn't meet their criteria with 2 idiot committee members. I cannot start over now, I'm too old, been in school too long, etc.
My attorney wants money instead of pro bono, this is his area of expertise. Let me know if any action will be taken, I'm broke, broken, and devastated, I can't even look at the paper without feeling sick and crying. I'm done. lumielsquare@yahoo.com

I wonder if anyone is still having issues, I see that this is an ongoing theme and I am also stuck in it... I haven't received any communication with my new dissertation chair since my old one was let go for no good reason... I was making leaps of progress with my former chair, and now I have come to a grinding halt... I am DONE with my dissertation but it's been six weeks and no one has read it...
What is our recourse here? What have people been doing to get the ball rolling?

Law Office of John F. Brower: E-Mail jbrower@michedlawcenter.com
This guy specializes in educational law suits. You might want to contact him, he was highly recommended by the famous Feiger Law Firm. His resume is very impressive.
He will not do pro-bono but is reasonable.
I decided to finish this damn PhD dissertation so far, will see how things go. I may still sue for lost wages (took off 1 day a week of work), false advertising on cost of degree, committee members not meeting up to their job descriptions, lack of support, lack of staff to be on a person's committee, etc.
Best wishes to all of you and I am truly sorry for your pain and suffering. I do understand and decided to try to keep going. Best wishes.

OMG! I have just discovered this site...and these blogs...I am a Walden student, as well and have been fighting this battle for MONTHS! I did my MSN there are was very pleased, but my DNP has been a nightmare. The first year was ok; very similar to the MSN coursework, but once I started writing my chapters for my project, it has been awful. One revision after another, absolutely NO progress. I have been saying for months that it is a money-trap...now, I believe it more than ever! I am so disappointed. I am finished with all the courses, but can't get the degree until I get the chapters written from the project..

Please add me to your list of Walden students who want to be involved in a class action law suit. I have been working on my PhD. for about 5 years, taking mostly double classes wit a 4.0 GPA through most of it.. Then came the dissertation process which has been completely unsatisfactory. Some examples include not getting a response from my first prospectus submission for 3 months. After 1 year and 4 months my prospectus has still not approved. This week I was relayed a message from the department head from my committee chair to stop all of my work as I was being terminated from the program for consulting with an outside professional source to complete and give me guidance, as I never received constructive or timely response from Walden. This option is stated in the Student handbook (June 2013) as one that should be made but not required for students from Walden staff. I am told I am in violation of academic policy, and I am still waiting for any updates that were suppose to occur earlier this week. I am able to provide much more incidents and information, as needed. Is anyone really going to do anything? I was suppose to graduate in February 2015, and have acquired a financial aid loan of more than $130, 000. Please feel free to contact me at Kjbmeg@aol.com

Can anyone tell me what university will take me to finish my PhD in Public Health with them? I dont' want to continue at Walden, everything is done except the dissertation. Great school until I reached the dissertation then downhill from there. I want to quit but don't want to be a PhD (abd) my entire life. Please advise.

The above response to complaints from Walden University (no name) is great but I suspect that the people complaining HAVE asked for help without success or to his or her satisfaction.
Perhaps Walden can see a theme here and make corrections at the administration level so that this blog isn't needed any more AND so that future students are not going through hell emotionally and financially like I am.

I would like to be involved in a class action lawsuit against Walden as well. I have a permanently pending masters degree in clinical psychology. As I was supposed to go to the review panel to complete my thesis and graduate my advisor resigned "due to life threatening medical issues" and he talked me into quickly signing my second to be my primary and to letting her pick the new second. She agreed to an email he sent to help me quickly finish the degree as I was done; then after he left during the semester she did not respond to my emails or attempts to contact her until the semester was over. She then noted that she had no awareness of what my thesis was about (although she was supposedly working on it with us for six months). She told me I would have to rewrite everything, to entirely start over. She would not give me a clear definitive "how long and what do I need to do" and when I expressed disagreement and requested intervention from the school they answered that I chose her as my primary and she could make me do whatever she wanted and I would have to rewrite it and pay for another six months or even year if that's what she decided. I requested conflict resolution and could find no paperwork on their website at all. When she finally emailed it to me, it indicated in bold letters that it would be ignored if it was more than 72 hours since the conflict started. I have now over $60, 000 in debt because of the loans I have to them. No other university will accept the work I did with them to help me complete it and when I tracked down Dr. Wilson through LinkedIN he is the President of a college in the Carolinas and he stated he left due to conflict with the school and their policies. He apologized for "sucking" but did nothing to try to help. This has destroyed my life and I can't get decent jobs to try to get out of debt because the degree is incomplete.
My email is angelahuntpaintedlady@gmail.com : I would be glad to start working on whatever we need to do with whoever else is interested so that we can take them to court. We shouldn't be where we are at now because we attended schooling to try to get ourselves into a better place.

New Rubrics Cause Delay of Degree
Walden DBA Student Beware of Changing Rubrics!

Walden University DBA methodologists release a new rubric every two years with new more strict criteria that keeps the student enrolled past expected graduation. Students are NOT GRANDFATHERED for the previous rubric. This is a breach of trust between the university and the student. For instance, my prospectus was approved in 2011. When my chair decided to step down, I had to submit a prospectus to gain a new chair in 2014. I used the same approved prospectus from 2011, and the methodologist deemed the prospectus unsuitable. He suggested that I make changes to the prospectus or start over. This information was three years and $60, 000 too late.

If you applied the new 2014 rubric to those DBA students who published their dissertation prior to 2014, most would fail. Does this mean that their dissertations are no longer scholarly? Should their doctor degrees be revoked? Of course not, because they are grandfathered.

Walden University is supposed to make a positive social change. However, the decision makers are guilty of causing a social problem. The social problem is causing minority students to accumulate debt that may take a decade or more to pay because of poor policies. Once a student starts a program, the program in place should be considered a contract between the student and the university. When the program changes, the contract changes. If the student has to take additional classes because of the changes, a breach of contract occurs.

Not only is there a delay of graduation, second and third effects occur. The student can experience anxiety, depression, loss of sleep, and loss of appetite. This experience can influence job performance. Family members can also experience the setback such as time away from the student. Years can be wasted.

Because Walden University is an accredited for-profit college that has been around for year, taking action can be intimidating. What can action lead to? First, Walden may change their policy to grandfather students on graduation criteria. Second, a lawsuit may hurt Walden financially. Third, the Department of Education may launch an investigation that threatens Walden's accreditation. Fourth, negative social media may deter potential and current students from attending Walden University.

One of the policy changes that could help students to know more about the doctoral chairs. Would you like to know the success rate of graduating students that your chair is responsible for? If you found out that your chair has never graduated anyone, wouldn't you want someone who was more proven. I suspect that there are many doctors who want students to go through unnecessary pain, because the professor had pain when going through his or her doctoral process. This perception would help explain why only 1% of the U.S. population has a doctorate.

To make a positive social change, Walden University DBA program needs to change its policy on changing its program and grandfathering students. If Walden University decision makers are not willing to make a positive change for students, then students need to take action against Walden University for positive change.

DBA new Student"
I sent you a personal e-mail, call me for help. I too have noted changes since I started in 2006 which cause me confusion but I feel like and idiot because I don't "get" the changes and feel like I ask stupid questions. Can't wait to get done with this degree. contact me for help.

I just found this site and am so glad to see that I am not alone! I am a PhD candidate in Clinical/Health psychology. I loved being a Walden student until dissertation. I went through 2 Chairpersons, and the third has been totally inept. #3 resigned as of Dec. 1st, and I am pretty sure it happened because we all started complaining. We were expected to find a new chair within a matter of weeks! I and others were unable to find mentors, and when we contacted our program directors we were given a run around. Finally they were able to place me, and they made it sound like they were doing me a great favor! I was supposed to graduate in 2012, and now we are going into 2015! During the second year of dissertation the IRB ruled that they would not allow PhD students to perform any type of intervention. Well, I was planning on using an intervention, and now I had to scramble to find some way to save my dissertation and over a year's worth of work. We were informed of this change by our mentor, and were never contacted by the university itself. The university did not offer grandfather us, and offered no support or solutions as to how we should proceed. Four years into my dissertation and I am still waiting for my oral defense, although it has been hinted to me that my proposal may be challenged since I now have second-hand data instead of first-hand data! They are the ones who caused this fiasco, and I am very angry.
I am planning on filing for tuition reimbursement, but would love to be part of a class action lawsuit, and I know others who would as well. Besides wasting a great deal of money I have lost potential earnings because I am unable to accept positions without my degree. This has cost my family financial distress.I have been depressed, anxious, have daily migraine headaches, weight gain, and lack of energy. My friends and family just think I am lazy and unmotivated. They make jokes about me being a professional student behind my back which makes me feel sad and humiliated.

I am happy that I am not alone. I am going through the same delay tactics and rubric changes. I have been told by URR that the strategy I used may need to be reclassified. What does this mean? I am finished! How can you come on the back end and don't believe I used appropriate methodology after you approved it? I am so stressed that I called student support tonight. I am struggling financially. I have used professional editors and dissertation coaches to help me, but Walden continues to have roadblocks. I know of people who have complained to Walden officials and have gotten further behind with the assignment of new chairs. The doctoral program is independent study- plain and simple. As such, Walden should not charge full tuition. The new MyDr tracking program will not help students. It is the faculty members who are not helping students, for whatever reason. Maybe the faculty are underpaid and overworked with too many students. I hate the day I enrolled in this nightmare.

I'm currently experiencing discrimination at Walden University .
I contacted the Education Civil right's Department to file a complaint against Walden.
Dr.Pettis Perry called me a woman's name two times and also altered my turnitin Assignments page numbering and APA format .
I provided my original paper's contrasted to the Altered papers to unequivocally distinguish the merit of my statements.
Even though I presented Virtual evidence and screen shots of his demeaning statements my appeal was denied by Walden University.
I also still have in my possession Screen shots of Walden University conflicting dates in their student virtual portal's pertaining to homework assignments and flawed past tense discussion post dates that impeded me in my process of turning in assignments.
Walden also has a mathematical illogical grading format to grade paper's within their student grading portal see for yourself, substantiate my omissions for your self.
Walden takes a base number whole such as 2034 point's for example when each 8 week discussion post is worth 30 points A week.
As you score 23 -26 each week and score 126 out of 220 on your last paper they'll give you an C.
This has happen to me and is retaliatory.
I'm Eddie Donahoo
Phone: [protected]
Date: January 1st, 2015
I'm willing to participate in a class Action that is grounded not in libel or defamation but the pursuit of Academic integrity.

Law Suit
A group of past and present Walden University graduate students who feel they have been victims of educational fraud or scams are in the process of preparing litigation against Walden University. This may or may not be a class action suit or each case may be tried on its individual merits. The attorneys have yet to determine which approach they will take. All cases will be taken on contingency, so there will be no attorney’s fees unless the case is won. Once the law firm begins examining each individual case, they will advise you if your case qualifies for litigation. The more cases we can present, the stronger the pattern of institutional malfeasance we can establish. If you are interested in joining this movement please email your full name, non-Walden email address, school, and degree program to caselog2015@gmail.com There will not be a reply at this time. All contact information will be forwarded to the law firm and they will contact you directly to procure the precise information about your case.

I would like to join this suit. I attempted my Ph.D through Walden over a period of 7 years. The lack of response from my completely incompetent advisor and review board stretch the timeout so long that I eventually run out of money after exhausting all resources. And now I am left with private student loans and no doctorate. Please contact me at regentlambert@aol.com

First, . Walden is a business and will stretch out revenue receipts as long as they are allowed to or need to so that they may demonstrate that they are not a degree mill. Walden or Laureate Education's Chancellor is Bill Clinton that should provide the tell right there. Old Billy would sell his mother for a few bucks since he already sold his soul. Brick and Mortar schools are only better to those who feel they need a building as an anchor. The dark secret is they are for profit just as much as online schools. Their income source is augmented when they fleece alumnus, area business organizations and Federal and State taxpayers. I agree with many of the posts here about the difficulty of getting through the Doctoral Intensives. It took me two years past my three years of course-work. Mind you I had a 4.0 GPA Doctoral Course-work cumulative. I also lost committee members. I had to push and push and push all of the time. Then...it clicked and after 24 final project drafts for my Ed.D. I successfully made it over the hurdles. My advice is to push your committee but listen to constructive criticism and objective guidance. Find a Mentor willing to help you. Above all...follow the rubric exactly no less no more. There were times that I also wanted to pull out and would gladly have joined a class action but then reality sunk in.. I was in for the penny and in for the pound. Deep pockets were against me and I could just have easily lost. So I sucked it up and stuck it out. I know some who did not or could not. Find your strength within because once you have paid your dues you will become a Doctor and no matter what, no one will ever take that accomplishment away from you.
Dr. Tom

I also accrued over $100, 000 due to Walden University. How do I join the class action lawsuit? Email me. turtlejan@yahoo.com

Please let me join this class action suite! I had a GPA of 3.75 before writing my Prospectus. I've taken the same class 4x now! My chairperson claims my writing isn't scholarly enough. She wants to know how I made it this far! Someone please help me! I can't afford to take the same class a 5th time!

Please contact me if anyone is interested in a Class-Action Lawsuit against Walden University.

Thank you, A. Pichardo

I am so interested!

I don't feel alone in this situation anymore, and I will definitely be on board to file a Class-Action Lawsuit against Walden. I am a middle school teacher but wanted to get my Master's in Clinical Psychology. After finishing two years and owing almost $100, 000, Walden stated that I could not perform my practicum at my current job location nor anywhere that I had been previously affiliated with. They suggested that I take a leave of absence from my job and find another location to complete it. I was a single mom of two young daughters...their father nowhere in the picture nor paying child support, and I do not live near any relatives who could help out every single day. I asked the dean of the psychology department how in the world I could possibly do that. His reply was, "You can figure it out. People have done it before." After stating my desperation, he said he would talk with the "board" (whoever that is). After many more calls, he said that I should change degree and simply get my Master's in Psychology instead of Clinical Psychology. I trusted his advice, and at that point, I assumed I was finished taking classes since Clinical Psychology required more classes but no. I had to take 3 more classes before they would allow me to finish with a degree that does not better my situation at all.
Please email me if I can be a part of getting atonement somehow.
jules79.la@gmail.com

I don't know where to start so I am going to hope that I am clear in what is going on with hopes this can be rectified. I attended Walden University in [protected], I was not in attendance very long. During the course of being with the university, I was enrolled in a Doctoral program that was for Special Education. This special education program, as I was informed, was based on online learning and a thesis. Being that I was a new mother, this worked best for the needs of my family. Upon enrolling in the program, and after starting courses, I was informed that I would have to attend colloquiums for the program- something that was not informed of me during the time of enrollment by my enrollment counselor, Bev Foster. After discussions with the university and getting the university Ombudsman involved, I was informed that the colloquiums were 1.) required to take for the program and 2.) I was correct that Bev did not inform me appropriately of the demands of this program. I was informed that I could either stay in that program and do the required colloquiums OR transfer to another program that did not have those- myself, me enrollment advisor, and ombudsman did not know what program that would be. I was then put into contact with Miranda Olsen. After further decision and more back and forth with Miranda Olsen, I was informed that NONE of the classes would transfer over to the EDD program which did not have colloquiums in the program. therefore I would have to start from scratch for all of my courses. This was now December 22, 2011. I had already invested a good amount of money into the program and now I was unable to use any of the courses to transfer over to the other program. During this time of trying to figure things out, the system automatically enrolled me in another course (this was supposed to be suspended while this all worked out). In January 4th, 2012 the same day that I started to petitioning being enrolled in the program, I submitted a "Leave of Absence Request" so no further classes were added to my account and so I could figure out what I was going to do. I was also going through a divorce as well as some pretty significant health issues. On March 6, 2012, I emailed the university letting them know I would be changing my program and needed to have the hold removed. I was officially entered into the new program on March 13th, 2012. Mind you, at this point I had not enrolled in any classes in the new program. Issues continued to arise with Walden University and I was unable to get a clear understanding of the new program and continued to work with the Ombudsman. On March 16th, I was informed that 2 classes might be able to transfer over and that I needed to contest this and went through the motions of doing so. On April 3rd, an email from Jenna Gray regarding the new program and the courses that it entailed. Continued email communication back an fourth lead to Jenna Gray enrolling me in a course that started on April 30th, 2012-- still working with the Ombudsman of the University, I was getting no where with the University- I was not getting credit for the majority of courses I had taken and $$ I had spent without it being able to be used towards my degree. I was informed by the Ombudsman to participate some in the courses I was enrolled in while we worked things out as the University was unable to put me on another academic hold while things were figured out. Without getting any support and finalization with the issues I was having, I, in conversations with the Ombudsman, withdrew from Walden University on June 6th, 2012. When I withdrew it was clear understanding and knowledge that due to the issues I had been having with my degree as well as lack of support from the University the withdraw from the University would leave my account at a $0.00 balance and we would amicably go our separate ways. My account remained at a $0.00 balance until September of 2012 when I got notified my account was sent to collections for failure to pay $7, 440.00 in tuition fees! I contacted the Cedar Financial regarding this was emails, letters, proof that the account was at a $0.00 balance, they said they would look into it. I heard NOTHING. I called Walden and they said they no longer had my account on file and that I needed to speak with the collection agency. A YEAR later, I got another bill from the collection agency for $7, 440.00 noting I owe this to Walden. Again I called and EMAILED them all the documentation at which point it was clear that I did not, in fact owe the said amount. They never got back to me. Here we are, 2016, and now I have a collection account on my credit report for Walden University when I have evidence that I was not enrolled in the classes willingly nor did I act alone in withdrawing from the University-- clear communications with the Ombudsman about what was happening and the lack of rectification of this issue was presented.

My email is KeithNewman@Yahoo.com. Like you I was ripped off by Walden. i want to sue. Together we can all sue. Please contact me and let's get this thing started.