Walden University Reviews

I went to a brick and mortar undergraduate school and honestly this was pretty disappointing (University of Utah). I think much of schooling is really disappointing in general; with this said I work in the middle of know where and am over one hundred miles from other places to go to school. Walden works for me and I think that i learn as much as from another school due to my own efforts and am able to complete a degree in the boonies. I think that Walden compares to most online schools, I feel that I am essentially on my own and pay a lot for this. This works for me because I am already a supervisor in my field and need further education to progress. I think that Walden is good if you already have expirience in your field and just need to complete a requirement for advancement. All said and done I would be happier with less tuition.

I just completed my PhD program at Walden. I found the academic rigor of the program comparable to brick and mortar institutions, and personally found I learned more in the online environment due to the requirement to engage with students and faculty with the written word, several times/week. All of my professors were working in industry as well as teaching so brought to their comments points of views that enriched the learning experience. I particularly enjoyed the engagement with classmates from all over the US and World and think more strategically as a result. During the KAM writing and Dissertation stages of my program, it was important to remain self-motivated and willing to be the scholar that Walden trains you to be. Walden University will not hold your hand as you complete KAMs or your dissertation. Completion requires self-organization, self-regulation, self-management, self-motivation. If you are unable to think independently, you will not succeed at Walden. In addition to the academic rigor, the student support services at Walden were excellent. I always received a response to questions/issues/problems within 24 hours and always satisfactory from advising, financial aid, the writing center, the research center, registrar, etc. Also, the Walden Library is superb and I will greatly miss having access to it. I highly recommend Walden University.

As a recent Ed.D. graduate (2013) I found Walden to be a very challenging and rigorous course of study. The school is certainly research focused so if you are not self-motivated then it may not be the right place. I did find that during the doctoral process that my chair, committee member, and URR were extremely helpful and wanted me to be successful. The IRB process is somewhat overstated, however the rest of the process was very doable if you are willing to put the time into it.

I have read through many reviews on here, and truly cannot believe the negative ones. I am drawn to beleive that many of the negative reviews are due to student willingness to put in effort. My education thus far received has been fantastic. Walden honed my skills in writing at the academic level, broadened my ability to perform research in the areas of policy analysis and campaign strategy, and improved my critical reading skills. I am completing my dissertation with Walden, and have never found the process to be strung out. My chair is great, receptive, and really knows the topic area. The majority of professors teach at other major universities, and have extensive experience in their feilds. My chair was selected because she has sat with some of the greatest researchers in campaign research, and worked along side them. The professors I had for quantitative reasoning were really great in statistics, and had real world applications of their research, as well as a quality life and placement in academia. The reviews on here that are negative simply do not reflect the quality of educators at the school. To address issues such as academic advising, this also sounds incorrect by review of other comments. Academic advising has been very receptive, informative, and very familar with the process. My academic advisor has always been spot on with information provided, and in addition has always answered my e-mails or phone calls very promptly. I would also like to state my education moved in into academia, where I am now adjuncting a few courses per semester, plus working full time at a regular position in business. If it were not for my going back to Walden I would have have gotten a position teaching in college. I could not have gone back the traditional route for my Ph.D. as it wouldn't be possible to survive (rent, utilities, bills in general) and getting paid a $600 per month stipend. Many of these reviews I wonder if they truly are students at the school, or the older academics who are fighting the new trend. The world is changing, and people do not have the ability to go to a traditional school for a Ph.D. or M.A. while sarcrificing a real salary. Things have grown to expensive to do such even with student loans, because not enough money comes back to afford rent and bills. Walden gives many great minds the opportunity to go further. Traditional academia does not like it because it intrudes upon their "exclusive" club.

I've read several of the reviews, focusing on the negative ones and I am a little amazed! I did my research before enrolling at Walden and I have a friend who attended which helped me decide to choose this school. I enrolled in March of 2012 and will complete my degree in August of 2013. I have had positive experiences with the instructors and financial aid office. I have not had to use job placement services or student support services. I have a 4.0 GPA. Some of the classes have been more challenging than others but just as many people have said, "you get out what you put in"! However, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I thought the cost was reasonable, a MBA with the University of Florida is $45K and MPA at FIU is $21K and Walden was about $22K (including books). Although, some of the courses were easier than other, most of the work was challenging. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person and it sometimes took me hours to write a two page paper because of all the research and references I had to include. I was accepted into FIU but decided to attend Walden so far I have no regrets. I liked Walden and have recommended to others who have enrolled.