Walden University Rankings by Salary Score

Where to even start with Walden, my mom says if you have nothing nice, say nothing at all. The only nice things I can say is that some of their faculty is kind and it’s convenient for working students who need a flexible set of courses to accommodate their work schedule. Aside from that from 2017 til this month, October 2021 I have been a student at Walden. I am going to point out each deceptive practice from my own personal experience. 1. Scholarships and discounts. I was told by the enrollment advisor that... Read More 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 fo 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 ref 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 it’s 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.