I am Public Health PhD candidate and had to stop due to $100,000.00 in debt which was without the start of the dissertation. All coursework was completed. The staff member overseeing my dissertation was useless. Would not return phone calls, failed to offer constructive criticism - told me to hire a consultant. Is that not his job in so many words? Very troubling to owe this amount of money and when employers see Walden on the resume they suddenly change their level of interest.

It is a form of robbery to spend as much time and money and effort and take away months from our families to end up with a degree that has as much merit as a word processed document. We have to take a stand and we have to make sure that the college does not continue to pilfer funds for profit advantages without following through on their product completion. After attending the required Walden face to face sessions I am really angry at myself I did not see the cult like environment they aspired to make us become just as they are.

I am all in for the class action suit.

Hello. I'm a reporter working on a story for CNBC.com about Laureate Education Inc.'s IPO and the company's track record in for-profit higher education both here and abroad. Please contact me if you would like to share details of your dealings with Walden University. Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Gary Gately
410-842-5916
[email protected]

I would love to be a part of this class action lawsuit!!!!
I feel like the rest of you and robbed of an opportunity to earn a degree and advance my leadership potential. I too have exhausted financial aid and still no degree. After years of inadequate support and advice from my previous chair, I finally got with someone whom I thought was going to see me thru to the end. My prospectus had been completed and approved. I received confirmation from the IRB twice and then it happened. As I was writing the final chapter of my dissertation, I received an email from my chair indicating my research was inadequate and I had to start over!!! How does this happen???
And all of this after I was placed with a chair who was ineffectively working at another school and did not know who I was! When I requested a new chair who believed in me and my research, I was denied. And a month later she resigned and wasted my time. Walden has lost the purpose and focus of their institution; instead of focusing on ensuring students graduate , the professors give you the run around and you are the one left to question your ability to finish.
Please let me know what I need to do to join this lawsuit.

I would love to join in the class action lawsuit. I was one of the students that went from getting a EDD to getting an EDS...this EDS is now priced at $140,000. I changed degrees because I was already up over $100,000 and hadn't even start my disertation. I had to pay professors $100 an hour for help with my dissertation and the one person I know who finished it and got published it took her 3 years. NOW I have a degree that gets me nothing. I would have to get more education to be in Administration. I have applied to multiple university and colleges and no one is impressed with the degree. I spoke to the student loan people and they say that my student loans for the EDS which has NOT CHANGED my earning ability one bit...is costing me $540.00 A MONTH in interest - which is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. Please let me know what I need to do to be part of this...I SO REGRET this degree!!!

I thought I was alone until I read the complaints. I have completed the Proposal (first three chapters) of my dissertation at Walden University. I am over 150,000. in debt. I owed nothing for my undergraduate degree and masters. I had to complete my PhD for my university teaching job. I was working full time and completing the degree. The debt mounted, but I had no choice but to continue. As others have mentioned, this degree has taken much longer than it should have, and at this point, it costs about 5100. every quarter. I have reached the maximum I can borrow, I cannot afford the cost of another quarter, and I have no degree. I do not know what I will do next, but it will not be at Walden. I am also worried it is a scam, or at the very least predatory.

I am interested in joining a lawsuit against this institution and against their owners, Laureate Higher Education. I am in my dissertation process and about 150,00 in debt with NOTHING to show for it. I am held up by a chair who is over taxed with a load of students and has other courses he teaches. I am going nowhere fast, and they are just soaking up my money every eleven weeks. The powers that be, hold up every revision, and the chair has had me re-write numerous versions of chapter 2, of which, I go back and see that it was exactly what I had written months before. It is a scam, and now, I am indebted to them to my eyeballs. They have lied to me at admissions three years ago. I have been out thousands on their so called Residencies, which are a joke and nothing but another money maker at rate of 1,300 plus room, travel and food expenses for a week at a time. I don't think their practices are legal and certainly not ethical. They are predatory to say the least! I will be glad to bring all emails and correspondences to a trial.

I graduated in April 2014 with a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership. I experienced many of the same issues others have posted. I enrolled in the program when it first started and have vast experience with all of the changes Walden implemented since 2005. I would gladly participate in a class action lawsuit should one be initiated. There is an obvious interest in filing against Walden. I can be reached at [email protected].

I would also gladly take part in a class action suit for the amount of debt that I am now in (with no degree) because of Walden University!

I want to join in on this class action lawsuit. I was working on my PhD at Walden and have yet to complete my dissertation. I took one quarter off for personal reasons and now Walden is making it difficult for me to get back on track. At 83,000 in student loans...most is interest, $33,000... I am expected to pay 1,005.00 per month and still no degree. Please include me in your class action lawsuit, perhaps together we can make changes in the student loan lending business.

I would gladly join the lawsuit as well. I earned my MPH, but can't afford the bill. 68,000 later, with monthly payments close to 800.00, you would think this was as Ivy League education. They also screwed me with my financial aid conveniently running out for my last semester where I had to pay thousands out of pocket to complete my degree. They were extremely unhelpful, referring me to their policies. Ridiculous. I feel scammed.

Started my program at Walden in 2009. I was told I could complete in 3-4 years. I spent the last 2 years in Dissertation review with paying for 6 credit hours each semester (3 semesters per year). Most institutions will give you the option to register for less credit hours when you aren't doing as much work. That allows for you to control your tuition. Not Walden. Six credit hours was the minimum.

Completed self taught coursework. Was in dissertation process in 2007 after continued disjointed feedback, change of rubrics, and statements that this is a process which really meant...send more money. I withdrew from the program with $70,000 in debt and nothing to show but failure to be more informed. One Lousy decision that will effect my finances and career.

I would love information about how to join the class action law suit. I would have graduated a year ago had I been assigned to a competent committee chair and a responsive 2nd committee member. I have witnesses of the disjointed and confusing phone conversations with the committee chair member as I struggled to figure out how to begin my prospectus and proposal. Email messages and phone calls to my 2nd committee member seeking help went unanswered. I finally was reassigned, suddenly and without explanation, to a very qualified committee chair. However, it is still costing me thousands of extra dollars due to the extended time and I am afraid that I have run out of money and do not know how I will finish with the program to receive my degree. I am heart-sick, and very disappointed in an institution that I put my complete trust, and $150 K of my dollars into (received my MSN through Walden also) to complete my graduate studies.

I would definitely join a class action lawsuit against Walden University. I am now six figures in debt for a degree I can't even get a job with. They definitely stretch out your education over as much time as possible while you rack up student loan debt.

Walden Student

My story very similar. I'm an RN, MSN , 3/4 through my DNP. I was told in class's I could not use my work experiences for discussions. I was a professor at a nursing college. Told it had to be about hospital issues. We had a major paper due and we had to use a hospital quality stats for our paper. I emailed the professor and told her I did not have access to this & could I use my colleges reports on success, etc. I was told no to " figure it out somehow or make up the data". I got a 54% on the paper!!! No way to fix it & passes! I am an honor student weigh a 3.8 GPA. And now I owe for the class out of pocket & am stuck.
I too would be interested in joining the suit.

I, too, am a Ph.D. in candidate. I, too, have completed all course work. I have been working on my proposal for at least five years and have had two committee chairs. I discovered that my last chair had not even been reading my proposal. I had to hire a private coach to assist me with my proposal. I am over $70,000 in student loans. My student loans are at their limit so we have had to take money out of our house to finance this term. I have a call into the attorneys as well. I do hope they call me soon.

I absolutely would join a class action law suit. I am ABD and will likely never earn the degree I intended to because of this college. I completely all course work and started the dissertation. I was assigned a "faculty chair" who "guided me" through my dissertation. We wrote it, submitted it, and got an email back that it was my fault that I had used the "wrong template" and that my paper would not be accepted. I have emails to substantiate these claims. I tried to talk to Dr. Gardner and he flat out said it was my fault. I used the template my chair INSISTED I had to follow in order to graduate, maxed out financial aid to do so, and at the end of the day, got told to take a capstone course for a lesser degree. Complete fraud.

I was a DBA student at Walden for almost 3 years. I am embarrassed to admit that I fell for their snake oil education. It really wasn't until I started my doctoral study that I began seeing the bigger picture. I had already noticed that many people in my "cohort" were putting out crappy work, but they kept passing classes along with me. That should have been enough for me to quit then, but I persisted.

In my doctoral study, the "methodologist" refused to grant my topic several time stating it had to be a business problem. If I had been researching customer retention at any business it would be allowed, but since I was looking at retention at a college it was considered an "educational" problem. So after I finally got my topic approved after months of back and forth, the real games started. Walden changed the requirements of the doctoral study in progress. At first, they said we would be grandfathered in, but that was a lie. My paper soon came back rejected because it was not in the new format. I had to re-write entire sections. Their processes always took a long time, and the feedback from the 2nd chair was worthless. After 6 weeks, my paper finally came back from the 2nd chair with only a few minor grammar errors (a few missed double spacings after a sentence), and he refused to read it further until it was fixed. After one entire semester (16 weeks), that was the only feedback I ever received. I knew then that my window on the research was closing )(have to remain 5 current years) and 40% of my sources were from 2011. I wasn't going to start over again.

I also had members of my cohort complain that Walden inserted another oversight step. They thought they were approved from URR to next go to IRB, but now the "lead methodologist" was reviewing all papers. Of course, he found several errors that moved them back. Those delays cost them an entire semester as well. This was not just isolated to the DBA either. My wife was in the Ed.D program and she and her cohort had similar issues. Walden just wants to delay you as much as possible to line their pockets with your tuition.

Walden assumes you are already in so deep that you will persist. Many students do but I chose to finally leave. When I did, the DBA head called me a quitter. She didn't address a single issue that I brought up, but just said they have a process that is the "Walden Way". That is code for stealing your money and time.

This "university" is a fraud. Do not attend and listen to their lies and false promises. Go to a real school if you must get your doctorate. Many universities like Arizona State, Penn State, and Oregon State all have online programs.

I agree that Walden is doing some funky things with the financial aid refunds. Get to the bottom of it and sign the petition that will lead to an investigation http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-online-fradulent

I enrolled in the Ed.D program at Walden University in 2009. Here it is, 2015 and I still do not have my Ed.D. I had advanced to the URR stage of my dissertation. During one submission, I was told that adequate progress was being made. During another submission, many negative comments were made to my proposal draft. Seemingly, this process went back and forth forever. When I finally reached the URR stage of my dissertation, would you believe there were over 100 negative comments made after it was supposedly reviewed by my primary Chair? I have the documentation to support this accusation. There's so much more to report. I was told by Walden's Financial Department that I had exhausted all of my funds causing me to opt out of the Ed.D program. Therefore, considering the small amount of financial aid I had left, it was suggested that I attend the Capstone course to obtain an Ed.S from Walden University. I exhausted so much TIME and MONEY on an Ed.D that I may not ever get the opportunity to receive. I am 6 figures in debt thanks to Walden University. Can you imagine how long it would take me to payoff a student loan of this caliber? I feel that I am a victim of an educational fraud. I'm interested in joining other past and present colleagues of Walden University in the event there's a Class Action Law Suit against Walden University. [email protected] 9/12/2015

I would love to join the class action lawsuit against Walden University. They need to be stopped. I have completed all classes for PhD and attended 3 residencies for them to rip me off. I have email descrepencies amongst faculty.

I just got of the phone with Walden and am numb. I am a MSN NP student and ready for my practicum. I took a LOA for a few months due to the relocation from WI to FL and the difficulty finding a practicum rotation. Walden told me today that I am unable to finish my degree because FL doesn't allow you to state a program in one state and finish in FL. So $40,000 later, they told me to travel 10+ hours to GA or NC to do my practicum. Really?! The FL board of nursing doesn't know anything about this. Waiting to hear back from a supervisor from Walden. I am so upset I am shaking right now.

If and when I am informed that I can participate in a classActon Law Suit I would gladly
provide detailed information regerding my complaints.

At Walden University, we take the concerns and experiences of our students very seriously. We are committed to working with our students to address any issues or concerns they may have. If you would like to discuss your specific situation, we are here to help you. Please contact us at [email protected] and provide us with your name, student ID, program of study, location, and specific details of your situation, and one of our school managers will contact you. Thank you.

I wish I had found this site before I enrolled in Walden U because I wouldn't have gone in if I had read any of this.

This is my first class with them. They have already taken my money and from the start everything was wrong. The first thing was getting in touch with financial aid--I only have 1 class for the summer but when I looked at my information on the billing it didn't show the exact amount I should be getting back. I called; I emailed, and I never got either an email back or a full answer. Later, one lady told me that the academic advisor had listed two classes for summer but that they weren't charging me for that so they would show it as a refund soon. I asked her why there were 2 classes for the 8week term and she didn't know. They probably did this to get over on the U.S. Federal government some kind of way but I do not know for sure. All I know is they told them I was taking two when I am only allowed to take the one (one class at a time is their requirement for the first course...or at least that's what yet another lady in the financial aid department said).

They keep sending the same "Your Bill" email and it still has the same inaccuracies. I am not comfortable with this school due to this and their lack of forthcoming answers. Things that should have been discussed and told before the student starts were not discussed. The enrollment advisor seemed to only want to make yet another sell.

The classroom structure is horrible. If you're expecting the teacher to actually teach forget about it. There are not any (at this time anyway) video discussions posted, the teacher has not written any actual educational information for the class. It is like teaching yourself entirely. The only thing the instructor of this class has done is ask for two discussions (none of which she has spent time in other than to tell people to spell check) and the students have to submit one paper. It's like all she does is grade and spit out numbers but doesn't actually teach. I could have taught myself by just searching online for information (which I have to do anyway since she doesn't actually teach) and I would have saved myself a lot of money.

My hope is to move by mid next year where I will be closer to a college/university and I will be able to go to a real school. I am not close to any now which is why I decided to stop waiting for the move in order to go back to school. Had I known this school doesn't really teach I would have just tried to wait until I got settled in a new state with a bigger city instead of township and got into school before going. If I could get a do-over I would not pick this school.