I have been reading this board for awhile now and I have started to come to some conclusions that many regular posters may not be aware of. Some one asked why males dominate here; I don't know why that is, but what I can tell you is that the board attracts certain types that are not really representative of all distance learners overall. I am willing to bet that far more women seek distance learning than men. I realize many (men and women) probably come to the board and get some help and just don't have the time or interest to come back regularly, especially after they make their choice of which degree program to pursue. The regular readers and contributors are not representative of distance learners overall. You are probably wondering what I'm basing this on. I read a lot about the Big 3, and for doctorates it seems to be Touro, Union, NCU, or maybe Nova and some foreigns that get discussed the most. Readers here know about these institutions but the masses of DL learners out there do not. There was a recent poll here asking where people were seeking doctorates. This list included: Union Touro NCU NSU Univ. of Nebraska UK Australia Africa Other "Other" would include the institutions that actually enroll the most students, like Walden, for example, but on this board, all "other" combined is only about the same as NCU. NCU is not even considered a serious competitor with the big ones out there (though I think NCU will eventually become a serious competitor). Well, after attending Walden's commencement this weekend, I can tell you they have a bigger DL program than any mentioned here on a regular basis and their integrity and mission is very, very high. I am very surprised that Walden is not discussed more. No, I am not on a mission to market for Walden, but yes I do work for them and I'm just making an observation that seems interesting to me. Of course I did consider Walden for my own doctorate but I opted for the additional flexibility of NCU. Walden appears to consider its only "real competitors" to be Capella, UOP, and one other, I don't know which one, but I don't think it is one regularly mentioned on this board. Just thought some of you might be interested in another perspective...
I have long been aware of Walden's programs and consider them to be quite good. My only reservation is the cost. I simply can not afford the Walden price tag. Jack
Same here. I gave Walden a serious look for their Masters programs, but it's just too steep when compared to what else is out there.
I'm not sure why they're not talked about here more. I think it might have been said here much earlier that many Walden grads hang out elsewhere, but my memory is getting a bit foggy in my old age, so I'm not sure. Expensive they are, as another poster duly noted, but they also seem to offer high-quality master's and doctoral programs in business, education, and psychology.
Walden has been mentioned many times by many of us on Degreeinfo. However, some programs tend to be "hot" topics for a period of time and many posts are generated by them. The hot one at the moment is Northcentral, so we're seeing quite a few posts about NCU. Touro was the big one before that. A while back, it seemed as though every other post was dedicated to California Coast, especially during the heyday of its bit for DETC accreditation. Walden has been one of the most stable and established of the virtual programs. A colleague of mine teaches part-time for Walden and has many complimentary things to say about the quality of the curriculum and instructional materials that are provided to him. There are probably more Walden grads in faculty and administrative postitions in higher ed than those of any other virtual program. Walden has, historically, awarded more doctorates than any other virtual program (over 100 per year), but it appears that Capella has now surpassed Walden in quantity. My search of the Dissertation Abstracts database shows 126 listings for Capella dissertations in 2003 and 208 in 2004. My copy of the 2003 Survey of Earned Doctorates (which, interestingly enough, includes Walden but not Capella or NCU) show that Walden awarded 117 doctorates in 2003. Incidentally, Dissertation Abstracts show 12 Northcentral dissertaitons in 2003 and 23 in 2004. The feedback that you are seeing on this forum is quite indicative of comments about Walden ("Walden's program looks very good, but the price is so high").
A former graduate professor of mine, and now coworker, told me he considered teaching for Walden. He said that they "wined and dined" him and a few other candidates - everything was first class. In the end he decided not to teach for them because they were going require too much from him for just an adjunct position. I strongly considered them back in 2001, but I concluded that they were [are] just too darn expensive! So, if there are any staff members from Walden reading this post that has a say in how much to charge, consider lowering your price!
As a Social Worker, my first peek at the Walden programs is their PhD in Human Services. For a Social Worker it's a slam dunk because it allows for a variety of foci. However, most Social Workers moving from the MSW strata to the PhD strata do not experience a substantial increase in income. If you pumped the equivalent time and money into a private psychotherapy practice you'd probably make double what the PhD will bring. So who can afford to throw tens of thousands of dollars into a PhD without expecting a financial return? Not me, at least. Jack
