Hello everyone, I officially enrolled in Walden University's M.S. in Education, with a specialization of Elementary Reading and Literacy. This is the accelerated program, which means I will take two classes at a time starting with my 3rd and 4th classes. The accelerated program can be completed in 12 months and it's considerably cheaper; it's $9,980 (ballpark) and I get a 20% discount off of that. Free books and shipping to me here in Vietnam. I don't have access to my class yet, but I've looked around the school's website and it looks pretty good. It looks a lot more appealing than Ashford University's setup. Anyways, I will check in often to let you know how it goes. When I was interested in Ashford's programs, I heavily relied on the constant feedback of someone who regularly posted here, so I owe others (that may be looking at Walden) the same.
As a Walden grad, I'll share again that I loved my program. My MSEd was in Designing Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment. I wrapped up in 2008, and I believe the program has changed quite a bit. Mine wasn't "accelerated" but I ended up taking 2 courses per 8 week term to finish as soon as possible. (My wife and I found out we were expecting our first child.) I enjoyed the setup of the program in that you would have the same professor for two courses in a row, so it felt like we could at least attempt to build a relationship with them. I hope you enjoy your program! I was considering them for the PhD, but the cost, even with my alumni discount, was just too much. -Matt
Thanks for sharing that Matt. Everyone I've talked to about Walden had positive things to say. I'm really looking forward to it. One question for you: did you have self-directed courses? That's part of the program; you have one course with an instructor and then another that is self-directed. Not sure what that really means, but I do know they only cost $240 per course.
No, all of my courses had instructors attached. Again, I completed my coursework in 2007-08, so the programs may have changed a bit since then, or it could be your specific program. -Matt