Walden University Civil Rights Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Three former graduate students are suing Walden University, a private, online and for-profit school.
- Why: The students accuse the school of targeting female and Black students in its Doctor of Business Administration program, overcharging them by more than $28.5 million.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Maryland federal court.
Walden University faces accusations of a “multi-part discriminatory, fraudulent, deceptive and dishonest scheme” that exploited Black and female students in its Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program, overcharging them by more than $28.5 million, according to a Yahoo.com article.
The plaintiffs, Aljanal Carroll, Claudia Provost Charles and Tiffany Fair, are Black or biracial women who were enrolled in Walden’s DBA program. Walden allegedly strung them along for years, delaying each of their capstone projects for weeks at a time with frivolous edits. They were forced to re-enroll and continue paying for extra semesters.
Walden is also accused of consumer protection violations and “reverse redlining,” the “practice of targeting communities for predatory products or less favorable treatment based on race or gender.”
Walden has filed to dismiss this class action lawsuit, calling it “baseless and inflammatory,” according to the Yahoo article.
Walden’s Scheme Saddled Plaintiffs With $178K in Student Debt
The class action lawsuit seeks to certify three classes: a Title VI Class, a ECOA Black Student Class and a ECOA Female Student Class. These classes cover all Black and female students who enrolled in Walden’s DBA program between Aug. 1, 2008, and Jan. 31, 2018, were charged for and successfully completed more than the number of capstone-level credits that Walden initially stated and applied for and/or received student loans for their Walden education.
Carroll spent more than three years in the DBA program, Yahoo reports. She was initially promised a graduation time of 18 months by her Walden enrollment advisor. Carroll spent about $15,500 in tuition and fees for the additional semesters.
Charles was promised a degree in two and a half years, but it took her almost four years to graduate, Yahoo reports. She was charged $16,000 more than initially represented and owes almost $88,000 in student loans for her Walden education, as of Dec. 2021.
Fair graduated after spending four and a half years in the program and $54,000, according to the Yahoo article. Her Walden enrollment advisors initially quoted an enrollment of two and a half years for $26,215. Fair has almost $90,000 in student loans from her time at Walden, as of Dec. 2021.
Have you faced a similar experience at Walden University or elsewhere? Share your experience in the comments section below.
The plaintiff is represented by the National Student Legal Defense Network and Alexa T. Milton of Relman Colfax PLLC.
The Walden University Civil Rights Class Action Lawsuit is Carroll et al. v Walden University LLC et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-00051-JMC, in the U.S. District Court of Maryland.
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78 thoughts onWalden U Class Action Claims School Overcharged Black, Female Students By $28.5M
I have already posted a comment and after reading these comments again, i feel that Walden should accept responsibility and do what is right. I was strung along by Walden for several years and finally accepted a MPHIL after receiving a stern email from the Department Chair. Given the circumstances, I feel that I should have been able to progress and finish the degree, however, even after changing chairs, the last chair was inconsistent in her guidance. For example, she asked if I could just find someone who said “this”. I found someone and even talked to the author of the article. The author even offered to continue speaking with me. Then after speaking with my chair, she changed courses and discounted my efforts to use the author who provided almost an exact quote of my writing. I was so disappointed. And I am still trying to recover from the payments to Walden and I exhausted my GI Bill on Walden. I have since enrolled in a PhD program at another school but I am paying out of pocket, about $5800 per year. I feel that I should be reimbursed from Walden for all payments at the current school. Thank you for your time and attention.
I was a student at Walden University from 2013 to 2022. I missed 2 or 3 sessions during this time. I sailed through the course work and finally made it to the dissertation phase, but only to rejection after rejection after rejection of my Prospectus. I submitted a request to change Chairs and I thought we were going to have a good working relationship, but I would prepare the Prospectus, the Chair would review and kick it back to me. After receiving a “U”, I appealed to the Director to have my grade changed to a “W” and was denied. In the end, I accepted the MPHIL and left the University after paying over $66,000. I was really disappointed that I spent that much money for a PhD in Public Policy and Administration at Walden and was unable to complete my degree. I am now enrolled in a Global Leadership PhD program, and I am fortunate that they accepted some of my credits from Walden, but I am still about 1 or 2 years from completing the program. However, at least I can see some light at the end of the tunnel. I am/was very disappointed with Walden University.