Walden University is a private online for-profit university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and specialist degrees. The university is owned by Adtalem Global Education, which purchased the university in August 2021.
History
Walden was established in 1970 by two New York teachers, Bernie and Rita Turner, who created a program for working adults/teachers to pursue doctoral degrees. In the summer of 1971, the first classes took place in Naples, Florida, focusing primarily on school administrators. The initial classes allowed students to form dissertation topics with their faculty partners before returning to work at their respective schools while completing their dissertations. In 1972, Walden conferred its first degrees: 46 PhDs and 24 EdDs at its first commencement in Naples.
In 1979, the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board licensed Walden to grant PhDs and EdDs in the state and in 1982 the school moved its headquarters to Minneapolis. In 1990, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools accredited the University.
Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc., purchased 41 percent of Walden University in 2001, gaining a controlling interest in 2002. In 2004, Sylvan Learning Systems became Laureate Education, Inc. Former US President Bill Clinton was an Honorary Chancellor of Laureate International Universities from 2010 to 2015. Clinton was the keynote speaker at Walden University's commencement on July 30, 2011. Jonathan Kaplan served as CEO from 2007 to 2018. Mr. Kaplan previously served three years as economic policy adviser to President Clinton.
In 2013, Laureate Education Inc. and GSV Capital, IFC, Learn Capital and Yuri Milner provided $43M in funding to Coursera to expand online education. In 2015, Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico and director of the Yale University Center for the Study of Globalization, succeeded President Clinton as Laureate Education's Presidential Counselor.
In October 2016, NBC News reported that the Minnesota Office of Higher Education was investigating a spike in student complaints. NBC News further reported that former students had filed a class action suit against the school for prolonging their enrollments for years, "until they were left hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and still short of a degree."
In September 2020, Adtalem Global Education began the process of purchasing Walden University. In August 2021, Adtalem Global Education Inc completed its acquisition of Walden University for $1.48 billion.
In May 2022, Michael Betz was appointed as the president of Walden University. Betz previously served as a partner at McKinsey & Co. and was a leader in McKinsey’s higher education and growth transformation practices.
Walden is the top granter of healthcare administration master's degrees, Master of Science in Nursing degrees, and public health doctoral degrees in the U.S., according to the National Center for Education Statistics IPEDS database.
African American student population
Walden University graduates a high number of Black/African American students. According to the NCSES's 2020 Survey of Earned Doctorates, Walden University granted doctorates to 1,383 Black or African American students between 2016 and 2020. This was the highest number of Black doctoral recipients granted by a U.S. university during that period and represented about 37% of the 3,726 total doctoral students that graduated from Walden during that same period.
In January, 2022, the civil rights law firm Relman Colfax and the National Student Legal Defense Network filed a class-action lawsuit against Walden University that alleges that Walden engages in “reverse redlining” by targeting its advertisements to Black and female students while misrepresenting the costs and credit hours required for its doctoral degrees.
Relationship to Bill Clinton
From 2010 to 2015, former US President Bill Clinton was an Honorary Chancellor of Laureate International Universities, Walden's former parent company. He received $17.6 million from Laureate as part of this role. President Clinton was the keynote speaker at Walden University's commencement on July 30, 2011.
During the 2016 United States presidential election, then-candidate Donald Trump alleged that his opponent Hillary Clinton used her husband's connection to Laureate Education to launder money through grants to the institution from the State Department. However, fact checkers at The Washington Post and PolitiFact.com found no evidence that Laureate received money from any federal agency during Bill Clinton's presidency or while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.