Walden University, LLC

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/03/11) */
Walden University takes student concerns seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issuesThe student has expressed concerns regarding the grade she received in a course she was enrolled in during the Winter TermShe also
claims that she has attempted to bring her concerns to the attention of her program leadership but has not received the help she requestedSeveral members of university have attempted to contact this student and assist in the resolution of her issues, but she has not respondedAdditionally, the student has not availed herself of the student grade appeal processWe would ask that *** *** *** contact Academic Advising at XXX-XXX-XXXX to begin this process
When a student at Walden University wished to challenge a grade received in a particular course, university process requires that a grade appeal be filed within days of the completion of the classIn her appeal, she can provide information that would support the changing of her gradeThat information would then be reviewed and a determination madeFurther information regarding grade appeals can be found at http://catalog.waldenu.edu/content.php?catoid=137&navoid=
Walden has made several attempts to contact *** *** On February 19, 2016, her Academic Advisor provided her with the contact information for her program's academic leadership and with information on how to file a grade appealAn Academic Coordinator called the student on February 24, and left several messages in an attempt to discuss *** *** concerns, but she has not responded to any of those callsOn March 1, 2016, *** *** emailed the Dean of the School of NursingWalden emailed *** *** the next day with further information on how to use Walden's internal grievance and appeal processesIn order to move forward with her request, the student must follow University procedures
Additionally, if the student has concerns about specific policies and how they are applied, she has the option to contact *** ***, University OmbudspersonMr*** can direct the student to the proper resources within the University and escalate any issues that need to be addressed to the appropriate departments within the UniversityMr*** can be reached at XXX-XXX-XXXX or ***@waldenu.edu

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/07/27) */
Walden University takes student issues seriously and uses its best efforts to address student concernsThe student is claiming that she is not responsible for the tuition balance owed for classes she took in She goes on to state that
she was unaware that she was not meeting her Student Academic Performance (SAP) requirementsStudents receiving federal financial aid are required by the Department of Education to maintain a minimum completion rate in order to continue to receive financial aidSatisfactory academic progress for all students is reviewed after each period of enrollmentStudents receive written notification to their Walden University e-mail account if they are placed on financial aid warning statusUpon being placed on this status, students have one period of enrollment to return to the required standardsIf students do not meet these standards, they may appeal for a period of financial aid probationIf the appeal is not granted, students become ineligible for federal financial aidThe notification clearly states the date that federal aid eligibility will expire, and what steps the student has to take in order to maintain eligibilityMs*** received her notice on June 20, 2013, and she never appealed for financial aid probationIf a student chooses to continue to take classes while not eligible for federal financial aid, he or she will remain financially responsible for the tuition owedIf Ms*** feels that she should be granted an exception to this policy, or that other circumstances prevented her from maintaining a satisfactory completion rate, Walden's policy, as stated in the Walden Student Handbook, is for her to file a tuition waiver petition and submit it to Academic AdvisingIn that petition she should include any documentation that supports her claim, including medical informationOnce received, the university can determine if she is eligible for a tuition waiverAs always, Walden remains committed to helping our students achieve their academic goalsWe ask that Ms*** to contact Academic Advising at *** to begin the process
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 9, 2015/07/28) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I have been in regular communications with the college and am now in the appeal processThis has required me to turn over 6+ months of medical records to the schoolThe unethical practices of guiding students toward failure is the underlying issue hereFollowing the guidance of financial aid, bursar, and academic advising, I ended up in a position where the school alleges I owe debt for tuitionWalden University trapped me into registering for classes that weren't eligible for financial aid in my situationThis is not only unethical, it is a mistake that Walden refuses to own up to

I am rejecting this response because:
The response is not telling how the matter can be solved or what other offers are available and they made no mentioned of the refund I am requesting for being convinced to retake a class I already passed. Thanks,*** ***

Walden University takes student concerns seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issuesThe student has expressed concerns regarding a tuition bill he received from Walden for the course he registered for in the Fall termMr*** states that his financial aid should have
covered the cost of his tuition and thus he should not have a bill from Walden
Mr*** first enrolled in Walden's Bachelor of Psychology program in Fall He received federal financial aid in the form of a Pell GrantIn Fall Mr*** received two failing grades which brought his GPA below the minimum requirement for continued financial aid eligibilityTherefore, a portion of his financial aid was returned to the lender (per federal guidelines known as Return to Title IV or "R2T4"), resulting in an outstanding balanceInformation regarding R2Tmay be found at https://www.waldenu.edu/financial-aid/types/federal/eligibility/return-fundsAfte...⇄ reviewing Mr***'s account, and in consideration of Mr***'s status as a veteran, Walden has made a determination that it will close out his account at Walden leaving him with no outstanding balance on his account

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/06/19) */
Walden University is committed to addressing and working toward the resolution of student concernsWe regret that Ms*** is dissatisfied with her experience with WaldenThe student raises the issue that her account has been placed in
collections by Walden due to fact that she withdrew from a course after the time permitted to withdraw and receive a full refundAs a result, student had an outstanding balance on her student account
On October 25, the student filed a tuition waiver petition seeking a waiver of the outstanding balance on her student accountThe student did not provide sufficient documentation to support her request, and therefore on December 17, the petition was deniedWalden's policy, as stated in the Walden Student Handbook allows for an appeal of a denial of a tuition waiver requestThe student was provided instructions on how to file the appeal along with instructions to include additional documentationMs*** has never filed the appeal
If Ms*** wishes to appeal the decision of the university, she may do so by contacting Bursar's office at ***@laureate.net and submitting an appeal requestHowever, it is highly recommended that Ms*** supplies the supporting documentation to back up her request
Finally, if Ms*** has concerns about specific policies and how they are applied, she has the option to contact *** ***, University OmbudspersonMr*** can direct the student to the proper resources within the University and escalate any issues that need to be addressed to the appropriate departments within the UniversityMr*** can be reached at XXX-XXX-XXXX or ***@walden.edu
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 9, 2015/06/19) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
As explained previously, to prove that I was displaced and without electricity during and after the hurricane which is THE primary reason (not medical reason) for withdrawing from the class, I provided the only viable documentation there could be from my building's management companyThe University is claiming that I submitted a withdrawal solely for MEDICAL reasons, which is not trueI was not contacted again after I left numerous messages, as Walden has had very poor, fragmented communication among their own staff as well as with me
Final Business Response /* (4000, 15, 2015/07/14) */
Walden University understands that there are times, due to circumstances beyond a student's control, that a student may need to request that they receive a tuition waiver for a particular classThe tuition waiver petition form instructs students to indicate the reason for the request and to supply any additional supporting documentationIn Ms***'s original petition for a tuition waiver, she indicated that her request was due to medical reasons and the fact that she could not connect to the internet due to a loss of power from Hurricane SandyIn that petition, she never provided any information or supporting documentation from a medical provider, nor did she supply documentation from her building management company that it was the effects Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath prevented her from being able to complete her assignments and attend classAs stated previously, Walden will agree to review this information again, but Ms*** must submit it to Walden by contacting the Bursar's office at ***@laureate.netUntil she does so, Ms*** remains responsible for the unpaid tuition

Walden University takes all student complaints seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issues. The student states that he is being charged for a class that he never was enrolled in Our records indicate that the student was enrolled in the Phd in Public Policy and
Administration program beginning in June 2015. Due to low grades, the student was notified that he no longer qualified for financial aid after the Winter Term 2015. However, the student still chose to enroll in classes for one additional term (Spring 2016). The student was academically dismissed on February 29, for failure to maintain an adequate GPA. The cost for the Spring term was $5,250, which, despite attending classes and receiving final grades, the student did not pay his balance owed. The university has made numerous attempts to make payment arrangements with the student, but eventually was forced to refer his account to a third party collection agency. If the student wishes to make payment on his account, he may contact the Bursar’s office at 1-8###-###-####

Walden University Response to Consumer Complaint #*** is attached

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/20) */
Walden University takes student concerns seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issuesThe student claims that he was promised a $1,Walden grant for having an Associate's degree but that the grant was never applied to his
accountHe states that his account is now in collectionWe regret any delay in applying the student's $grant to his outstanding balanceWe have now confirmed that $has been applied to the student's account
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/11/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Credit applied as promised

Walden University takes student concerns seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issuesThe student has expressed concerns regarding her financial aidShortly after the student filed this complaint, she filed an identical complaint with a State agencyWalden can more fully
respond to the student’s financial concerns in that forum, and asks that the Revdex.com allow this issue to be addressed in the other forum

Ms*** claims that Walden University is preventing her from registering for future classes due to the fact that she is filing complaints. Walden does not tolerate retaliation of any kind. In this case, Ms***’s registration is on hold until she speaks with an academic advisorThis is standard practice at certain points in student’s progress and should not delay Ms*** in any way. All students who are preparing to attend Residencies must have their academic process reviewed to insure they have met the course requirements. Once she reviews her progress with her academic advisor, her registration hold will be lifted and she can register for future courses. Ms*** should contact Academic Advising at ###-###-#### to discuss her courses and the registration hold

Walden University takes all student issues seriously and uses its best efforts to address student concerns. Walden is proud to offer prospective and current students a tuition discount for being an active or retired member of the US military. In this case, it appears that Mr*** was
given a discount based off of his employment with a government agency, not because of his military status. After reviewing the situation we have updated his status and the changes will be reflected in his student account shortly. He will be receiving a message from the Bursar’s office reflecting that fact. Additionally, Mr*** also raises a concern about a change in Walden policies regarding course material costs. As Walden explained the changes in an email to all students on March 24, 2016, the U.SDepartment of Education published cash management rules (CFR Part 668) effective July 1, 2016, that significantly impact an institution's ability to include the costs of required textbooks and course materials as part of the total amount of tuition and fee charges. Therefore, going forward, Walden will no longer include the costs of required textbooks and course materials in any program tuition. As such, in an effort to assist students in this transition, Walden University has reduced the tuition for each of these programs by 1% for the remainder of the student's program, made significant reductions to Walden's bookstore pricing and is offering free shipping for book orders within the continental United States. In addition, students have the option of purchasing textbooks and materials from sources other than Walden Finally, Mr*** raises a specific concern about grading in a recent course. Walden cannot discuss the academic records of students in a public forum nor can it discuss the academic records of individual students with other students. Walden maintains extensive internal grievance and appeal processes available to all students. These processes are designed to address the concern raised by the studentThe student should contact Academic Advising at ###-###-#### to determine the best path forward to address his concerns. He also has the option to contact Robert ***, University Ombudsperson. Mr*** can direct the student to the proper resources within the University and escalate any issues that need to be addressed to the appropriate departments within the UniversityMr*** can be reached at ###-###-#### or *** Patrick ***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/18) */
The student has stated that she is unable to obtain a copy of her official transcript due to an outstanding balance on her student accountShe was a student at Walden University during the Fall Term and the outstanding balance on her
student account is from that termAccording to University policy, official transcripts will not be released if a student has an outstanding balance on their student account
The student was informed by her academic advisor, while she was actively enrolled, that the Financial Aid team was still in need of various documents to process her financial aid applicationThe student, however, never supplied the missing documents, and has not been enrolled at Walden since the Fall TermWhile the University has a number of internal processes available to its students, it is unlikely that the University would permit access to its internal processes or review concerns that allegedly occurred years ago, due to the length of time she has been away from the University
If the student wishes to discuss her outstanding account balance, she should contact the Walden University Financial Account Management Office (previously Collections Office) at 1-877-302-
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/12/01) */
The customer indicated that he/she accepted the business response

Walden University takes student concerns seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issuesThis student has expressed concerns regarding repayment of an outstanding balance on her student account. The student attended one course in the spring term which began on January 9,
and ended on March 5, The student stopped attending the course on February 1, but did not withdraw from the course as required by University policy. Because the student stopped attending without withdrawing from the course, in accordance with federal regulations (Return to Title IV or "R2T4"), at the end of the term, a portion of the student's financial aid was sent back to the student's financial aid loan servicerOnce this money was returned to the loan servicer, a balance was due on the student's accountPrior to speaking with this student on October 6, our records indicate that we had made several outreach attempts to notify her of the balance on her account, both by email and telephoneHowever, per the student’s request, a member from our Financial Account Management team has reached out to her as well to provide the details about the payment arrangement via emailWe hope that this addresses the student’s concernsWalden regrets that the student is not satisfied with the level of communications and service she received from Walden. If the student has concerns about specific policies and how they are applied, she has the option to contact Robert ***, University OmbudspersonMr*** can direct the student to the proper resources within the University and escalate any issues that need to be addressed to the appropriate departments within the UniversityMr*** can be reached at ###-###-#### or ***

As indicated in our prior response, Walden University takes students concerns seriously and we are willing to work with students in good faith to address these concernsHere, we could not find any support for the student’s claim that she has been overchargedWe have proactively reached out to the student to address her concerns, but she has not yet responded to any of our outreach attempts
We remain willing to work with the student to discuss any concerns she may haveIf the student would like to discuss this further, she should reach out to Robert ***, University Ombudsperson at ###-###-#### or ***

The student has indicated she does not trust Walden to deliver her financial aid refund. Those funds, however, have already been disbursed by way of wire transfer to the bank account that the student designated The student should contact her bank and determine when the funds will become available for her use, if she has not done so alreadyAs the student was told in March 2016, Walden will no longer transmit funds via wire to her going forward. Walden considers this matter to be closed

Walden University takes student concerns seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issuesThe student has alleged that Walden failed to apply a discount to his account in his first term in the Fall of 2013. He also claims that after months, Walden applied the discount to every
term, except the first term. The student had a tuition waiver request approved by the Petitions Review CommitteeThe committee researched and found that the student submitted proof that he was affiliated with one of the University’s partners, Saint James School of Medicine, and therefore eligible for a discount in January of He was awarded a two-term tuition waiver (Spring and Summer 2014) to make up for the lost savingsThis tuition waiver was approved and awarded in October of Walden was not able to award a waiver prior to 2014, because the supporting documentation was not submitted until August of 2014. The discount was applied to the student’s account going forward from the time the waiver was approvedIf the student has concerns about specific policies and how they are applied, he has the option to contact Robert ***, University OmbudspersonMr*** can direct the student to the proper resources within the University and escalate any issues that need to be addressed to the appropriate departments within the UniversityMr*** can be reached at ###-###-#### or robert.***@waldenu.edu

Walden University takes student concerns seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issuesThe student has expressed concerns regarding the grading of assignments. While Walden cannot discuss a particular student’s grades in a public forum, the university has a process for
appealing grades. That process can be found at http://catalog.waldenu.edu/content.php?catoid=150&navoid=48443. To date, the student has not filed an appeal or petition of any kind. The student may contact an Academic Advisor at ###-###-#### to assist in filing the appropriate appeal.Finally, if the student has concerns about specific policies and how they are applied, she has the option to contact Robert ***, University OmbudspersonMr*** can direct the student to the proper resources within the University and escalate any issues that need to be addressed to the appropriate departments within the UniversityMr*** can be reached at ###-###-#### or robert.***@waldenu.edu

I am rejecting this response because: I have responded and requested numerous appealsI was told that Mrs*** called the facility and stated that she did not precept with me but when I asked her she stated that call never happenedI asked Walden what proof did they have and none was givenI was told on 11/15/that Dr*** would do a video conference with both Mrs*** and II called and email several times to check the status of when this call would take place and I was finally told it would not happen because they could not coordinate their schedule to be availableThe instructor spoke to Mrs*** several times throughout the courseI even received an email in which she included me in on to Mrs*** thanking her for her time and for completing the evalPlease see my emails documenting how many times I have reached out to appeal this matter and the documentation from instructor that she spoke with preceptorI have nothing showing that preceptor called the school and stated I did notI only have a email stating I would be dismissed because of an alleged phone callThis is not fairWhy would she call and state this when the instructor has spoke to her several times and have documentation from her and I have several emails to prove this

Walden University takes student concerns seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issuesThe student has expressed concerns regarding an outstanding balance she has on her student accountThe outstanding balance on her account is for the Spring TermWalden spoke with the
student multiple times from April through April in an attempt to set up a payment plan to resolve the outstanding balanceWhile the student made repeated promises to make payments on the account, she did not make those payments and the account remained delinquentFinally, in May 2015, Walden sent the account to a 3rd party collection agencyOn September 21, 2015, the student was given the contact information for Robert ***, University Ombudsperson so she could discuss her concernsThe student never contacted Mr***, and the last communication Walden had from the student was on September 21,
If the student needs contact information for the 3rd party collection agency, she should contact the Walden University Financial Account Management Office (previously Collections Office) at ###-###-####

Walden University takes student concerns seriously and uses its best efforts to address student issuesThe student has expressed concerns regarding a tuition discount he claims should be applied to his accelerated M.Sin Education programThe student states that an Enrollment Advisor told him
that he would receive a 20% tuition discount on his program since he was an international studentWhile a 20% tuition discount was being offered, for a limited time, to international students enrolling in the M.Sin Education program, that discount was not offered to students in the accelerated program, as the accelerated program has discounts built into the programHe claims that the discount was applied to his first term and then rescinded for that term and subsequent termsA member of the Walden Bursar's office will contact the student in the near future to discuss a possible resolution to his concerns