Anyone Heard About Walden's Competency Program - Tempo Learning $199 per month

[Saharapost]

Perhaps it might be of help to someone. A friend got an email from Walden University with an offer to pay $199 per month towards a competency based MBA program.

For a regionally accredited degree which also allows a transfer of 18 credits to the masters program, this is a good deal I believe. It appears to me that they are yet to update the website with the new tuition plan. Part of the email reads:

Why wait to earn that MBA you have always wanted? Especially when you could pay a third of the cost of a traditional, course-based MBA, and complete it at a pace that’s entirely set by you.

Introducing Tempo Learning™ by Walden, a new competency-based learning experience. With Tempo Learning, your previous education and work experience expedite your learning and earn you an MBA faster.
It’s about your time and your success with Tempo Learning. Here’s how every minute counts when achieving an MBA in a competency-based format:

Apply what you know already and accelerate progress.
Advance at a pace that’s right for you, with no weekly deadlines.
Control your costs with a 3-month subscription. The faster you learn, the less you pay.
Learn with support from Walden faculty and a dedicated Academic Coach.

Register now and only pay $199/month towards an MBA*. I am ready to talk with you anytime to answer your questions and help you make the right choice for your educational goals.

Sincerely,
Walden University
Enrollment Team
Walden University
info@waldenu.edu

*Tempo Learning requires students to commit to 3-month subscriptions. $199 represents 1 month of the payment cost of $597 for each 3-month subscription. This is a 72% discount to the current 3-month MBA subscription price of $2,125. This offer is valid for the life of the student’s program. This offer is for new students only and cannot be used in combination with any other offer. Students currently enrolled in the course-based MBA program are not eligible for this offer.

[subhuman]

I have not heard of this school before but from a quick search...

"Walden University is a for-profit Public Benefit Corporation, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Walden University offers Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration.."

For profits should be avoided IMO.

[AJ_Atlanta]

Of course the Big 3 and many of the credit sources people use on this site (not to mention this site owner Instacert) are for-profit companies.

[Life Long Learning]

Not true. Two are State schools and EC was a State school, but now a private Non-profit.

Of course the Big 3 and many of the credit sources people use on this site (not to mention this site owner Instacert) are for-profit companies.

[jsd]

Of course the Big 3 and many of the credit sources people use on this site (not to mention this site owner Instacert) are for-profit companies.

None of the Big 3 are, nor are most of the schools we talk about. Most of the alternative credits we find are from for profits though, that is true.

Technically Walden isn't even registered as a for-profit, it's registered as a "Public Benefit Corporation," which really is just (essentially) another way of saying "for-profit," but a handful of for-profit schools have started registering with this status as the public opinion has come around on for-profits and there's quite a stigma attached to them now. Sneaky.

[johnjaxs]

Been at non-profits and for-profits, my experience is that it all depends on the school and not the school's status.

[AJ_Atlanta]

Not true. Two are State schools and EC was a State school, but now a private Non-profit.

I thought they were (at least two of them). That said, much like most people outside of academia, it doesn't matter to HR or most hiring managers. Most people look at schools as ivy league / A schools / everyone else; Out in the industry be more concerned with program accreditation like AACSB.

[dfrecore]

Most HR people won't have ever heard of most schools in the country anyway. With 3000+ 4-yr colleges in the US, how many can most of us name? Some big names, the schools closest to you, the school you went to, and maybe a few more. Any that have been in the news scandal-wise in the last few years (ITT-Tech, Penn State, Baylor). And they'll be able to recognize state schools with the state name in them. I would guess most people can name 20 colleges off the top of their heads.

I never worry that anyone will question me about getting a degree from TESU, because I live in CA, so no one will have heard of it ever. That's fine with me. As long as it doesn't have a bad rep (U of Phoenix), I'm good.

Edit: I just read that there are 307 colleges in CA alone! I can probably only list 30 myself, and most will be UC/CSU's or the big names like Stanford and USC. I certainly can't name 307!

[mednat]

People draw the line at for-profit and non-profit, but it really has more to do with instruction quality and reputation. I've seen for-profits who are more rigorous than non-profits and more highly respected, and vice-versa. I believe it's more of an easy way for people to group the schools, but I would say it's not an accurate indicator of quality or acceptance really.

If you're going wish to obtain a full time tenured position and don't already teach, I would avoid most for-profits. Not because of quality, but more due to academic snobbery.

I would have no issue with attending Walden, however I prefer smaller lesser known schools if all things are equal. Usually all things are not equal and price and quality win out for me.

[jsd]

I don't think the reason most people are wary of for-profits is because they think the instruction will necessarily be terrible, I think most are wary about the financial scandals they're prone to, like we've seen with ITT Tech or UoP. UoP has reputation problems too, of course, as do plenty of others, but I think in general your actually learning will be fairly similar anywhere, in that that you'll get out what you put in.