Credibility of Walden University

Specialties NP

Published

I am looking into FNP programs and have heard good things about Waldens program, but I am just interested in the credibility this University has when employers look at at your resume? I am tossing up Concordia University WI (which is completly online except a 2 week assessment course and you find all of your own clinicals. The cost is 570-620/credit.) and Walden Univerisity, which I am aware is entirely online and you find your own clinics. I am unaware of the cost of Walden, if anyone knows that would be great information too!

Specializes in ER, ICU, Family Practice.

To my knowledge, the purpose of a MS Ed program is NOT to "prepare" you for NP school. This individuals my be great educators but not have the knack for the advanced clinical knowledge to be an NP. You are comparing apples to oranges. As a student that is ACTUALLY in classes with Walden, I can attest that the point that prarienp is making is a bit of a moot point. To say that Walden programs are poor because two individuals who received EDUCATION degrees from Walden did poorly in a NURSE PRACTITIONER program at another university is asinine.

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jreed, what I am saying is that in a np program with two Walden ms graduates along with other ms in nursing prepared and bsn prepared students taking the same NP courses that the Walden students did NOT do as well. I did not say they were poor or that Walden was poor. I did say the other students were better able to handle the rigor of the NP program. I am well aware that a MS in ed in not used to prepare for a NP program. But as you know a MS in nursing ed includes graduate courses which should prepare a student for the rigor of a np program.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Family Practice.

Disagree.

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Specializes in FNP, ONP.

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about their NP program. I do have a friend who got a MS in nsg education at Walden. That degree and $5 will buy her a latte. It has been worthless, she can't even get a teaching position at a community college. Apparently they have not looked upon it favorably. She then tried to get into doctoral programs and could not get into one with a MSN from Walden, even though she had a 4.0. She is having to do as post-masters at a different, more well known/highly regarded school, in order to make herself more marketable as a prospective employee or doctoral student. She has a lot of regrets even though she liked her program while she was in it.

I suspect much depends on your local market. She is competing for jobs and doctoral positions with MSN grads from Duke, Eastern Carolina and UNC-Chapel Hill and a Walden degree just doesn't measure up against those research powerhouses. Perhaps if she were 60 miles East or West of Raleigh-Durham it wouldn't be so difficult, I don't know. Just be careful. Be sure you would be marketable in the area in which you plan to live/work. Good luck!

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Specializes in Certified Family Nurse Practitioner.

Marketability in a certain area of the country is one thing, but insinuating that a graduate from a fully accredited university like Walden would or could not be elligable for any and all position that require a master degree is just not the truth. In many areas of the country Walden Universtiy has a very good reputation, and is well accepted. I will graduate in Feb of 2014 with a masters in FNP, and already have a very lucrative job offer with no question about what universty I attend. Most prospective emplyers what to see a license to practice, and a solid background in nursing, with little regard for what university I attended, nor do they care where I got my BSN, which is from a very reputable "brick and mortar" university. Reputation, when it comes to nursing schools is very overrated in my opinion. Good and bad nurses will graduated from all schools, just like good and bad doctors will graduate from all schools. No school graduates ONLY good nurse practitioners....and NO school will greaduate only bad nurse practitioners.

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Mark, have you started clinicals yet? I'm going back and forth about starting Walden. :)

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Disclaimer: I don't know anything about their NP program. I do have a friend who got a MS in nsg education at Walden. That degree and $5 will buy her a latte. It has been worthless, she can't even get a teaching position at a community college. Apparently they have not looked upon it favorably. She then tried to get into doctoral programs and could not get into one with a MSN from Walden, even though she had a 4.0. She is having to do as post-masters at a different, more well known/highly regarded school, in order to make herself more marketable as a prospective employee or doctoral student. She has a lot of regrets even though she liked her program while she was in it.

I suspect much depends on your local market. She is competing for jobs and doctoral positions with MSN grads from Duke, Eastern Carolina and UNC-Chapel Hill and a Walden degree just doesn't measure up against those research powerhouses. Perhaps if she were 60 miles East or West of Raleigh-Durham it wouldn't be so difficult, I don't know. Just be careful. Be sure you would be marketable in the area in which you plan to live/work. Good luck!

I am very curious...how much clinical experience did your friend have?

I have a very good rapport from an instructor at my MSN program and was considering nursing education for my MSN. At the time, I was a newer nurse with (at the time of thinking of applying) just two years of experience.

She told me that the nurses with a significant amount of med-surg experience were getting teaching jobs, but the ones with very little were not. This is at a regular college, not an online program.

I have a friend that is going through the FNP program at Walden and I told her that there is no way I would "chance" going through a brand new FNP program..to me, that was crazy. I do like how they have the program structured and she says it works well with her work schedule. We'll find out when she graduates, if she passes her boards and finds a job.

I'm going to let her be my test case.

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I would suggest applying to different schools than Walden. If I was in a position to hire someone and I had a graduate from Walden, U of Phoenix, Kaplan, etc. or UMass (for example), I would go with the UMass candidate. These schools are for profit and have a bad reputation (fair or not). There are other schools that are reasonably priced that have good reputations. Just my two cents....It may not be PC to say, but it is the truth and I wouldn't want anyone wasting time, money or the blood, sweat and tears of NP school on something with not that great a return.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Family Practice.

A. You're not in a position to hire someone. B. Just search indeed.com for the number of open FNP jobs. 17,000. According to the AANP, only 1,000 graduates from FNP programs hit the job market each year. Supply vs. demand. C. I've had several job offers as a walden student before even graduating. It's about who you know and how you market yourself.

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I just saw an ad that said 'no graduates from online or professional universities need apply'. However, I'm in a highly competitive area. It probably depends on your background and where you are. If they're hurting for NPs, then you have an advantage. If you're in an area with many competitive programs pumping out graduates, you might have a rough time coming from one of these universities.

Not to mention, these schools have low/no standards, so that is obviously bad for the field... which employers are starting to figure out.

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Myelin how unfortunate to say such a thing. Do you share the same feelings about MDs that attend international medical schools? The Caribbean is full of those in addition to other third world countries. The ED MD group that I work for currently has in their employ approximately 10 PAs that attended a PA program at a community college. Be fair...

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Myelin I can feel the bitterness in your tone. Why so angry?

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