-100%
First-year retention
First-year retention at Walden University fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (25.0% → 0.0%).
Minnesota · Private for-profit · Predominantly bachelor's
Walden University
Minneapolis, Minnesota. 7,337 undergraduate students. 104 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Walden University
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Walden University fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (1.1% → 0.0%).
+29%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment at Walden University rose 29% between 2021 and 2024 (7.1k → 9.1k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Minnesota
Each tile compares this institution to the Minnesota median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$42,810-15% · 6→10y
Minnesota median $48,321$50,657
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry—-100% · '14→'23
Minnesota median 54.7%$11,500+397% · '03→'20
At program completion7,337+5950% · '03→'24
latest IPEDS—-100% · '09→'24
first-time, full-time—
latest cohort$12,498+6% · '08→'24
out-of-state $12,498SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
3.6%Median federal debt $11,500 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $42,810 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
-100%
Walden University · completion · 150% fell
33.3% → 0.0%
-100%
Walden University · completion · 100% fell
33.3% → 0.0%
-100%
Walden University · retention fell
80.0% → 0.0%
+4493%
Walden University · undergrad enrollment rose
151 → 9,136
+397%
Walden University · median debt rose
$4,188 → $20,834
-100%
Walden University · cohort default rate fell
4.2% → 0.0%
+310%
Walden University · pell share rose
13.5% → 55.2%
-22%
Walden University · earnings_median_10yr fell
$54,900 → $42,810
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$129,689Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$117,144Business Administration, Management and Operations.$108,665Public Administration.$105,116Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$97,647Computer and Information Sciences, General.$96,874Education, General.$94,939Public Health.$91,541Management Information Systems and Services.$88,911Computer and Information Sciences, General.$88,065Medical Illustration and Informatics.$84,228Health and Medical Administrative Services.$79,884Psychology, General.$76,343Accounting and Related Services.$75,276Business Administration, Management and Operations.$75,132Curriculum and Instruction.$72,243Public Health.$71,859Public Administration.$71,576Educational Administration and Supervision.$71,093Curriculum and Instruction.$70,987Accounting and Related Services.$70,040Homeland Security.$67,546Education, General.$67,517Business Administration, Management and Operations.$65,173
Showing top 24 of 49 ranked programs.
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
49 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCES · CIP 11
EDUCATION · CIP 13
Education, General.$62,717Education, General.$94,939Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$49,553Educational Administration and Supervision.$54,202Curriculum and Instruction.$72,243Educational Administration and Supervision.$71,093Education, General.$67,517Curriculum and Instruction.$70,987Education, General.$44,458Curriculum and Instruction.$65,134
FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES · CIP 19
PSYCHOLOGY · CIP 42
HOMELAND SECURITY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES · CIP 43
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SOCIAL SERVICES · CIP 44
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$117,144Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$97,647Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions.$56,037Health and Medical Administrative Services.$79,884Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$129,689Public Health.$91,541Public Health.$71,859Health and Medical Administrative Services.$61,022Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General.$54,404Public Health.$55,488Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions.$50,087Medical Illustration and Informatics.$84,228
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
Business Administration, Management and Operations.$75,132Business Administration, Management and Operations.$108,665Business Administration, Management and Operations.$65,173Human Resources Management and Services.$63,249Accounting and Related Services.$75,276Management Information Systems and Services.$88,911Accounting and Related Services.$70,040
COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM · CIP 09
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Walden University
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
EARNINGS SUPPRESSED
Federal privacy rules suppressed earnings for Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Master's Degree at Walden University(cohort below 30 students). The calculator can’t produce a number we’d stand behind, so we don’t.
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in Minnesota
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Walden University graduates earn $X” — not “Walden University makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Walden University caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.