Walden University Lawsuit: Claims, Ruling, and $28.5M Settlement

The Walden University lawsuit, formally Carroll v. Walden University, LLC, was a federal class action alleging that the for-profit online school targeted Black and female students for a Doctor of Business Administration program and then inflated their costs by dragging out the dissertation phase. It ended with a $28.5 million settlement, which received final approval on October 17, 2024, and paid out to roughly 2,300 former DBA students beginning in April 2025.¹

What the Lawsuit Alleged

Four named plaintiffs — Aljanal Carroll, Claudia Provost Charles, Tiffany Fair, and Tareion Fluker — filed the case in January 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.² The complaint focused on Walden’s DBA program and made two connected arguments: that Walden misrepresented what the degree would cost, and that it aimed this scheme at a specific demographic.

Walden told prospective students the DBA required 60 credit hours and could be completed in about three and a half years for tuition of roughly $43,000 to $60,000. Between 2008 and 2017, graduates completed an average of 94 credits. The capstone phase alone consumed about 54 credits rather than the 19 or 20 advertised.³ At close to $1,000 per credit, the excess added up to an average of $34,300 per graduate.⁴

The capstone was not a traditional dissertation but a research and writing project. Students were automatically and continuously enrolled in a “Doctoral Study Completion” course throughout that phase and were billed per credit each term. Plaintiffs said Walden intentionally prolonged the stage without academic justification, keeping students as a recurring source of tuition.⁴ Carroll said she moved through her coursework efficiently, then stalled at the capstone for three years. Review committees, students reported, took weeks to return feedback on minor formatting or grammatical issues, and most students felt they had already invested too much money and time to walk away without the degree.⁵

The Reverse Redlining Claim

The complaint alleged Walden concentrated its local advertising in metropolitan areas with higher-than-average Black populations, including Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and tailored its marketing to Black, female, and “nontraditional” students such as working parents over 30.⁶² The National Student Legal Defense Network said 41% of students in Walden’s doctoral programs were Black, about seven times the national average.⁷

Plaintiffs described this as “reverse redlining,” a term drawn from fair-lending law. Traditional redlining denies services to certain neighborhoods based on race; reverse redlining intentionally targets a marginalized community with a predatory product. The complaint argued Walden used diversity-oriented branding to funnel Black and female students into a program built to extract as much tuition as possible.¹

The Ruling That Let the Case Proceed

Plaintiffs brought claims under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and Minnesota consumer protection laws.⁸ Title VI applies because Walden participates in the federal student aid system. The ECOA claims rested on the loans students took out to pay tuition.

In November 2022, U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin denied Walden’s motion to dismiss, allowing all claims to proceed. The ruling was significant because no federal court had clearly recognized reverse redlining as a viable legal theory in higher education before.⁷ Judge Rubin wrote that plaintiffs alleged the defendants “got rich on this scheme” while students “were compelled to incur mounds of additional and unanticipated loan debt.”⁹ The court permitted the ECOA claims to move forward under both disparate-impact and intentional-discrimination theories.⁸

The $28.5 Million Settlement

A proposed settlement was announced in March 2024 and received final approval on October 17, 2024.¹ The fund broke down this way:¹⁰

Class member payments: $21,175,000
Attorneys’ fees and expenses: $7,125,000 (25% of the fund)
Administrative costs: $100,000
Service awards for the four named plaintiffs: $100,000 total ($25,000 each)

Individual payouts were calculated pro rata based on the number of “excess capstone credits” each class member completed beyond the minimum disclosed at enrollment. The estimated average payment was around $10,000.¹¹ Payments were reduced by any cash previously received through Thornhill v. Walden University, an earlier case filed in the Southern District of Ohio.¹²

Who Was in the Class

The class covered Black and female students who enrolled in or began the DBA program between August 1, 2008, and January 31, 2018, and who were charged for and completed excess capstone credits beyond the minimum required at enrollment. For certain subclasses, class members also needed to have applied for or received student loans or payment plans. Plaintiff counsel described the class as nearly 2,300 former DBA students.¹³¹⁰

Changes Walden Must Make

The settlement also imposed institutional changes Walden must maintain for at least four years.¹⁰ Walden has to publish the median time and cost to complete the DBA based on the preceding three years of graduate data, and enrollment agreements must state that the program may require up to eight years. Walden is also barred from reinstating the “University Research Reviewer” role on dissertation committees, a layer of review plaintiffs said contributed to delays.

Payments and Current Status

The deadline for class members to submit claim forms was January 15, 2025. Settlement checks were mailed on April 10, 2025, and digital disbursements were sent by April 16, 2025.¹⁰ The settlement website states the case is now closed and that it is too late to opt out, object, or submit new claims. Any funds left in escrow one year after the initial distribution will go to nonprofits advancing civil rights in higher education for Black people and women.¹⁴

The lawsuit was brought by Relman Colfax PLLC as lead plaintiffs’ counsel, with the National Student Legal Defense Network as co-counsel. Aaron Ament, president of Student Defense, called the settlement a “guidebook for all for-profit universities.”¹

A Separate Nursing Case

The DBA case is distinct from a separate whistleblower lawsuit filed against Walden in 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. That case involved Walden’s Master of Science in Nursing program and was brought under the federal False Claims Act by a former student and a clinical preceptor, who alleged Walden misled students about the availability of required clinical placements, charged hidden fees, and falsely certified compliance with federal student aid rules.¹⁵ The U.S. Department of Justice declined to intervene in April 2021.¹⁶ The nursing case is not part of the DBA settlement and involves different students, claims, and program.

1
Student Defense. Landmark Settlement Approved in Class Action Lawsuit Against Walden University
2
Relman Colfax PLLC. Carroll v. Walden University Civil Rights Case
3
ClassAction.org. Class Action Alleges Walden University Targets Black, Female Students With Predatory DBA Program
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Relman Colfax PLLC. Carroll v. Walden University First Amended Complaint
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The Observer. Students Sue Walden University Alleging Scheme to Defraud Black Women
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Higher Ed Dive. Walden University Reaches $28.5 Million Settlement With Students in Class Action
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NY1/AP. For-Profit School Accused of Preying on Black Students Reaches $28.5 Million Settlement
8
Relman Colfax PLLC. Court Allows Reverse Redlining Claims Against Walden University to Proceed
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Republic Report. Walden U. Will Pay $28.5 Million to Settle Claims It Deceived Black and Female Students
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Walden DBA Settlement. Carroll v. Walden University DBA Settlement
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ClaimDepot. Walden University DBA Settlement
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Relman Colfax PLLC. Carroll v. Walden University Settlement Agreement
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Relman Colfax PLLC. Court Approves $28.5 Million Settlement for Walden University DBA Students
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Walden DBA Settlement. Carroll v. Walden University Final Approval Order
15
Republic Report. Walden University Whistleblower Complaint
16
Higher Ed Dive. Justice Dept. Investigates Walden U. Over Claims of Misrepresentation