View our EdD Early Childhood specialization completion requirements
Minimum degree requirements:
60 quarter credits
- Core courses (50 cr.)
- Capstone (10 cr.)
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Privacy Policy
Ombuds Services
Student Grievance Information
Trademarks, Copyright, and Disclaimers
Copyrighted Materials and Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
Walden University College Scorecard
(LAST UPDATED: July 18, 2025)
Walden University (“Walden”, “we”, or “us”) is a pioneer in high-quality distance education for working professionals. Walden aims to raise the standard of nursing and healthcare education and advance healthcare outcomes in communities across the United States and around the world. Walden is a subsidiary group company of Adtalem Global Education, Inc.
This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, maintain, process, and disclose your personal information and the choices you can make about how we collect, use, process, and disclose your personal information (As used throughout this policy, the terms “collect, use, maintain, process, and disclose” as related to your personal information shall be collectively referred to as “collect”.) Walden does not sell personal information. This Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected through this website and other services we offer, and anywhere else the Policy is posted (collectively, our “Services”). If you reside or are in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or the United Kingdom (“UK”), Walden is the data controller of all personal information collected via the Services.
If you are a student at Walden, your educational information that is part of your educational record is maintained in accordance with the U.S. Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), state laws, and Walden’s policies. Where certain state or local privacy laws are preempted by FERPA, Walden must abide by FERPA.
Personal Information We Collect
How We Use the Personal Information Collected
Disclosing Personal Information
Cookies and Similar Technologies
Security
International Transfer of Personal information
Retention
Third-party Websites
EEA and UK Data Subject Rights
Notice for Nevada Residents
Notice for US Residents in Certain Other States
Parents/Guardians
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Contact Us
Notice for California Residents
We collect personal information to provide and improve the Services we offer and to communicate with you about our Service offerings. We collect personal information in the following ways:
Some of the information we collect may, when combined with other information, be personal information that could be used to identify you. Such information is treated as personal information.
You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of personal information you provide to us. Inaccurate information may affect your ability to use the Services, the information you receive when using the Services, and our ability to contact you.
Where we need to collect personal information by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you or in order to provide you with information you have requested, and you do not provide this information when requested, we may be prevented from complying with our legal obligations or we may not be able to perform all or part of the contract we are entering into with you or provide you with the information requested. For example, we require (a) certain information under law to process a financial aid application, (b) certain information in order to enroll you in a course, (c) your contact details in order to send you any information you have requested.
When you make an application for admission to one of our courses of programs, our application form asks you about your racial/ethnic origin. You are not required to give us this information but if you choose to do so we only use it for equal opportunities monitoring and share it with the Department of Education for this purpose. Our legal basis for processing this data is your explicit consent.
All applicants deemed academically eligible by the Walden Admission Committee must initiate drug, background and fingerprint screenings and either clear all screenings within 120 days of the session start date or sign a self-attestation and disclosure indicating their ability to clear all screenings within 120 days of the session start date before the applicant is granted acceptance. Through these checks, we may potentially process health data, criminal convictions and offences data, and your biometric fingerprint information from a third-party background check provider. We will ask you whether we can do this. We only use this data for the purposes of conducting a fraud and security check and clearing your application to the Walden pre-licensure program. We retain this data while you are active in the program and for six years after you leave the program.
In addition, once your application to one of our courses or programs has been accepted, we collect details of any medical conditions you may have, your health insurance information and we may be able to infer information about your racial or ethnic origin from your nationality or from your passport. We only use this information for assisting students with any conditions you may tell us about so that we can arrange any additional support or make any necessary arrangements for you (this is for our legitimate interests in ensuring we provide equal opportunities for all applicants and for carrying out obligations in the field of social protection law.
We collect, maintain, use, store, and process the personal information we collect to provide and improve the Services, to support our business functions, as well as to personalize, provide, measure, and improve our advertising and marketing. We may use personal information to form a view on what we believe may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which content, product and service offerings may be relevant for you and direct you to particular areas of this website that we think will be most relevant for you. We may collect or use personal data in connection with the training or development of large language models or similar artificial intelligence systems. If this occurs, it will be disclosed in relevant product or service documentation and subject to applicable legal safeguards.
Some examples of how we use personal information include:
We may disclose your personal information to other businesses or entities where it is required for the performance of our contract with you, where it is required by law, or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so, as follows:
We, as well as third parties that provide content or other functionality for our Services, may use cookies, pixel tags, web beacons, local storage, and other technologies to automatically collect information through the Services. These tracking technologies are small data files downloaded to or stored on your computer, tablet, mobile phone or other internet-enabled device that enable us to record certain pieces of information whenever you visit or interact with our email communications, website, applications, and tools. These technologies allow us to understand who has interacted with us and help us to operate our Services more efficiently, personalize your experience on our website, improve our content and offerings, engage in analytics and measurement, and show you advertisements in which you may be interested.
To help protect the privacy and security of your personal information we use reasonable security measures, including administrative, technical, and physical measures. These measures help protect against loss, misuse or unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction of your personal information. Additionally, we train our colleagues about the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the privacy and security of your personal information.
While we do our best to protect your personal information, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. If you know or have reason to believe that your personal information has been lost, stolen, misappropriated, or otherwise compromised, please see the Contact Us section below for information about how to contact us.
Personal information may be collected, used, disclosed, stored, and processed in a jurisdiction other than where you reside or are located, including in the United States where we are based and in other countries including Canada and the United Kingdom where the parties listed above are based for the purposes outlined above. These jurisdictions may have data protection laws that differ from your home jurisdiction. For individuals located in the EEA and UK, we are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your personal information when it is transferred and have put in place standard contractual clauses as appropriate safeguards to protect your personal information where this is required. If you require further information about this, you can contact us on the contact details listed at the end of this Privacy Policy.
We keep personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, accounting or reporting requirements and our legitimate interests in maintaining such personal information in our records. In doing this we will have regard to the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and applicable legal requirements.
Any links to third-party websites on our site are provided solely as a convenience to you. We do not endorse or make any representations about these websites or any products, materials, or services. Any personal information you provide on these third-party websites is subject to the privacy practices and policies of those sites. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices or content of any websites or services that are not operated by or for us.
If you are an individual located in the EEA or UK, you have the following rights:
We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances and as identified above:
If you wish to contact us in connection with the exercise of your rights listed above, contact us at [email protected]. Unless we notify you at the time of your request, we will not charge any fee in connection with the exercise of your rights. You also have the right to complain to or seek advice from a supervisory authority for data protection issues and/or bring a claim against us in any court of competent jurisdiction.
If you are a Nevada resident, you can opt out of sales of certain covered information that a website operator has collected or will collect about the resident. You can opt-out by clicking Do Not Sell My Personal Information and managing your preferences in the Cookies Settings.
Residents of other US states including Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia have or will have the following rights:
When responding to your access request, we may inform you that we have collected certain types of personal data but may not disclose them to you directly for security and privacy reasons. This includes but is not limited to:
If you wish to contact us in connection with the exercise of your rights listed above, contact us at [email protected]. Unless we notify you at the time of your request, we will not charge any fee in connection with the exercise of your rights. Some state laws allow residents who are not satisfied with the resolution of their requests to appeal our decision by contacting us. You also have the right to complain to or seek advice from a supervisory authority for data protection issues and/or bring a claim against us in any court of competent jurisdiction.
This Privacy Policy may be updated periodically. If we make material changes, we will attempt to let you know via email or other communication. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices. If you continue to use the Services, you agree to this Privacy Policy and any updates we make to it. We will not, however, use your personal information in a manner that is materially different than what we disclosed to you at the time the personal information was collected without your consent.
If we make any retroactive material change to our privacy practices, we will notify affected individuals. For personal data collected prior to the effective date of such changes, we will provide an opportunity for individuals to withdraw consent to any materially different collection, processing, or sharing of their personal data.
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, contact us at:
Adtalem Global Education
233 S Wacker Drive
Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60606
Email Us: [email protected]
Last Updated: July 18, 2025
This Walden California Privacy Notice (“California Privacy Notice”) should be read in conjunction with the main Walden Privacy Policy. This California Privacy Notice applies to information collected on this website and anywhere the policy is posted (collectively, our “Services”). We have adopted this California Privacy Notice pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) and it applies only to residents of the State of California (“you”).
Some personal information we collect from you may not be covered by this California Privacy Notice because certain personal information collection and processing activities are exempt from the CCPA. Therefore, this California Privacy Notice and the California privacy rights set out below may not apply to you or to all your personal information.
We may collect the following categories of personal information about you:
We may use your personal information for the following purposes:
You can opt-out by clicking Do Not Sell My Personal Information and managing your preferences in the Cookies Settings.
This table sets out the categories of personal information that we have collected from you, the sources from which we have obtained it, the purpose for which we collect it and the categories of third parties and other entities with whom we have shared it. It sets out our relevant practices over the last 12 months. Our collection, use and disclosure of personal information depends on your relationship with us and your interaction with the Services.
| Category of Personal Information | Category of Sources | Business or Commercial Purpose | Categories of Third Parties and Other Entities with Whom We May Share |
|---|---|---|---|
Identifiers, such as, name, postal address, email address, phone numbers, online identifiers, or IP address.
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Social media and third-party platforms |
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California Customer Records, such as name, address, or phone numbers
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Characteristics of Protected Classifications Under California or Federal Law, such as race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, military, or veteran status, nationality, or ethnicity
|
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Commercial Information, such as, products or services purchased and other purchasing or consuming tendencies.
|
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| Our affiliates Our service providers and business partners
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Biometric Information, such as fingerprint info
|
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Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity, such as, browsing history, search history, or website or advertisement interaction.
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Social media and third-party platforms |
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Geolocation Data, such as, IP address or physical location.
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Your browser or device |
|
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Audio, Video and Other Electronic Data, such as, photos, call recordings, or CCTV footage.
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Professional and employment-related information, such as business contact details, job title or employer;
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Education information, meaning education records directly related to students maintained by us or a party acting on our behalf, such as grades, transcripts, class lists, student schedules, student identification codes, and student disciplinary records. This also includes student directory information, including information such as a student’s name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student. |
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Inferences drawn from this information, such as, a profile reflecting preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.
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Social media and third-party platforms
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Other Personal Information, such as the results of a drug and alcohol screen and criminal convictions and offences data.
|
|
|
|
In the last twelve months, we have disclosed each of the categories of personal information listed above for business purposes, as set out above.
We disclose the following categories of personal information with third-party cookie and other ad-tech providers, who may further disclose your information throughout the digital advertising ecosystem. Such disclosures may be considered a sale for purposes of the CCPA.
To the extent provided for by law and subject to applicable exemptions, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information about you that we have collected:
California residents can submit requests to know and/or for deletion by emailing us at [email protected] or calling us at 1-866-653-5656. California residents may make up to two requests to know within a 12-month period.
Verification: We will need to verify your identity before processing your request. To verify your identity, we will generally either require you to login to your account or we must be able to match certain information you provide us to the information we maintain about you. Certain requests may require us to obtain additional personal information from you. In certain circumstances, we may decline a request to exercise the right to know and/or right to deletion, particularly where we are unable to verify your identity or locate your information in our systems, or as permitted by law.
You can opt-out by clicking Do Not Sell My Personal Information and managing your preferences in Cookies Settings.
We do not “sell” the personal information of consumers we know to be under 16 years of age.
Our Services are not directed to children under the age of 16 and we do not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 16. Any personal data records that may be tied to an applicable individual who cannot provide parental consent will have their record deleted promptly as enforced by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506). Certain data privacy laws may require an individual who is under 16 to provide parental consent. If this applies to you, please defer from utilizing our services until parental consent has been provided. If we become aware that we have unknowingly collected personal information from a child under the age of 16, and do not have parent or guardian consent on file, we will endeavor to delete such personal information from our records. If you believe we are incorrectly processing the personal information of a child under the age of 16, we recommend you contact us as provided in the final section of this policy.
In certain circumstances, you are permitted to use an authorized agent, as that term is defined by the CCPA (“Authorized Agent”), to submit requests on your behalf where you provide sufficient evidence that the requestor is an authorized agent with written permission to act on your behalf and you successfully verify your own identity with us. An Authorized Agent can make a request on a California resident’s behalf by:
From time to time, we may run sweepstakes, contests, or other offers and promotions (collectively, “Programs”) that may be deemed “financial incentives” in relation to our collection of personal information under the CCPA. Please refer to the terms and conditions of each Program for additional information about the Program, including how eligible consumers can opt-in or opt-out of the Program at any time. To enter a Program, you may be required to provide us or a service provider acting on our behalf with certain personal information, such as identifiers including your name and contact information (“Rewards Data”). If you submit your entry in accordance with the applicable Program’s rules, you may be entered into the Program and will get a chance to win a prize or receive another benefit from us. The value of Rewards Data is related to the value of your information and the costs associated with offering the Program.
In addition to the rights described above, California’s “Shine the Light” law permits California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure, if any, of certain categories of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year. To make such a request, please send an email to [email protected]. This request may be made no more than once per calendar year.
Some web browsers may transmit “do-not-track” signals to websites with which the user communicates. We honor and respond to “do-no-track” signals.
This California Privacy Notice may be updated periodically. If we make material changes, we will attempt to let you know via email or other communication. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices. If you continue to use the Services, you agree to this California Privacy Notice and any updates we make to it. We will not, however, use your personal information in a manner that is materially different than what we disclosed to you at the time the personal information was collected without your consent.
If you have any questions or concerns about this California Privacy Notice, contact us at:
Adtalem Global Education
233 S Wacker Drive
Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60606
Email Us: [email protected]
Ombuds Services at Walden University serves as an objective resource for the university, advocating for fairness. Ombuds Services reviews decisions made by the university for fairness and ensures policies and processes have been followed. In addition, Ombuds Services is available for the mediation of student issues when all university processes have been exhausted. The goal is to aid in the timely and impartial resolution of problems in a non-adversarial, non-litigious manner.
Ombuds Services observes the confidentiality of any and all parties involved in complaints and other concerns brought to its representatives to the extent possible, insofar as it does not interfere with the institution’s legal obligation or ability to investigate issues, or to take corrective action when it is found that misconduct has occurred. Ombuds Services representatives will speak to relevant university faculty and staff on a need-to-know basis in order to address any such concerns and may also refer students to the department or university representative best suited to resolve the concern.
Results of any fairness review or mediation are final and not subject to appeal.
Students can contact Ombuds Services at [email protected]
Walden University is not responsible for the content of any third-party-linked site that is not owned by Walden University, or of any other links contained in such third-party sites. Walden University provides links to you for your convenience only, and the inclusion of any link to a site not owned by Walden University is not an endorsement by Walden University of the site or its contents. Walden University assumes no responsibility for any other party’s site hyperlinked to the Walden University website or in which any part of the Walden University website has been hyperlinked.
Trademarks and/or logos found on this site which are registered to third parties imply no affiliation with Walden University, nor do those entities sponsor or endorse Walden University products or services. No rights in or use of these trademarks and/or logos is granted to you hereby.
No permission is granted here for you to use Walden University’s icons, site address, or other means to hyperlink other Internet sites with any page in the Walden University website. You must obtain prior written permission to hyperlink in any manner to the Walden University website.
Walden University and Education for Good are registered trademarks of Walden University, LLC. Elements of this website are protected by trade dress and other laws, and this website and its contents may not be copied or imitated in any way without the express written consent of Walden University.
The materials and information you find on the Walden University website are provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation any warranty for information, services, or products provided through or in connection with the Walden University website and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, expectation of privacy, or non-infringement. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you. This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, negligence, or under any other cause of action. You specifically acknowledge that Walden University is not liable for any defamatory, offensive, infringing or illegal materials or conduct, or that of third parties contained on the Walden University website, and Walden University reserves the right to remove such materials from the Walden University website without liability. Walden University reserves the right to update its policies at any time. Please visit this page often to obtain the updated version.
© 2003–2021 Walden University, LLC. and Adtalem Global Education. All rights reserved. The contents of the Walden University website pages, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, and icons, are copyrighted materials owned or controlled by Walden University and contain Walden University’s name, trademarks, service marks, and trade names. You may download one copy of these materials on any single computer and print a copy of the materials for your use in learning about, evaluating, or acquiring Walden University services or products. No other permission is granted to you to print, copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, upload, download, store, display in public, alter, or modify these materials.
Walden University respects intellectual property rights, including rights in the copyrighted materials of the institution, its students, faculty, and third parties. Walden University has implemented a comprehensive policy to help protect those rights and to comply with United States Copyright Law and the U.S. Higher Education Act’s peer-to-peer file sharing provisions. Strict compliance with Walden University’s policies is required of all Walden University students and employees. Walden University’s policies are reviewed annually to determine their effectiveness.
Under U.S. Copyright Law (www.copyright.gov/title17), the author of a creative work automatically owns the copyright in that work upon its creation. No formal registration is required; ownership is immediate. The author can transfer ownership of a copyright to another so the copyright owner may not be the original author of the work. Creative works include songs, stories, poems, paintings, photographs, or other works that contain a creative element. Ownership of the copyright gives the owner exclusive rights in that work such as the right to display, reproduce, transmit, create derivative works from, publicly perform, distribute, and license the creative work. This means that, absent permission from the creator, you may not take the creative work owned by another and exercise these rights. Such a violation is called “infringement” of the owner’s copyright. For example, if you legally purchase a music CD, you may not create copies of the music on that CD and distribute those copies to others over the Internet. Helping others to violate the owner’s copyright by making it easy for them to distribute such materials may also be illegal.
Under U.S. Copyright Law, a copyright owner who has been the victim of copyright infringement is entitled to recover actual damages and profits from the infringer or statutory damages of up to $30,000 per violation. The copyright owner has the right to permanently enjoin the infringer from further infringing activities.
Walden University, recognizing and respecting intellectual property rights, requires its employees, instructors, students, and other community members to use copyrighted materials in a lawful manner. Walden University’s Code of Conduct, as found in the Walden University’s Student Handbook (http://catalog.waldenu.edu/content.php?catoid=155&navoid=51011), presents Walden University’s copyright policy. Copyright infringement can result in applicants being rejected for admission and enrolled students and employees being dismissed.
Additionally, Walden University maintains a vigorous program of accepting and responding to Digital Millennium Copyright ACT (DMCA) notices, which are immediately escalated to Walden University’s legal team for investigation and action. If the materials in question are determined by the legal department to be infringing, the Information Technology department is notified and action is taken that can include either the removal of the infringing materials from Walden University’s network or the blocking of the infringer’s network access. The infringer is notified and reminded of Walden University’s Code of Conduct. Repeated violations can result in dismissal.
Students and employees are reminded that many legal sources of content are available at www.educause.edu/legalcontent