Walden University's $28.5 million class action settlement did not involve its Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. The case, Carroll v. Walden University, covered certain Black and female students in Walden's Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program, and it is closed. A federal judge in Maryland approved the deal on Oct. 17, 2024, and checks were scheduled to go out April 10, 2025. Walden DNP students were not part of the class.

The rules that do shape a Walden DNP are in Walden's own catalog: required credits and practicum hours, tuition per credit, and how the DNP project can run past the minimum timeline. Walden also appears on the school list in a separate federal borrower-defense settlement, and its parent company has a new name. Here is what the primary documents show as of Oct. 14, 2026.

What the Walden Settlement Actually Covered

Carroll v. Walden University, LLC, No. 1:22-cv-00051, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on Jan. 7, 2022. According to the official settlement website, the class was Black students and female students who enrolled in or began Walden's DBA program between Aug. 1, 2008, and Jan. 31, 2018, and who were charged for and completed more capstone credits than Walden said were the minimum when they enrolled. Female class members also had to have used student loans or payment plans.

The lawsuit alleged that Walden understated the true cost of the DBA by disclosing only the minimum number of capstone credits, and that it targeted Black and female prospective students. The claims were brought under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Walden denied the allegations.

Money: $21,175,000 of the $28.5 million fund went to class members, divided according to excess capstone credits. Attorneys' fees were $7,125,000.
Policy changes: Walden agreed to publish the median time and cost to complete the DBA, to tell DBA enrollees that finishing may take up to eight years, and not to bring back its "University Research Reviewer" role, all for at least four years.
Status: the claim deadline was Jan. 15, 2025, and the settlement site says it has passed.

The DBA and the DNP share one feature: each ends in a doctoral project that can take longer than the minimum number of terms. But the class definition and the required policy changes name only the DBA, not the Walden DNP.

Walden DNP Requirements in the Current Catalog

The Walden DNP catalog page lists these minimum degree requirements:

A doctoral writing assessment (0 credits) and a 5-credit foundation course.
25 credits of core courses.
Up to 8 credits of field experience for students with fewer than 600 documented practicum hours, at 80 practicum hours per credit.
15 credits of DNP project and practicum courses.

The catalog requires at least 1,000 post-baccalaureate practicum hours, with at least 400 at the DNP level. Walden's DNP program page lists a 45-quarter-credit minimum for the traditional track. Nurse practitioner tracks need more credits: Walden's family nurse practitioner page lists 90 quarter credits for BSN entry and 80 for MSN entry. The catalog notes that the traditional and executive leadership tracks do not prepare students for nurse practitioner licensure. Students have up to eight years to finish, and extensions beyond that are not guaranteed.

How the Walden DNP Project Can Extend the Program

Walden's catalog lists a 0-credit course, NURS 8702 DNP Project Mentoring, that students take alongside their coursework until the project is finished. If a Walden DNP project is still open after all other coursework is done, a second course applies. The catalog entry for NURS 8703 DNP Project Completion lists it at "3 credits per term as needed to complete the DNP Project" and says students "are automatically enrolled in this course each term while completing the DNP project after they have completed all other course requirements."

The DNP program page adds that students are generally "continuously registered in the dissertation/doctoral study course until they complete their capstone project and it is approved," and that this "usually takes longer than the minimum required terms." At Walden's current rate, each extra 3-credit term adds $2,880 in tuition plus the $185 quarterly program fee.

What a Walden DNP Costs

Walden's doctoral tuition page lists Walden DNP tuition of $960 per quarter credit, effective Feb. 23, 2026, up from $925. Nurse practitioner practicum courses carry an added clinical fee of $80 per quarter credit.

The program page's sample estimate for the traditional track assumes 600 documented practicum hours at admission, passing every course the first time and finishing in the minimum time. It lists $28,800 for 30 coursework credits, $14,400 for 15 project credits and $1,110 in program fees, for $44,310. A Believe and Achieve Scholarship reduces that to $39,510. Books and materials, which Walden estimates at $1,800 to $2,500, are extra, as are practicum travel, onboarding fees and liability insurance. Our report on MSN and DNP student loans explains how federal borrowing limits apply.

Walden on the Sweet Borrower-Defense List

Sweet v. Cardona, now Sweet v. McMahon, is a class action against the Education Department over delayed borrower-defense decisions. Borrower defense lets students seek federal loan discharge when a school misled them. Walden was not a party. The court approved the settlement on Nov. 16, 2022, and its Exhibit C school list includes Walden University, listed under Laureate Education, its owner before Adtalem. Chamberlain University is also on the list.

Class members whose borrower-defense applications were pending as of June 22, 2022, and whose loans were tied to an Exhibit C school were entitled to "Full Settlement Relief" under the settlement agreement: loan discharge, a refund of amounts paid to the department and deletion of the credit tradeline.
Post-class applicants, who applied after June 22, 2022, and before Nov. 16, 2022, were owed a decision within 36 months of the settlement's effective date. For Exhibit C schools, that deadline was Jan. 28, 2026, and the district court refused to extend it. Applicants who got no timely decision are entitled to full relief within a year of receiving notice.

On July 17, 2026, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of the department's request to modify the settlement. The panel said the department knew of about 179,000 post-class applicants when it sought final approval in 2022. On Aug. 18, 2026, the plaintiffs asked the district court to enforce the settlement and to sanction the department for contempt. Borrowers who applied after Nov. 16, 2022, including current Walden DNP students who file now, are not covered by these settlement deadlines.

Adtalem Is Now Covista

Walden's parent changed its corporate name from Adtalem Global Education Inc. to Covista Inc. on Feb. 5, 2026, according to an SEC filing. Its stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as CVSA on Feb. 24, 2026. The university itself kept the Walden name. Our explainer on what the Covista name change means for Chamberlain and Walden has more detail.

What Happens Next

Nov. 5, 2026, 2 p.m.: the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is scheduled to hear the motions to enforce the Sweet settlement and for contempt sanctions, according to the case docket.
Carroll v. Walden: closed. Claims ended Jan. 15, 2025, and no new filing window is open.
Walden DNP catalog: requirements and tuition can change by term. The $960 per-credit rate took effect Feb. 23, 2026.

This report draws on court records, the Carroll settlement website, Walden's catalog and program pages, and Education Department settlement documents, as of Oct. 14, 2026.