In recent years a number of institutions have offered the doctoral degree through nontraditional, external programs. The state of Florida has produced a disproportionate number of such graduate programs, including Heed University (Hollywood), Nova University (Fort Lauderdale), and Walden University (Naples). This paper discusses only the Walden University program. It answers the question whether the open admissions policy of Walden has resulted in a high success rate, defined as the awarding of a doctoral degree, for the 449 doctoral candidates enrolling in the 1971, 1972, and 1973 Walden summer sessions. The analysis presupposes that if an open admissions institution has a graduation rate approaching 100 percent, it either must be suspect or markedly superior to the average graduate school. Additionally, available data is examined to ascertain whether the quantity or quality of previous academic work is related to completion of the Walden program. The answer to this question has obvious implications for admissions policy and for decisionmaking by prospective doctoral candidates considering the institution. To the extent that other open-admissions level institutions are similar, the implications may have a wider applicability. (Author/PG)