Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Phoenix, Arizona, is marking its 75th anniversary with the private non-profit Christian college anticipating to enroll 125,000 for its fall semester, its largest-ever intake of students. While celebrating the continuous growth, GCU continues its fight against a historic $37.7 million dollar fine for allegedly misrepresenting the costs of its doctoral programs and against the “defamatory” criticisms by U.S. Department of Education Secretary who vowed to “shut it down”.
The interdenominational institution, which faced bankruptcy in 2008 due to low enrollment in one of the most economically deprived areas in Phoenix, now expects to welcome 25,000 students onsite and a further 100,000 students online, an increase of nearly six percent from the previous year, 2023 to 2024.
"To look at how far we have come from our humble beginnings in 1949 to where we were 15 years ago to becoming the largest Christian university in the country, it is clear that God has his hand on this place in a very special way," said GCU President Brian Mueller.
The 75th anniversary celebrations involve the release of a commemorative book called '75 Years of Purpose: 15 Years of Transformation.'
"With everything going on in the world today, I am convinced God’s plan was for us to be at this university, at this time, and in these circumstances," Mueller added.
The celebrations for the 75th anniversary come after an ongoing public controversy following a fine of $37.7 million levied against the university by the U.S. Education Department (ED). The fine was given for GCU allegedly misrepresenting the true costs of its doctoral programs.
In a press release dated Oct. 31 2023, ED claimed a Federal Student Aid investigation found GCU “lied to more than 7,500 former and current students about the cost of its doctoral programs over several years.” GCU falsely advertised a lower cost than what 98 percent of doctoral graduates ended up paying.
“GCU lied about the cost of its doctoral programs to attract students to enroll,” said FSA Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray at the time. “FSA takes its oversight responsibilities seriously.
"GCU’s lies harmed students, broke their trust, and led to unexpectedly high levels of student debt. Today, we are holding GCU accountable for its actions, protecting students and taxpayers, and upholding the integrity of the federal student aid programs.”
Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona subsequently vowed to shut the university down, during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on April 10 this year.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro called GCU “a predatory for-profit college” at the hearing and asked Cardona how he would act “over the school’s failure to accurately disclose its cost to students, driving up the true cost for those students requiring for them to pay for continuation courses before they would graduate – scam courses added about USD $10,000 or more to the cost of education to these kids.”
Cardona replied GCU had “flashy marketing materials” but “the product is not worth the paper it is printed on.”
“We are cracking down not only to shut them down, but to send a message not to prey on students,” Cardona said.
GCU has appealed against the fine and rebutted the claims by Cardona in a public statement posted on the university website in April, calling them both “disturbing and defamatory”.
It highlighted its professional reputation doing an “exemplary job” as a high education provider, which is not anti-government and has a “record of cooperation and great relationships with 26 different regulatory and accrediting bodies, none of whom have corroborated what ED is claiming.”
Calling the “inflammatory comments” by Cardona reckless, GCU stated that what he said was both legally and factually incorrect.
“He is either confused, misinformed or does not understand the actions taken by his own agency.
“There are no factually supportable allegations that warrant an attempt to shut down GCU and, in fact, ED has already granted a three-year extension of GCU’s provisional program participation agreement that allows it to continue to receive Title IV financial aid dollars [federal financial aid funds].
“Those Title IV funds go directly to students, who can use them at whatever institution they choose. More are choosing GCU than any other university in the U.S., which does not happen if you are deceiving a small number of students as ED claims.”
GCU pointed out that it remained fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
In regards to Cardona’s “misguided comments” accusing the university of lying and preying on students, GCU has requested evidence of “intent and verified student complaints.” That information had not been provided, according to the statement.
“Rather, their accusations are based entirely on their own subjective opinion of GCU’s financial disclosures for doctoral programs. As Mr. Cardona’s comments confirm, those opinions reflect a deeply held bias against GCU, which has manifested itself in his department’s selective and punitive enforcement actions against the university.”
Two particular points were challenged by the university, in regards to the massive fine.
Firstly, the claims by ED were not corroborated by three significant factors, according to the university. These were that the federal court system refuted similar claims about GCU’s finances in a court case, Young v GCU. Also the Higher Learning Commission described the GCU doctoral disclosures as “robust and thorough” in a review. The third factor was an audit finding “no substantiated findings” by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Secondly, the university stated claims by the ED that the higher education provider “lied to students” and “falsely advertised” the cost to complete doctoral programs were a “gross mischaracterizations of what GCU actually discloses.”
GCU pointed out that doctoral programs “rarely have a fixed cost” because the continuation of studies varies for each doctorate student. A degree program calculator is used instead to estimate the finances involved.
In regards to Cardona’s comments about so-called predatory for-profit schools’ marketing material “not being worth the paper it is printed on”, GCU agreed with him.
However, there were two important caveats: “GCU is not a predatory school and it is legally authorized to operate as a nonprofit, which Cardona does not distinguish.” GCU also outlined how its measurable academic metrics, such as in nursing, showed a high turnover in graduates and more than the national average, according to the university.
GCU reiterated its allegation that federal agencies of the Biden Administration were targeting the university.
“Here’s what we can tell you: Mr. Cardona’s inflammatory comments make very clear the Department of Education’s intentions and their disdain for institutions that do not fit their ideological agenda. What’s also clear is that ED has no lawful grounds to carry out those intentions based on their disingenuous and factually unsupportable allegations.”
GCU also outlined again its achievements and approval by professional bodies within the wider community, such as 700 industry leaders on 20 advisory boards wanting access to the university’s graduates, and partnerships with schools and hospitals.
The university also made it clear that tuition had been frozen on the ground campus for 16 years “’because our innovative approach to managing this university, which ED objects to, has allowed us to do that for the benefit of our students.”
GCU stated a federal government agency had fined both Liberty University and GCU: the two largest Christian universities in the country. The $37.7 million fine for GCU was not based on student complaints or evidence of misleading by the university, as confirmed by the ED. “That is a shocking admission from an agency trying to impose the largest fine in its history,” stated the GCU.
“ED’s conduct related to GCU goes well beyond normal regulatory activity,” added the GCU in its statement. “It epitomizes the weaponization of federal agencies’ power against a private Christian university. To borrow a term ED uses liberally to describe every for-profit institution it is trying to harm, the comments by Mr. Cardona and actions taken by his Department are predatory in nature and designed to achieve their own ideological agenda.”
GCU stated confidence in winning an upcoming appeal in court and intended “to fight these accusations all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.”
“The Department of Education’s intent, based on the frivolous nature of its accusations and defamatory statements from ED officials, seems to be to damage the university’s reputation, use its ‘findings’ as a rationale to seek loan forgiveness for students under the borrower’s defense to repayment program and impose unprecedented fines and legal fees. In other words, regardless of the inevitable legal outcomes in GCU’s favor, the process becomes the punishment.”
Corrections Sept 2, 2024:
> The article previously incorrectly referred to GCU as a Baptist-affiliated institution. However, GCU is no longer affiliated with the Baptists as it became an interdenominational institution in 2000.
> An earlier version incorrectly referred to GCU as for-profit although its status officially reverted back to non-profit as of July 1, 2018 as recognized by the IRS. A GCU spokesperson clarified to CDI, "The U.S. Department of Education, while approving the 2018 change of ownership transaction and acknowledging that GCU has the legal authority to operate as a nonprofit, has decided to still classify the university as a proprietary institution "for purposes of federal funding." This DOE classification does not overrule the other government agencies' classification and only means GCU must adhere to stricter guidelines for federal funding that only apply to for-profits. But, legally, GCU remains a nonprofit institution."
