Grand Canyon University was fined $37.7 million by the US Education Department. We want to state upfront that the school is vehemently defending itself from what it has termed “lies and deceptive statements.” In a five-page press release, the university stated, “Grand Canyon University categorically denies every accusation in the Department of Education’s statement and will take all measures necessary to defend itself from these false accusations.”
While we consider Grand Canyon University to be a for-profit university, it is considered to be a nonprofit by its accreditor as well as the IRS. In fact, Grand Canyon sued the US Education Department after the school’s request to be classified as a nonprofit was rejected. (The Trump Administration rejected the request because it believed the school was still too close to its previous parent company. The Biden Administration has not shown any signs of changing this position.)
According to the Education Department, Grand Canyon University lied to over 7,500 students about the cost of its doctoral programs and omitted the costs of “continuation courses” that are often required to finish dissertation requirements. Richard Cordray, the chief operating officer for Federal Student Aid, which is part of the Education Department explained, “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.”
The Education Department has been getting tougher on for-profit schools. In fact, this is the largest fine of its kind ever issued by the department. New regulation has been passed to punish schools with high loan default rates. Thus we are not surprised that the fine was accompanied by some stipulations such as the school must report the average cost paid by doctoral students if it discloses the cost of its doctoral programs. Additionally, Grand Canyon University must notify its doctoral students on how they can file a complaint about these pricing allegations with the US Education Department.
