Largest Christian university in US fined record amount

The largest Christian university in the U.S. is facing a record-setting fine from the Department of Education for allegedly deceiving thousands of students about the cost of its doctoral programs. 

The department announced Tuesday it is fining Grand Canyon University $37.7 million, accusing it of lying to more than 7,500 former and current students about the price of the programs and saying 98 percent of students in them pay more than what is advertised. 

The Federal Student Aid (FSA) office found the alleged deception went back to 2017, with the school telling students the programs cost between $40,000 and $49,000. Data from the school showed 78 percent paid $10,000 to $12,000 more, according to the department. 

“GCU lied about the cost of its doctoral programs to attract students to enroll,” said FSA Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray. “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.” 

The office said GCU defended its decisions by saying there were disclosures the programs could cost more due to continuation classes. The department rejected that answer, arguing the information was buried in documents and did not cover the “substantial misrepresentations regarding cost.”

The department is ordering GCU to fix the misrepresentation and go off the average debt a student incurs from the program. It also is requiring the school to tell current students about how to report violations and concerns about the university to the federal government.

GCU released a statement Tuesday denying the allegations and denouncing the administration’s statement. 

The school said the disclaimer the programs could cost more due to continuation classes is placed prominently in documents for students to see and that federal courts already agreed with it because it recently settled a case with similar allegations. 

The university contends some of the actions by the department are retaliatory as the GCU has sued the administration to get its for-profit status changed to nonprofit.

“To be clear, GCU does not mislead or deceive students in any way. In fact, the opposite is true given that GCU goes above and beyond what is legally required,” the school said. “While the Department requires that universities provide cost estimates only for the first year in college for first-year, first-time students, and only for undergraduate programs, GCU goes beyond these requirements by investing in proprietary technology that provides cost estimates for each year of the program of study and for all of its degree programs, including those at the doctoral level. GCU is looked at by its peers as an industry leader in transparency and its employees have been invited to speak at seven different higher education conferences on these matters.”

GCU has 20 days to appeal the decision.