PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The U.S. Department of Education has rescinded a record $37.7 million fine ordered against Grand Canyon University more than one year ago.
“The facts clearly support our contention that we were wrongly accused of misleading our Doctoral students, and we appreciate the recognition that those accusations were without merit,” said GCU President Brian Mueller. “GCU is a leader in innovation, transparency and best practices in higher education, and we look forward to working cooperatively with the Department in the future, just as we have with all regulatory agencies.
Arizona’s Family obtained a copy of the order dated March 26. School officials said the Department of Education has dismissed the case altogether.
The fine was first announced in October 2023 and it was the largest ever levied against a university. The federal government had accused the country’s largest private Christian University of misleading students about the cost of its doctoral programs, and GCU claimed it was retaliation by the Biden administration’s Education Department over its fight to seek nonprofit status.
At the time, the Education Department said that GCU falsely advertised a lower cost than what nearly all students ended up paying to complete their doctoral degrees. The feds also said that GCU’s own data show that less than 2% of graduates completed the program with the advertised costs. GCU quickly filed an appeal, calling the accusations “gross mischaracterizations” from “isolated, out-of-context statements.”
“Unlike the previous Administration, we will not persecute and prosecute colleges and universities based on their religious affiliation. The Trump Administration will continue to ensure every institution of higher education is held accountable based on facts – but Department enforcement will be for the purpose of serving students, not political bias,” Ellen Keast, a department spokeswoman, said in a statement.
GCU points to other regulatory bodies and courts that disputed those earlier claims, including two federal courts, the Higher Learning Commission, and the Arizona State Approving Agency of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The university also cites a U.S. Appeals Court that the Education Department acted “unlawfully and exceeded its authority” by refusing to acknowledge the school’s nonprofit status.
According to university officials, the lawsuit between the Federal Trade Commission and Grand Canyon Education, a for-profit arm that provides services to GCU, continues. The federal agency said GCU and Grand Canyon Education lied to students by telling them the university’s “accelerate” doctoral programs cost just 20 courses or 60 credits. The FTC said the program actually required nearly all doctoral students to take additional “continuation courses” that cost thousands of dollars.
“Any FTC continuation of its nonprofit disclosure allegations following the 9th Circuit ruling and IRS decision, and the doctoral disclosure allegations following ED’s fine-action dismissal and the other court rulings, would only further underscore the multi-agency attack initiated under the Biden Administration to tie GCU up with protracted legal proceedings,” GCU said in a news release Friday evening.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
