A recent risk-based audit of Grand Canyon University conducted by the Arizona State Approving Agency (SAA) for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs did not “show any findings” related to the institution’s doctoral disclosures, which have been targeted by the Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) through a $37.7 million fine.
The SAA said it “did not have any substantiated findings” based on its review of Grand Canyon University, adding, “There are no findings impacting the continued approval of Grand Canyon University at this time.”
In a statement sent to The Arizona Sun Times, the university thanked the SAA for its review, saying, “GCU has a longstanding positive relationship with the SAA and greatly appreciates the agency’s willingness to visit the campus and meet with GCU’s Dean of the College of Doctoral Studies and members of the Office of the Provost, among others, to understand how students progress through the doctoral program, what it takes to complete a dissertation, how the university measures quality and student success, and the many support services that are available to students.”
In December 2023, the FTC alleged the institution engaged in “deceptive business practices” with its doctoral programs in illegal “telemarketing practices” following an October 2023 investigation by the U.S. Department of Education, which led to the hefty fine being imposed on the university.
The Department of Education characterized the university’s doctoral disclosures as “substantial misrepresentations,” however, Grand Canyon University argues that the Department “issued no prior guidance related to these specific disclosures yet fined GCU despite the fact that it provides more cost information than is legally required or that other universities provide.”
Grand Canyon University says the fine is “part of coordinated and targeted actions the federal government is taking against the largest Christian university in the country,” as the Department of Education’s claims were not “based on student complaints but rather its subjective opinion of GCU’s disclosures.”
The university is in the process of disputing and appealing the $37.7 million fine.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Grand Canyon University” by Grand Canyon University.
