Grand Canyon University Exempt from Federal Claims Amid Controversy

The largest Christian university in the U.S. has managed to escape federal claims after school officials indicated that they were being targeted by the Biden administration.

Last week, Grand Canyon University announced that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had voted unanimously to file a lawsuit against it. The FTC, under the current administration, had previously brought a case against GCU, Grand Canyon Education Inc., and its president, Brian Mueller. The allegations included deceptive advertising and illegal telemarketing practices. It’s worth noting that Grand Canyon Education, Inc. offers marketing, recruitment, and support services for universities.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson mentioned that the lawsuit, inherited from the previous administration, was filed almost two years ago. He noted that the case faced setbacks in two allegations that were dismissed. “These setbacks have been made worse by recent developments,” Ferguson explained. GCU previously won a significant ruling against the Department of Education on related issues. The Department later retracted a substantial fine against GCU, confirming the university’s proper designation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity.

In recent complaints, the FTC accused the Arizona-based university of misleading doctoral students about the acceleration program duration and falsely presenting the school as a nonprofit. Additionally, they claimed that GCU made illegal calls to prospective students who had submitted their contact information via the university’s website.

The Biden administration’s Department of Education had previously denied GCU’s nonprofit designation after the Arizona Commission approved them for post-private education.

Mueller commented that if the FTC dropped the charges, it would end years of coordinated actions by government officials against the university. He expressed appreciation for the current FTC leadership’s objective handling of the case and acknowledged the rulings of various agencies and courts that have supported GCU against the same allegations.

“These accusations were not just wrong; they’re the opposite of the truth,” Mueller stated. He has previously asserted that the university was unfairly scrutinized by the Biden administration and that multiple federal agencies had been involved in what he described as coordinated attacks on educational institutions.

“For four years, they threw everything at us, and despite all the unfair accusations, we have not only survived but continued to thrive,” he added.

The FTC recently withdrew charges against GCU after the U.S. Department of Education cancelled a $37.7 million fine in May for purported deceptive practices against the university.