The US Department of Education has taken actions against Grand Canyon University, the largest Christian university in the US, including imposing a $37.7 million fine for allegedly misleading students about costs.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona commented that the department is “cracking down not only to shut [predatory schools] down, but to send a message not to prey on students.”
“Last year, your Department took action against Grand Canyon University, a predatory for-profit college, over the school’s failure to accurately disclose its cost to students, driving up the true cost for those students requiring for them to pay for continuation courses before they would graduate – scam courses added about $10,000 or more to the cost of education to these kids,” DeLauro said.
“Going after predatory schools preying on first generation students. They have flashy marketing materials, but the product is not worth the paper it is printed on. Increased enforcement budget to go after these folks and crack down. Levied largest fine in history against a school that lied about costs and terminated a school from Title IV. We are cracking down not only to shut them down, but to send a message not to prey on students,” Cardona said.
GCU has appealed the fine and claims it has been unfairly targeted, with officials demanding Cardona retract his comments.
The actions have prompted a petition campaign to protect Christian colleges and concerns about discrimination against faith-based institutions.
“Our next recourse after that decision would be another appeal within the Department, this time directly to the Secretary of Education,” a GCU spokesperson said.
“This is far from being a few rotten apples in the bunch. Predatory for-profit colleges have engaged in a range of deceptions designed to increase enrollment and student costs to drive more revenue for owners and shareholders,” DeLauro said. “How are you and your agency committing to increased oversight of these institutions and are there anyway in which we can shut these folks down?”
“You have a shiny brochure and a great commercial. But the product is not worth the paper it’s written on. We have students graduating 60K to 70K dollars in debt, only eligible for jobs making under 30K–that to me is unacceptable,” Cardona said.
A GCU spokesperson noted that “officials continue to make derogatory and inflammatory public statements that are legally and factually incorrect and not shared by any of the other 26 regulatory and accrediting bodies that oversee GCU.”
“The Secretary’s comments to the House Appropriations Committee were so reckless that GCU is demanding an immediate retraction, as they do not reflect the factual record in this case. He is either confused, misinformed or does not understand the actions taken by his own agency,” the spokesperson added.
“The federal government’s education agenda is punishing schools that do not conform to their progressive ideology. It’s time we take a stand against this egregious abuse of power,” APP Policy Director Jon Schweppe said. “The scrutinize-and-penalize campaign against faith-based institutions is not about students’ interests or well-being. Rather, it’s part of a concerted effort to snuff out education choice and promote far-left values. It’s critical that Americans be aware of this shameful campaign and that we do all we can to put a stop to it.”
The “American people are losing confidence in the federal government to be fair and objective in their operations,” GCU officials stated.
“There are clearly no checks and balances to prevent this type of behavior from the Department of Education,” they added. “We support any organization that is willing to shed light on the federal government’s unwarranted and targeted actions taken against GCU. If they can make these claims against the largest Christian university in the country, other faith-based organizations could be next.”
