The federal Department of Education fined the country’s largest Christian university tens of millions of dollars for allegedly deceiving its students about the cost of some of its programs.
The Department announced this week that it fined Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona a total of $37.7 million for misleading the cost of its graduate programs. The school has more than 100,000 students. This is the largest fine of its kind issued by the Education Department (via Ed.gov):
An FSA investigation found GCU lied to more than 7,500 former and current students about the cost of its doctoral programs over several years. GCU falsely advertised a lower cost than what 98% of students ended up paying to complete certain doctoral programs.
“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.”
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FSA’s investigation determined that as far back as 2017, GCU was not fully informing students about the cost of its doctoral programs. GCU stated that those doctoral programs cost between $40,000 and $49,000. GCU made these false claims about the cost on the school’s website and net price calculators, as well as in its enrollment agreements, catalogs, policy handbooks, and other marketing materials. These false claims violate the Higher Education Act and federal regulations prohibiting substantial misrepresentations. Based upon these substantial misrepresentations, the Department also determined that GCU failed to adhere to the fiduciary standard required of a Title IV participant.
GCU’s statements about the total cost to complete these programs were false and misleading because, based on GCU’s own data, less than 2% of graduates completed within the cost that GCU advertised. For the vast majority of graduates, “continuation courses”—which added extra costs—were necessary to complete the dissertation requirement in these doctoral programs. GCU’s data further shows that 78% of the graduates in those programs had to pay $10,000 to $12,000 more in tuition costs—roughly a 25% increase, depending on the program—than GCU explicitly advertised.
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In a lengthy statement, the university said it “categorically denies every accusation” and that it will “take all measures necessary to defend itself from these false accusations.”
In addition, it claimed that its accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, stated that its marketing materials are “clear and transparent.”
“The information and resources provided are robust and thorough, providing prospective students a clear picture of their academic and financial path toward a degree at GCU,” HLC reportedly said.
Richard Cordray, the chief operations officer for Federal Student Aid, said “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,” he added.
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