Dept of Education fines largest Christian university in US for 'falsely advertised' cost of doctoral program

The largest Christian university in the nation on Tuesday was charged a fine by the Department of Education (ED) for misleading students.

According to a press release from the Department of Education, an investigation conducted by the office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) found GCU "lied" to over 7,500 former and current students about the cost of its doctoral programs over several years. The fine is for $37.7 million. 

The press release stated GCU "falsely advertised" a lower cost for its doctoral programs, adding that about 98% of students ended up paying more than the advertised cost. 

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"GCU lied about the cost of its doctoral programs to attract students to enroll," FSA Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray said. "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."

GCU has a 20-day deadline to request a hearing with the Department’s Office of Hearings and Appeals or file a response to FSA to explain why the fine should not be imposed. Furthermore, the Department of Education imposed specific conditions on the Arizona-based school to continue participating in the federal student aid programs.

GCU told Department of Education those doctoral programs cost between $40,000 and $49,000. 

However, FSA’s investigation found that GCU made "false claims" about the cost on the school’s website and net price calculators, which violated the Higher Education Act. There were other false claims about enrollment agreements, catalogs, policy handbooks, and other marketing materials. 

"Based upon these substantial misrepresentations, the Department also determined that GCU failed to adhere to the fiduciary standard required of a Title IV participant," the FSA stated.

The Department of Education sent Fox News Digital a statement saying that GCU has had "substantial misrepresentations and other compliance issues identified by the Department."

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"Moreover, through a separate investigation unrelated to those lawsuits, the Department determined that fewer than 2% of the students who graduated from GCU’s doctoral programs that require dissertations paid the amount that GCU advertised as the total cost," a department spokesperson said.

The Department of Education added that GCU has not disputed this statistic and added that most students paid thousands more than the advertised cost. 

This comes after the president of GCU told Fox News Digital in an interview that he believes the university is unfairly being targeted by the department and other federal agencies. 

GCU President Brian Mueller was asked if he believes the federal government's investigations are religiously motivated, to which he answered he hopes that is not the case. 

"Well, they haven't said it is, and I certainly haven't said it is. And I hope that it's not, but that the two largest Christian universities in the country are being investigated," Mueller told Fox News Digital, referring to an ED probe into Liberty University in Virginia. "And so is that [a] coincidence? I don't know."

The GCU president argued the federal investigations are tied to the ED denying the academic institution's effort to convert into a nonprofit institution in 2018. The department denied GCU’s nonprofit status for purposes of federal student financial aid, which continues to classify the school as a for-profit entity.

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A judge rejected GCU's suit last fall on grounds that the Department of Education has the authority to make such a decision under the Higher Education Act and that they proved their decision was indeed not "arbitrary and capricious." 

Another appeal to the decision will be heard on Dec. 5.

GCU sent Fox News Digital a statement saying that none of the allegations from the department make any sense and that the school will appeal the fine and actions taken by the department and take all measures necessary to refute the allegations.

"Honestly, we were taken aback by the Department’s accusation that GCU 'lied' to students or 'broke their trust', which couldn’t be further from the truth. That insinuation, coupled with the record fine they chose to implement, speaks to their intent to harm the university," a gcu spokesperson said.

A statement from a press release from the university states that "The Department’s decision to fine Grand Canyon University $37.7 million and impose conditions on its program participation agreement confirms what we previously outlined in this detailed statement and is further evidence of the coordinated and unjust actions the federal government is taking against the largest Christian university in the country."

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