U.S. Department Of Education Rescinds Fine Against GCU

May 18, 2025 ADI Staff Reporter
GCU

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education rescinded a $37.7 million fine ordered against Grand Canyon University under the Biden administration.

The fine was the largest ever levied against a university and part of the Biden administration’s attack on Christian organizations.

“The facts clearly support our contention that we were wrongly accused of misleading our Doctoral students, and we appreciate the recognition that those accusations were without merit. GCU is a leader in innovation, transparency and best practices in higher education, and we look forward to working cooperatively with the Department in the future, just as we have with all regulatory agencies,” said Grand Canyon University (GCU) President Brian Mueller.

In a Joint Stipulation of Dismissal order issued by U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Hearings and Appeals, the Department dismissed the case with no findings, fines, liabilities or penalties of any kind. ED confirmed it has not established that GCU violated any Title IV requirements, including the claim that GCU “substantially misrepresented” the cost of its doctoral programs that was alleged by ED officials under the Biden Administration. The Dismissal stated unequivocally that “there are no findings against GCU, or any of its employees, officers, agents, or contractors, and no fine is imposed.”

The proposed fine action was, by far, the largest the Department of Education had ever levied against a university. GCU filed an appeal to ED’s Office of Hearings and Appeals, maintaining that the unsubstantiated accusations were gross mischaracterizations based on isolated, out-of-context statements from certain enrollment documents and that, in fact, GCU students receive robust information about the time, cost and credits needed to complete a doctoral degree throughout their enrollment and onboarding process. Moreover, GCU maintains that its disclosures surrounding continuation courses, which are common in higher education doctoral programs, provide more information than is legally required or that other universities typically provide. As such, GCU has consistently insisted that it would contest any fine amount – even $1, let alone $37.7 million.

The dismissal of the fine action coincides with other regulatory bodies and courts that have also refuted allegations that GCU misrepresented the cost and credits of a doctoral program.

Two federal courts previously rejected similar allegations related to GCU’s doctoral disclosures in Young v GCU.

The Higher Learning Commission deemed the University’s disclosures “robust and thorough” in its 2021 comprehensive review.

The Arizona State Approving Agency of the Department of Veterans Affairs in March 2024 found “no substantiated findings” in its audit that looked at GCU’s disclosures and processes.

The dismissal also follows two recent legal victories for GCU that have negated federal government actions taken against the university.

In November 2024, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that ED acted unlawfully and exceeded its authority by applying an incorrect legal standard when it refused to acknowledge GCU’s lawful nonprofit status. The Ninth Circuit vacated ED’s erroneous determination and remanded the case back to the agency to apply the correct standard. GCU is hopeful that process will be completed soon, as the IRS has already determined that GCU meets all legal requirements as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity. In light of the Ninth Circuit ruling, 10 of Arizona’s Congressional members have sent a bipartisan letter of support for GCU’s nonprofit status to ED.

In March 2025, the U.S. District Court of Arizona dismissed the FTC’s lawsuit against Grand Canyon University, concluding the FTC does not have jurisdiction under the FTC Act because GCU is not a corporation “operating for its own profit or that of its members.” In fact, GCU has operated as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt Arizona nonprofit corporation fulfilling charitable purposes for all but 14 years of its 75-year history and most recently since completing a transaction in 2018 to revert to that status. The District Court ruling emphasized that “the mere fact that a nonprofit is earning revenue and expanding does not transform it into a for-profit. No federal court has ever adopted such a broad reading of the FTC Act’s definition of a corporation, which would… give the FTC authority over all manner of nonprofit entities.”

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5 Comments

  1. Raul Grijalva and his Mexican mafia, the entirety of Tucson politicos and administration, immediately shut down the move of GCU to the failed El Rio golf course for one reason and one reason only. Liberals hate Christians.

  2. Yes, the Biden Administration’s Department of Education was out of control. That’s one of the reasons Trump is shutting down its authority to do this kind of politically biased and motivated overreach in future.

  3. “ED confirmed it has not established that GCU violated any Title IV requirements … alleged by ED officials under the Biden Administration.”

    These political apparatchik, and their bosses, and their bosses bosses, etc., need to be charged under 18 U.S. Code § 242 and be personally sued.

  4. is the current administration sufficient to save the nation? I’d suggest war is just over the horizion – Rapture will be the rescue mission

  5. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education rescinded a $37.7 million fine ordered against Grand Canyon University under the Biden administration.

    The fine was the largest ever levied against a university and part of the Biden administration’s attack on Christian organizations.

    Globally, 1 in 7 Christians faces significant persecution for their faith. In Africa, that number grows to 1 in 5. And in Asia, it rises to two in five. That means that at least forty percent of all Christians in Asia suffer for their faith. Nations at the top of this year’s World Watch List include Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Saudi Arabia, and Myanmar. You’ll notice countries on that list that are considered allies and partners of the United States.

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