President Trump’s Education Department has just rescinded an onerous fine unjustly imposed by the Biden administration on a Christian university.
On May 16, Grand Canyon University announced, “The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has rescinded a $37.7 million fine, with prejudice, that was proposed against Grand Canyon University, clearing the university of any wrongdoing.” Many suspected the university was being targeted by the Biden administration not because of any major wrongdoing but because of its Christian affiliation, and that appears to have been a fair assessment.
The case dismissal from ED stated that “there are no findings against GCU, or any of its employees, officers, agents, or contractors, and no fine is imposed.” Despite Biden administration allegations, the Trump ED found that GCU did not violate any Title IV requirements, rejecting the assertion that GCU “substantially misrepresented” the prices of its doctoral programs.
GCU President Brian Mueller said, “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.”
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He argued, “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.”
The Biden fine was the biggest ever imposed by the Department of Education on a university, GCU explained. Other courts and regulatory bodies besides ED have also cleared GCU:
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.
GCU won two recent court battles against federal actions. A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that ED exceeded its lawful authority, while in March, the U.S. District Court of Arizona dismissed a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against GCU. The district court ruled that the FTC doesn’t have jurisdiction under the FTC Act, since GCU is not in fact a corporation that is “operating for its own profit or that of its members.”
GCU concluded by providing a list of the “agencies and courts have now either directly refuted, come to the opposite conclusion or reigned in government overreach regarding false claims surrounding GCU’s doctoral disclosures and/or tax-exempt 501(c)(3) Arizona nonprofit status,” namely:
U.S. Department of Education
IRS
State of Arizona
Higher Learning Commission
Arizona Private Postsecondary Board of Education
Arizona State Approving Agency of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Grand Canyon University v. Cardona
11th Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Young v. GCU
U.S. District Court of Arizona in FTC v. Grand Canyon Education, Inc.; Grand Canyon University; and Brian E. Mueller
The Trump administration has confirmed that the persecution of GCU was unjust and unwarranted.
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