Following Education Secretary Miguel Cardona’s promise to close Grand Canyon University (GCU), the biggest Christian university in the nation, officials from GCU are fighting back. They told Fox News Digital that the enforcement action stems from “deeply held bias.”
During an April 10 House Appropriations Committee hearing, Cardona spoke about tightening regulations on GCU and similar universities.
Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, questioned Cardona about the administration’s efforts to close GCU, referring to it as “a predatory for-profit school.”
Cardona openly endorsed their enforcement tactics, stating, “We are cracking down not only to shut them down, but to send a message to not prey on students.”
‘PREDATORY FOR-PROFIT COLLEGE’
“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 responded.
GCU challenged a $37.7 million fine imposed by the department in November. The Arizona-based university faced accusations of misleading students about the costs of its doctoral programs over multiple years.
The fine dwarfs those previously handed out by the Department of Education to institutions such as Penn State ($2.4 million) and Michigan State ($4.5 million) for their failure to address the crimes of Jerry Sandusky and Larry Nassar, respectively.
In an October press release, the department stated that an investigation led by the office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) discovered that GCU “lied” to over 7,500 former and present students regarding the expenses of its doctoral programs.
The release further noted that GCU “falsely advertises” a lower price for its doctoral programs, with approximately 98% of students ultimately paying more than the advertised amount.
The university had 20 days to either request a hearing with the ED’s Office of Hearings and Appeals or provide a response to the FSA explaining why the fine shouldn’t be imposed.
Additionally, the Department laid out specific conditions for the school to meet if it wished to remain eligible for federal student aid programs.
“Our next recourse after that decision would be another appeal within the Department, this time directly to the Secretary of Education,” the GCU official said.
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