Phoenix-based Grand Canyon University officials said the private Christian college is out of debt for the first time since 2004. Now GCU wants to go back to its status as a non-profit school.
GCU President Brian Mueller said the university hit hard times a decade ago when it was $20 million in debt. But a group of private investors bailed the college out and it became a for-profit, publicly traded company.
Mueller said enrollment is up, the college is financially stable, so it's time for GCU to return to a non-profit status.
“There is a negative stigma in the higher education community over a university having a for-profit status and honestly some of that is deserved because there have been some bad players and a lot of it is not deserved, but the stigma remains,” Mueller said.
He said non-profit status also means GCU can compete with state universities in Arizona and California. He said it will probably take at least six months for the U.S. Department of Education to approve the request and investors still need to sign off on a potential $2 billion buyout.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been modified to reflect that Grand Canyon University would change its status from for-profit to non-profit, but will remain a private school.