The president of a large Christian university in Phoenix is pushing back against a nearly $38 million fine assigned by the federal government.
The U.S. Department of Education alleges that Grand Canyon University misled more than 7,500 students about the price of graduate programs since 2017.
Hear Inside Higher Ed reporter Katherine Knott discuss GCU with host Mark Brodie on The Show
University President Brian Mueller says the university was always clear about costs.
“There’s places everywhere in the whole process where we tell students about continuation courses, and so why aren’t students complaining that they didn’t know? Because we tell them all over the place,” he said.
GCU said its doctoral programs cost between $40,000 and $49,000. But the Education Department’s report found that less than 2% of students graduated within that price range.
It also found the price tag for doctoral programs was $10,000 to $12,000 more than the university advertised because of the continuation courses.
The university has 20 days to file an appeal.
Katherine Knott is the federal policy reporter for Inside Higher Ed. She joined The Show to talk more about GCU’s situation.
