The U.S. Department of Education has rescinded a $37.7 million fine against Grand Canyon University.
The private Christian university in Phoenix first faced the fine in 2023 and was accused of misleading students about the cost of its graduate programs.
It was the largest fine the Department of Education had ever levied against a university, and the school appealed.
Now the department says it has not established that GCU violated any Title IV requirements, including the claim that GCU “substantially misrepresented” the cost of its doctoral programs as alleged by officials under the Biden Administration.
A federal court hearing scheduled for Friday was cancelled. That night, GCU announced it had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
GCU President Brian Mueller said the fine dismissal is welcome but unsurprising news.
“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,” Mueller said. “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.”
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Pam Lach is a digital humanities librarian at San Diego State University. This week, she is coming to ASU to give a talk called “The Stories We Still Need: Podcasting For Urgent Times.”
