State Officials Blast Biden Admin For Harassing Christian College

Arizona’s education department is pushing back on threats from the United States Department of Education to shut down Grand Canyon University, labeling it as “the latest episode of harassment” by the federal government against the school.”It is unwarranted and unjust,” Tom Horne, Arizona state Superintendent told Fox News Digital Friday. “In the U.S., anyone accused of wrongdoing is presumed innocent and entitled to their day in court. Secretary Cardona’s threat is contrary to those constitutional guarantees and unworthy of his position.”

Leadership

Horne noted that he contacted the DOE Secretary Miguel Cardona the previous year in regards to GCU’s “excellent” reputation,

He recommended they meet with GCU leadership to address their concerns.

Largest Christian University 

The president of the largest Christian university’s asserts that the Biden administration is making attempt to attempting to dismantle the institution due to “ideological” disparities, 

despite the university undergoing multiple audits by various state entities.

Request

Horne said,

“That is a reasonable request, but, so far, he has chosen to be unreasonable.”

President Brian Mueller 

We are widely admired and respected in the state of Arizona on both sides of the aisle,” Brian Mueller, the President of Grand Canyon University (GCU) told Fox News Digital Thursday. 

“This thing is absolutely not political for us. There’s a small group of people in Washington, D.C., in the Department of Education and the Federal Trade Commission, but none of the allegations that they’re lobbing are corroborated any place else.”

Commission

Per the GCU executive who spoke to Fox News Digital, the university received Higher Learning Commission, GCU’s accrediting body, for its comprehensive and thorough doctoral disclosures during the 2021 review of enrollment procedures. 

Additionally, the Arizona State Approving Agency (SAA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which conducted an audit of GCU to investigate the DOE’s allegations, determined that there were “no substantiated findings.”

Appeal

Mueller indicated that GCU will initially seek to appeal within the DOE before exploring other options. “The Supreme Court will hear this.” he said.

He added,  “There’s so much at stake here.”

Findings

“The Arizona SAA did not have any substantiated findings based on our review of Grand Canyon University,” SAA’s letter to GCU in March stated. 

There are no findings impacting the continued approval of Grand Canyon University at this time. There are no follow-up actions required by Grand Canyon University at this time.”

Misleading Information

The DOE claims that GCU misled students by giving  false information about the expenses associated with completing a doctoral program, 

GCU denies this accusation.

Higher Education

In the arena of higher education, 

doctoral programs with dissertation components don’t usually have a set cost due to varying number of continuation courses required for each student, which a spokesperson from GCU made clear in one of their responses. 

Other Universities

Mueller’s comments align with DOE Secretary Miguel Cardona’s commitment to shut down the institution for being labeled as “a predatory for-profit school,” 

This declaration comes after a recent House Appropriations Committee hearing aimed at cracking down on GCU and similar universities.

For-Profit School 

At the House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut asked about efforts made by the administration’s to close down GCU, 

which she labeled as “a predatory for-profit school,” to Cardona.

Strict Regulations 

During an April 10th House Appropriations Committee hearing,

Cardona tackled the issue of regulations on GCU and similar universities.

Strategies To Enforce

Cardona welcomed enforcement strategies with open arms,

And is ready to implement them immediately. 

Cardona 

Cardona responded, “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.”

Action Taken 

DeLauro said, “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 and requiring 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.” 

Penalty Issued

In November, 

GCU challenged a $37.7 million penalty that was brought down by the department, citing accusations that the Arizona university had provided inaccurate information to students regarding the expenses associated with its doctoral programs over a span of several years.

Department Disclosed 

Per a press release from October, 

the department said that during an investigation that was conducted by the office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) it was revealed that GCU had lied to over 7,500 former and current students regarding the costs of its doctoral programs. 

Price That Was Advertised 

The release went on to say that GCU misrepresented a lower cost for its doctoral programs, 

With close to 98% of students paying more than the price that was advertised.