PHOENIX, March 11,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Arizona State Approving
Agency (SAA) for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has closed
its most recent risk-based audit of Grand
Canyon University with no findings. The audit, which was
triggered by a recent Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against the
university, was the second such audit in less than a year and
looked at, among other things, GCU's doctoral disclosures and
processes that are the subject of both the FTC lawsuit and a
Department of Education (ED) investigation that resulted in the
announcement of a record $37.7
million fine currently being disputed and appealed by GCU.
In a letter to GCU dated Feb. 21, the
Arizona SAA stated it "did not have any substantiated findings
based on our review of Grand Canyon
University." Further, the SAA stated, "There are no findings
impacting the continued approval of Grand
Canyon University at this time."
GCU has a longstanding positive relationship with the SAA and
greatly appreciates the agency's willingness to visit the campus
and meet with GCU's Dean of the College of Doctoral Studies and
members of the Office of the Provost, among others, to understand
how students progress through the doctoral program, what it takes
to complete a dissertation, how the university measures quality and
student success, and the many support services that are available
to students. The SAA site visit also included reviews of specific
areas relating to finances, enrollment, recruiting, student
outcomes and other success measures.
GCU continues to categorically deny the FTC's and ED's
unwarranted allegations related to the doctoral program, which are
part of coordinated and targeted actions the federal government is
taking against the largest Christian university in the country.
A multitude of entities have found no wrongdoing in GCU's
disclosures and/or praised the university's transparency,
including:
- Federal judges at both the district and appellate court level
who ruled in GCU's favor in Young v. GCU, rejecting similar
claims that the university misrepresented the time and cost it
would take a student to complete a doctoral program.
- GCU's accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission, which
in its 2021 comprehensive review called the university's doctoral
disclosures "robust and thorough, providing prospective students a
clear picture of their academic and financial path toward a degree
at GCU."
- Programmatic accrediting bodies and state agencies that
consistently approve GCU's many academic programs through their
robust review processes.
- The higher education industry as a whole, which has asked GCU
representatives to speak at seven major conferences as a leader and
expert in transparency and processes in higher education.
- More than 5,000 public and private GCU partners, none of whom
have expressed concern about a perceived "misrepresentation" or
"deception" based on their interactions with the university. In
fact, many have become partners because of GCU's exemplary levels
of transparency and compliance.
Further, GCU's own preliminary study of publicly available
information at 100 other university doctoral programs found that
only 2% of universities show total program cost for doctoral
programs, 51% either failed to disclose anything about the need for
additional courses needed to complete a dissertation or were
unclear about them, and 45% made statements that a doctoral degree
could be earned in a set number of years (varying from 2-8) despite
the varying length of time needed to complete a dissertation. The
sample of 100 public and private universities includes 52 Tier 1
Research institutions (including five Ivy League schools) and 19
Tier 2 Research institutions.
Such evidence is in direct contrast to the U.S. Department of
Education, which characterized GCU's doctoral disclosures as
"substantial misrepresentations," and the FTC, which based most of
its lawsuit vs. GCU on ED's claims and its refusal to acknowledge
the university's lawful nonprofit status. ED's claims are not based
on student complaints but rather its subjective opinion of GCU's
disclosures.
ED portrays GCU's financial disclosures as "false advertising"
and in "fine print" because the vast majority of students take
continuation courses in addition to the required 60 credits of
coursework in order to complete a dissertation, which is common
among higher education programs and the reason there is rarely a
fixed cost for doctoral programs. ED issued no prior guidance
related to these specific disclosures yet fined GCU despite the
fact that it provides more cost information than is legally
required or that other universities provide.
GCU makes clear in the most prominent place it provides
financial disclosures for academic programs – its Degree Program
Calculator (DPC) – the cost for the 60-credit doctoral program
requirement and further points out that the average doctoral
student takes several continuation courses with the associated
costs in order to complete the dissertation process. GCU's
disclosure is in full-size red type and placed above the DPC
calculation in order to bring attention to it (see screenshot in
this GCU statement). GCU reiterates the need for continuation
courses in six other areas prior to the start of classes. The net
impression of these disclosures is the reason federal courts have
already sided with GCU on this matter.
In other developments related to GCU's ongoing battle with the
federal government:
- The university has added Paul
Clement as a co-counsel to its outside legal team. The
former Solicitor General of the United
States has argued over 100 cases before the U.S. Supreme
Court, including Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, Kennedy v.
Bremerton, and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo
which protect the rights of individuals and organizations against
government overreach. Clement has argued more Supreme Court cases
since 2000 than any lawyer in or out of government. Clement, who
holds degrees from Georgetown
University, Cambridge University
and Harvard Law School, has also
argued many important cases in the lower courts, including
Walker v. Cheney, United
States v. Moussaoui and NFL v. Brady.
- The Arizona-based Goldwater
Institute is independently suing the U.S. Department of Education
for its refusal to provide transparency in that agency's dealings
with other federal government entities related to their fine and
other actions taken against GCU.
About Grand Canyon University:
Grand Canyon
University was founded in 1949 and is Arizona's premier private Christian
university. GCU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and
offers 337 academic programs, emphases and certificates for both
traditional undergraduate students and working professionals. The
University's curriculum emphasizes interaction with classmates,
both in-person and online, and individual attention from
instructors while fusing academic rigor with Christian values to
help students find their purpose and become skilled, caring
professionals. For more information, visit gcu.edu.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arizona-va-agency-finds-no-wrongdoing-in-audit-of-grand-canyon-university-302084811.html
SOURCE Grand Canyon University