Two studies exemplify targeted nature of
federal government overreach
PHOENIX, Nov. 16,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Grand
Canyon University has sent a notification to the U.S.
Department of Education that it is appealing the unprecedented and
unjust $37.7 million fine levied
against the university and has vowed to stand up to the federal
government's broader efforts to target the largest Christian
university in the country.
"I have spoken to thousands of students, parents, employees,
alumni and community stakeholders in Arizona and they all tell me the same thing:
We need to fight this tyranny from federal government agencies not
only to stand up for ourselves but to ensure this type of
ideological government overreach and weaponization of federal
agencies does not happen to others," said GCU President
Brian Mueller. "American people are
losing confidence in the federal government to be fair and
objective in their operations and there are clearly no checks and
balances to prevent this type of behavior from the Department of
Education, which is out of control and continues to broaden its
authority and selective enforcement powers.
"GCU does not mislead or deceive students in any way," Mueller
added. "In fact, the opposite is true given that GCU goes above and
beyond what is legally required and is considered by its peers to
be a leader in higher education transparency. Rather than applaud
such efforts or work cooperatively with GCU in a matter that could
easily be resolved in a 10-minute phone call, the Department has
instead chosen to impose a record fine, which speaks to their
agenda and motivations."
The Department's accusations are not validated by either the
federal court system, which has already ruled in GCU's favor in a
similar matter at both the district and appellate court levels in
Young v GCU, or other regulatory agencies such as the Higher
Learning Commission (HLC), which is GCU's accrediting body.
Specific to a prospective doctoral student's experience, HLC stated
in its comprehensive review in 2021: "The information and resources
provided are robust and thorough, providing prospective students a
clear picture of their academic and financial path toward a degree
at GCU." In Young v GCU, the courts rejected the claim that
GCU's disclosures misrepresented the time or cost to complete a
doctoral program.
GCU offered to have another objective third party, the Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service, provide mediation on this
matter, which the Department refused, citing the appeal process
available to GCU. All of those appeal opportunities fall within the
Department of Education, first with the Department's Office of
Hearings and Appeals, and then to the Department's Secretary of
Education.
Two studies highlight the targeted nature of this government
overreach: a preliminary internal study by GCU examining
disclosures of doctoral programs at 100 other universities and a
2022 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
looking at broader financial disclosures in higher education.
- GCU's preliminary study of publicly available information 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 universities includes 52 Tier 1 Research institutions
(including five Ivy League schools) and 19 Tier 2 Research
institutions. While this is internal research that is ongoing, it
can easily be replicated by others who can examine the same
information.
- The GAO report (which we don't believe GCU was part of) shows
that 91% of the colleges reviewed have misleading information or
understate the net price in their financial aid offers to
prospective students. That includes 41% of colleges that do not
even provide a net price in their offers to students.
"The point of sharing these studies is not to disparage other
universities," Mueller said. "Rather, it highlights the selective
enforcement from the Department in singling out GCU. We maintain
that not only is there nothing misleading about GCU's disclosures
but that we provide higher levels of transparency than are observed
in higher education. In short, we are taking a leadership role in
this issue."
Mueller added that, while it became clear four years ago that
the Department is diametrically opposed to GCU's nonprofit model
and its innovative approach to higher education, "We hoped that,
over time, that would lessen given the positive metrics this model
continues to produce – low tuition rates that have been frozen on
the ground campus for 15 years, low student loan default rates, low
student debt levels, diverse student bodies, strong outcomes on the
Department's gainful employment regulations and 90/10 calculations,
and strong financial outcomes since the nonprofit transaction
occurred in 2018. Unfortunately, the Department only seems further
entrenched in its opposition given the targeted inquiries and
coordinated efforts with other federal agencies to harm GCU."
Specific to the Department's characterization that GCU's
doctoral disclosures are in "fine print," the university makes
clear in the most prominent place it provides financial disclosures
for academic programs – its Degree Program Calculator (see pdf
image in original statement) – that the average 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 Degree Program Calculator (DPC)
calculation in order to bring attention to it. The number of
continuation courses, which are common in doctoral programs, vary
for each student, which is why GCU discloses the 60-credit cost
estimate and provides information about average student experiences
with continuation courses. This is not "false advertising" as the
Department claims. Further, 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.
"For the Department to look at GCU's numerous disclosures,
including the DPC, and determine that merits any fine at all, let
alone the highest fine it has ever levied, speaks volumes about
their motivations and the coordinated efforts being taken against
GCU," Mueller said. "Further, for the Department to state that we
intentionally lied is absurd. We are providing more cost
information than the Department requires, which we do because we
want to be fully transparent and because it benefits students. We
also conduct surveys at the end of every doctoral course, and there
is no substantiated feedback from students that our disclosures
about continuation courses are misleading. The Department spent a
year cold-calling our students trying to get them to say something
negative and has stated publicly it will conduct secret shopping
exercises in its investigations, but has confirmed to us that its
findings are in no way based on evidence that any student was
actually misled. That is a shocking admission from an agency
seeking to impose its largest ever fine.
"If we really intended to deceive students, why would we choose
the smallest degree program we offer – doctoral -- which is less
than 5% of our students and involves our most experienced
students?" Mueller added. "If our goal was to generate more
revenue, rather than allegedly deceive students we
could simply increase tuition 3-4% a year for a few years – as most
universities have done – and no one would bat an eye. We haven't
done that. In fact, we have frozen tuition on our ground campus for
15 straight years because our innovative approach to managing this
university, which the Department objects to, has allowed us to do
that for the benefit of our students."
About Grand Canyon University: Grand Canyon University was founded in 1949
and is Arizona's premier private
Christian university. GCU is regionally accredited by the Higher
Learning Commission and offers 312 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.
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SOURCE Grand Canyon University