In a recent development, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated legal action against Grand Canyon University (GCU), the largest Christian school in the United States, accusing it of misleading prospective doctoral students about the true costs and course requirements of its doctoral programs over an extended period. The lawsuit, filed on December 27 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, names Grand Canyon Education (GCE), Inc., Grand Canyon University (GCU), and Brian Mueller, the CEO of GCE and president of GCU, as defendants.

"The Biden Administration should be going after Harvard, MIT, and others on their deceptive practices. They tell their incoming students that they protect people who are threatened and they don't allow groups and others to be terrorized on Campus. What a joke"- Jesse

GCE owned GCU until 2018, as detailed in the lawsuit. The FTC alleges that GCU, based in Phoenix, Arizona, with over 100,000 enrolled students, misrepresented the total cost of its "accelerated" doctoral programs to prospective students. Although the university claimed that the cost was equivalent to 20 courses or 60 credits, the reality, according to the FTC, is that most doctoral students are required to take numerous additional "continuation courses," incurring additional costs running into thousands of dollars.

The FTC, in a press release accompanying the lawsuit, highlighted findings from the U.S. Department of Education, stating that less than 2 percent of GCU doctoral program graduates completed their studies within the advertised cost range. Additionally, nearly 78 percent of students reportedly had to take five or more continuation courses. The FTC asserts that despite investigations by both the Department of Education and the FTC, GCU continued deceptive marketing practices related to its doctoral programs.