After a years-long legal battle, the U.S. Department of Education has dropped its historic $37.7 million fine against the largest Christian university in the country.
Grand Canyon University, based in Phoenix, Arizona, was cleared by a Joint Stipulation of Dismissal order of any wrongdoing after the Biden administration claimed it misrepresented the cost of its doctoral programs, according to a press release from the school.
The dismissal order issued by the Department of Education (DOE) noted "there are no findings against GCU, or any of its employees, officers, agents, or contractors, and no fine is imposed."
University President Brian Mueller welcomed the decision to rescind the fine.
"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."
As CBN News has reported, the allegations stem from the DOE's Federal Student Aid (FSA) report that found that more than 7,500 former and current doctoral students incurred additional costs of at least $10,000 to complete their programs.
"GCU falsely advertised a lower cost than what 98% of students ended up paying to complete certain doctoral programs," the report claimed.
Mueller denies the allegations and told CBN News he believed the government was unfairly targeting the school.
"This all started 14 years ago … (when) Grand Canyon was in a very difficult spot," he said, noting the school buildings were aged and the institution was millions of dollars in debt. "We switched from a nonprofit to a for-profit status and went to the public markets to get access to capital."
Mueller continued, "We wanted to make private Christian higher education affordable to all socioeconomic classes of Americans. And the plan worked better than we thought."
The school began to flourish, and years later, GCU leaders wanted to go back to being a nonprofit university.
"We thought, for the legacy of the institution, (we) would be best served by doing that," he said. "We went through the process, and the IRS, who has the authority to do that work, did it, and said, 'The operation you've set up qualifies as a nonprofit, and we're giving you the legal authority to operate as a nonprofit.' And then the state of Arizona reinforced that."
However, the DOE did not recognize the school's nonprofit status. For four years, GCU reportedly tried to work with the government, but to no avail.
In 2023 the department issued the high-ticket fine. In 2024, former U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona vowed to shut down the school.
"We've levied the largest fine in education history against a school that lied to students," Cardona claimed during a House Appropriations Committee meeting. "We are cracking down on them not only to shut them down but to send a message across the country that you cannot prey on our students and expect to be successful."
GCU filed an appeal to clear its name claiming that the "accusations were gross mischaracterizations based on isolated, out-of-context statements from certain enrollment documents."
"GCU has consistently insisted that it would contest any fine amount – even $1, let alone $37.7 million," the school announced in a recent statement.
Mueller previously stated that the DOE's fine was "ridiculous" and noted how the department had also fined Liberty University for the same amount.
"It's interesting, isn't it, that the two largest Christian universities in the country, this one and Liberty University, are both being fined almost the identical amount at almost the identical time?" he said. "Now is there a cause and effect there? I don't know. But it's a fact."
In a 2024 report, The American Principles Project, a conservative think-tank, found that the DOE's Office of Enforcement imposed about 70% of its penalties against Christian universities although the schools comprise just 10% of students in the U.S.
Fines against Christian schools averaged around $815,000, while public and private institutions were fined $228,571 for violations.
"Unlike the previous administration, we will not persecute and prosecute colleges and universities based on their religious affiliation," Ellen Keast, a DOE spokeswoman, told The Washington Times. "The Trump administration will continue to ensure every institution of higher education is held accountable based on facts — but department enforcement will be for the purpose of serving students, not political bias."
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