Back in 2023, GCU learned the U.S. Department of Education was hitting it with a $37.7 million fine over claims the Christian-based school was misleading its students about the true cost of its graduate programs.
Not only did GCU President Brian Mueller deny the allegation, he said at the time the university is “over and above truthful” about those costs. He also vowed at the time the federal government wouldn’t get a single dollar from GCU.
The private university, located in Phoenix, is home to approximately 101,800 students. It was founded in the 1940s by the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention and has since witnessed numerous challenges and controversies through the years.
The biggest challenge at GCU was selling the campus to a corporation, in 2004, to rescue the school from financial difficulties. That decision created problems for its sports program and allegations it was putting profits in front of education. Then the school’s announcement in 2019 to return to a nonprofit campus was challenged by the DOE but was upheld by a federal court ruling last year.
With a new administration in Washington as of Jan. 20, the controversial fine over its graduate program was re-evaluated by the department’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. A dismissal order states “there are no findings against GCU, or any of its employees, officers, agents, or contractors, and no fine is imposed.”
In an interview with AFN, President Mueller says new people at the DOE took a “fresh look” at the case and concluded GCU is not misleading its students.
"That was obviously huge for us and for the university, and it feels absolutely fantastic to have that behind us,” Mueller says.
