First on Fox: Arizona education The department is protesting the U.S. Department of Education (DOE)’s threat to close Grand Canyon University, calling it “the latest episode of harassment” against the school by the federal government.
“It’s unfair and unjust,” Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horn told Fox News Digital Friday. “In America, any person accused of wrongdoing is presumed innocent and deserves to have his or her day in court. Secretary Cardona’s threats are contrary to those constitutional guarantees and unbecoming of his or her position.”
Horn said she wrote to DOE Secretary Miguel Cardona last year about GCU’s “excellent” reputation and urged him to sit down with GCU leadership to resolve their issues.
“It’s a reasonable request, but, so far, they have chosen to be unreasonable,” Horn said.
The nation’s largest Christian university alleges it is being unfairly targeted by federal agencies
The president of Grand Canyon University tells Fox News Digital that the university is being targeted by the Department of Education. (Fox News)
Biden administration is trying to take down According to the university president, the school has been audited multiple times by different state entities despite it being the largest Christian university due to “ideological” differences.
“We are very, very loved and respected on both sides of the aisle in the state of Arizona,” Grand Canyon University (GCU) President Brian Mueller told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “This thing is not political for us at all. There’s a small group of people at the Department of Education and the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., but none of the allegations they’re making have been confirmed anywhere else.”
While GCU will first attempt to appeal within the DOE, Mueller said he believes “Supreme Court Will hear this.”
“There is a lot at stake here,” he said.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona accused GCU of preying on students. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
GCU’s accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission, also described GCU’s doctoral disclosures as “robust and thorough” in its 2021 comprehensive review of GCU’s enrollment practices, a GCU executive told Fox News Digital. arizona state The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Approving Agency (SAA), which recently audited GCU specifically to investigate DOE’s claims, also concluded that “there were no substantial findings.”
“Based on our review of Grand Canyon University, Arizona SAA had no substantive findings,” SAA’s letter to GCU in March said. “There are no findings impacting Grand Canyon University’s continued approval at this time. No follow-up action is required by Grand Canyon University at this time.”
Mueller’s comments come as DOE Secretary Miguel Cardona vowed to close the school for being a “predatory school for profit.” House Appropriations Committee Last week heard about the crackdown on GCU and other universities like it.
GCU President Mueller | Education Secretary Cardona (Fox News/Getty)
The DOE claims that GCU “lied to students” and “falsely advertised” the cost of completing the doctoral program, which GCU denies. A GCU spokesperson said in response, In higher education, doctoral programs that involve dissertations rarely have a fixed cost because the number of continuation courses varies for each individual student.
Cardona made the comments during a House Appropriations Committee There is news of action being taken against GCU and other universities like it on 10th April.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., asked Cardona how the administration was working to close GCU, which she called “a predatory school for profit.”
Cardona openly adopted enforcement methods.
“Last year, your Department took action against Grand Canyon University, a predatory for-profit college, because the school failed to accurately disclose its costs to students, thereby increasing the actual costs for those students. and were required to pay to continue the courses before they would graduate. The scam courses added approximately $10,000 or more to the cost of these children’s education,” DeLauro said.
Cardona responded, “Going after predatory schools that prey on first-generation students.” “They have flashy marketing materials, but the product is not worth the paper it’s printed on. The enforcement budget was stretched to go after these guys and go after them. A school that lies about costs. The largest fine in history was imposed against and a school terminated from Title IV. We are not only taking action to close them down, but also sending a message to students not to be victimized.”
GCU had appealed a $37.7 million fine imposed by the department in November over allegations that the Arizona-based institution of higher learning had misled students about the cost of its doctoral programs over several years.
the department said An October press release reported an investigation conducted by the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) found that GCU “lied” to more than 7,500 former and current students about the cost of its doctoral programs. The release also said that GCU “falsely advertises” the low costs for its doctoral programs, stating that approximately 98% of students had to pay more than the advertised cost.
Fox News’s Joshua Q. Nelson contributed to this report.
