Biden admin ramps up 'coordinated' attack against Christian university, sues school for alleged 'deceptive advertising'

The Biden administration ramped up its "coordinated" attack against the nation's largest Christian university, recently announcing a lawsuit that accuses the school of "deceptive advertising and illegal telemarketing."

In October, Biden's Department of Education announced a $37.7 million fine against Arizona-based Grand Canyon University, claiming the institution was "deceiving thousands of students" about the cost of its doctoral programs.

The agency stated that GCU advertised costs lower than the amount 98% of students paid to complete the programs. GCU reportedly declared that the doctoral programs would cost between $40,000 and $49,000 to complete. The agency claimed that approximately 78% of students paid $10,000 to $12,000 more than advertised.

Federal Student Aid chief operating officer Richard Cordray accused GCU of lying to entice more students to enroll.

"GCU's lies harmed students, broke their trust, and led to unexpectedly high levels of student debt. Today, we are holding GCU accountable for its actions, protecting students and taxpayers, and upholding the integrity of the federal student aid programs," Cordray said in an October statement.

GCU responded to the accusations by accusing the federal government of "unjustly" targeting the Christian school "in an agenda-driven manner."

"It is alarming that individuals within these agencies have unfettered discretion within the federal government to use their positions to attack institutions with whom they are ideologically opposed," the university said in an October statement about the fine.

GCU stated that it "categorically denies every accusation in the Department of Education's statement." On November 16, the university announced it was appealing the agency's fine.

GCU President Brian Mueller said, "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."

"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," Mueller added.

On Wednesday, Biden's Federal Trade Commission announced a lawsuit against the university, its marketer Grand Canyon Education Inc., and Mueller for allegedly "deceiving prospective doctoral students about the cost and course requirements of its doctoral programs and about being a nonprofit, while also engaging in deceptive and abusive telemarketing practices."

The FTC further accused GCU of operating the school as a for-profit while deceptively marketing itself as a nonprofit.

Samuel Levine with the FTC stated, "Grand Canyon deceived students by holding itself out as a non-profit institution and misrepresenting the costs and number of courses required to earn doctoral degrees."

Additionally, the school reportedly made "abusive telemarketing calls" to people who had specifically requested not to be contacted.

The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court in Arizona to order GCU to compensate students.

According to GCU, the federal government's "coordinated and targeted effort" involves multiple agencies, including the Department of Education, the FTC, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

GCU's Office of Communications and Public Relations executive director Bob Romantic told KTVK that the federal government's lawsuit is "laughable" and "absurd."

"This is unfortunately yet another example of the Biden administration weaponizing federal government agencies in a coordinated effort to target institutions to which they are ideologically opposed," Romantic said in part.

He noted that GCU was classified as a nonprofit in 2018 by the Internal Revenue Service, but the Department of Education chose to disregard its determination.

"The FTC, U.S. Department of Education, and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced publicly in October 2021 they would be targeting for-profit institutions, and that is exactly what has taken place even though GCU is lawfully recognized as a nonprofit by the IRS, State of Arizona and Higher Learning Commission. GCU categorically denies these unsubstantiated allegations and will take all measures necessary to refute them," Romantic continued.

He added, "Given the major problems that exist in higher education related to high tuition costs, significant student debt, poor student loan default rates, long completion times, etc., it is baffling that the federal government has chosen to target a Christian university that is addressing those issues in very positive ways. No other institution in higher education is facing this level of government scrutiny, which speaks volumes about these agencies' motivations and agenda."

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