Biden Admin Sues The Largest Christian University In The U.S.

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday it has sued Grand Canyon University.

Grand Canyon University is deemed one of the largest Christian Universities in the United States, with over 20,000 students on campus and 70,000 online.

In the lawsuit by the FTC, it claims GCU used “deceptive advertising and engaged in illegal telemarketing.”

The director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection 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.”

. @JoeBiden is now going after the largest Christian University in the U.S.

So outrageous. https://t.co/waw874pDrs

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) December 28, 2023

Here’s what Fox Business reported:

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday announced it has sued Grand Canyon University (GCU), becoming the second agency under the Biden administration to take action against the largest Christian school in the nation within the past few months in what the university says is a coordinated attack by multiple agencies against the institution.

The FTC said in a press release it filed suit in federal court against GCU, its marketer Grand Canyon Education, Inc. and its president and CEO Brian Mueller, claiming the defendants used deceptive advertising and engaged in illegal telemarketing.

The complaint says the Arizona-based school misled prospective doctoral students about the amount of time it would take to finish its accelerated program, deceptively marketed the school as a nonprofit, and illegally called prospective students who submitted their contact information on the school’s website but requested not to be contacted.

“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,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “We will continue to aggressively pursue those who seek to take advantage of students.”

The complaint accuses GCU of violating the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sale Rules, and is asking the U.S. District Court in Arizona to force GCU to compensate consumers for the alleged violations and to prohibit the university “from further violations of the law.”

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sues Grand Canyon University over alleged deceptive advertising https://t.co/TjlmUHdaqY pic.twitter.com/QR9tmQLtkk

— The Hill (@thehill) December 29, 2023

Per The Hill:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Grand Canyon University (GCU) and its chief executive, alleging the nation’s largest Christian university engaged in deceptive advertising and illegal telemarketing.

The complaint, filed in federal court in Arizona, names as defendants Grand Canyon Education (GCE) Inc., GCU and Brian Mueller, who is the chief executive officer of GCE and president of GCU, which is already appealing a record-setting $37.7 million fine from the Department of Education over alleged deceptive practices.

The FTC accuses the defendants of “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 claimed the defendants violated the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule and asked the court to “provide redress to consumers and prohibit the institution from further violations of the law.”
“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,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press release.