Overview
- The recognition aligns federal treatment with prior determinations by the IRS, the Higher Learning Commission, the State of Arizona, the Arizona Board for Private Postsecondary Education, and the NCAA.
- The move ends a six-year dispute that began when the department kept treating the university as for-profit despite its 2018 organizational split from Grand Canyon Education.
- Significant ties to Grand Canyon Education continue, with the company providing extensive services, deriving about 97% of its students from GCU, and sharing leadership through Brian Mueller.
- The Education Department in May rescinded a $37.7 million fine over GCU’s doctoral program disclosures, and the Federal Trade Commission dropped its lawsuit against Grand Canyon Education in August.
- GCU says nonprofit status will broaden access to private scholarships, enable eligibility for certain government relief funds and grants, and open up additional partnership opportunities.