Christian University in the US Prevails in Legal Battle Following Investigation by Biden Education Department

After winning a legal battle over their non-profit status, Brian Mueller, the president of the largest Christian university in the United States, saw it coming.

Last week, a 3-panel federal appeals court in Phoenix, Arizona, ruled in favor of Grand Canyon University (GCU) in a legal battle.

The unanimous decision by the 3-judge panel to uphold the Department of Education's objection to the university's non-profit status was foreseen due to the hearing's outcome, according to Mueller. People often attempt to politicize the issue.

The Biden Education Department (ED) revoked GCU's non-profit recognition despite its approval by the Arizona Board for Private Postsecondary Education, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the State of Arizona, and the Higher Learning Commission.

Mueller clarified to Planet Chronicle Digital that the ED lacked the power to revoke our nonprofit status.

Mueller stated that the IRS has the authority to grant nonprofit status based on a set of objective criteria, and they did so. Furthermore, the ED has always honored the IRS's determination.

He remarked that it was their first time doing it.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the Education Department applied an incorrect standard in determining the university's nonprofit status.

The case is now being remanded back to ED.

The Department's unlawful application of a standard that improperly denied GCU of its nonprofit status has been corrected, and we hope for a quick affirmation of the university as a nonprofit institution, said GCU spokesperson Bob Romantic in a press release on the day of the ruling.

In 2018, after GCU transitioned from a for-profit to a nonprofit institution, the school was investigated by the ED.

In 2018, when GCU's Board of Trustees decided to restore the university's nonprofit status, they did not anticipate the years of litigation against federal agencies that would follow.

The federal government has classified GCU as a for-profit institution, which means it is no longer eligible for nonprofit status and federal student financial aid.

The Department of Education declined to provide a comment on the recent ruling.

In October 2023, Mueller claimed that GCU was being unfairly targeted. In response, the institution filed a lawsuit against ED, asserting that the department's decision to deny its non-profit status was "arbitrary and capricious."

Last year, Mueller told Planet Chronicle Digital that GCU's non-profit status would enable it to obtain full access to grant-writing and research, as it has a large Hispanic population and was previously unable to access federal dollars under the for-profit classification.

The ED official responded to Mueller's claims that GCU does not meet the Higher Education Act's definition of a nonprofit, stating that the department made this determination under the Trump administration in 2018 due to GCU's revenues being allocated to a former owner, a for-profit entity.

The university, GCU, faced investigations from various federal agencies, including ED, as well as a potential shutdown threat from ED Secretary Miguel Cardona.

During a House Appropriations Committee hearing in April, Cardona pledged to close GCU, stating that for-profit colleges are "predatory" and targeting first-generation students.

GCU is currently facing a significant challenge in appealing a $37.7 million fine imposed by the ED in November 2020, which accuses the Arizona-based institution of misleading students about the cost of its doctoral programs for several years. This fine is significantly larger than the fines previously imposed on schools like Penn State ($2.4 million) and Michigan State ($4.5 million) for failing to address the crimes of Jerry Sandusky and Larry Nassar, respectively.

Republican legislators requested the Office of Inspector General of the Education Department to examine the Biden administration's actions against GCU. Among them is Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who claimed that the department's actions appear to be "biased."