FTC Drops Lawsuit Against Grand Canyon Education
The Federal Trade Commission has dismissed its lawsuit against Grand Canyon Education over Grand Canyon University’s doctoral programs.
The dismissal comes after the case, brought during the Biden Administration, suffered “two losses” in motions to dismiss and after the U.S. Department of Education rescinded its $37.7-million fine assessed against Grand Canyon University in 2023.
In November, Grand Canyon also secured a victory at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court found that the ED had used the wrong standard when it denied the university’s application for nonprofit status in 2019.
“In its reduced form, this case presents consumers very little upside relative to the cost of pursuing it to completion, especially given the developments chronicled above,” the FTC said in a statement after the unanimous decision. “We view it as imprudent to continue expending Commission resources on a lost cause. Because we have a duty to maximize consumers’ return on their tax-dollars investment, we have decided against pursuing this matter any further.”
A formal dismissal was filed in federal district court in Arizona on Aug. 15.
GCU President Brian Mueller, who is also the CEO of Grand Canyon Education, praised the FTC decision. “As we have stated from the beginning, not only were these accusations false, but the opposite is true,” Mueller said in a press release. “We go above and beyond what is required in our disclosures and are recognized as a leader in this area.”
He said the allegations were an effort by the Biden administration to undermine the work of GCU.
“They threw everything they had at us for four years, and yet, despite every unjust accusation leveled against us, we have not only survived but have continued to thrive as a university,” Mueller added.
Civil lawsuit ongoing
A civil case brought by former doctoral students is still ongoing in federal court.
In June 2024, Tanner Smith and Qimin Wang filed a lawsuit against Grand Canyon Education (GCE), the for-profit marketing agency for GCU, claiming it induced students “to enroll in doctoral degree programs at Grand Canyon University, which has been controlled by GCE, by lying to students about how much they would need to pay to obtain their doctoral degrees from Grand Canyon University.” Two other plaintiffs were later added to the lawsuit.
The claims pertain to the requirement for both plaintiffs to take continuation courses that added over $8,000 to the cost of their degree programs.
In May 2025, the plaintiffs survived a motion to dismiss. Federal District Judge Steve Logan ruled on May 6 that all but one of the plaintiffs’ claims may move forward. He also gave the plaintiffs until May 20 to amend their complaint about the racketeering claim that was dismissed.
Historic fine by Department of Education
The Goldwater Institute has also filed a case involving Grand Canyon University and the Department of Education’s historic fine against the university.
Under the Biden administration, it filed a lawsuit seeking compliance with the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and production of requested documents.
The request sought “emails between key individuals of the Department and other federal agencies that discuss the Department’s fine against GCU. The records may help inform the public about this extraordinary fine, as well as coordination between various federal agencies in what appears to be the intentionally targeting of a successful university based on extraordinarily thin allegations,” Goldwater said about its FOIA request.
Under the new administration and with the fine rescinded, it appears the parties may reach a resolution “based upon the Department’s intention to conduct a wholesale revisitation of the FOIA request at issue.”
This article was originally published at MinistryWatch.
Kim Roberts is a freelance writer who holds a Juris Doctorate with honors from Baylor University and an undergraduate degree in government from Angelo State University. She has three young adult children who were home schooled and is happily married to her husband of 28 years.