The Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has piled on Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.
Fox Business reported on Dec. 27 that the FTC had sued Grand Canyon University (GCU). Biden’s Department of Education (DOE) had already fined GCU a staggering amount, almost $40 million, claiming the school practiced false advertising. The university is accusing the feds of a coordinated attack. An FTC press release announced the lawsuit against not only GCU but also “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 federal agency is accusing the Christian university of misleading potential doctoral students about the time required for completing the GCU accelerated program. GCU is also accused of deceptively marketing itself to students as a nonprofit and “illegally call[ing] prospective students who submitted their contact information on the school’s website but requested not to be contacted.”
The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection director pretended to take a high moral tone in a statement. “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 pontificated. “We will continue to aggressively pursue those who seek to take advantage of students.”
GCU allegedly violated the FTC Act and Telemarketing Sale Rules. The feds are now aiming to force GCU to compensate individuals through a U.S. District Court in Arizona. GCU spokesman Brian Mueller previously told Fox he believes the Biden administration is unfairly attacking GCU.
Mueller has argued the federal investigations are tied to the DOE denying GCU’s effort to convert into a nonprofit institution in 2018. The department denied GCU’s nonprofit status for purposes of federal student financial aid, which continues to classify the school as a for-profit entity.
In a press conference last month, Mueller vowed GCU would appeal the DOE’s fine — the largest the agency has ever issued — and said the school does not mislead or deceive students in any way.
Is the Biden administration deliberately targeting a Christian institution of higher learning? Even if GCU is guilty of some or all of the charges, it is interesting that it is being targeted at a time when multiple famous leftist universities like Harvard are being exposed as hotbeds of pro-terrorist, antisemitic insanity. The Biden administration is suddenly excessively zealous about upholding laws when it comes to targeting Christian GCU. Does it care equally about students who marched in support of attempted genocide against Jews and university presidents who supported them?
Of course, pro-terrorist propaganda is outside of the FTC’s province. But the Biden administration in general seems to have its priorities out of whack.