The Federal Trade Commission has sued Grand Canyon University, the largest Christian university in the United States, over deceptive advertising

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By Brick Dumas, Fox Business

The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it has filed a lawsuit against Grand Canyon University (GCU), becoming the second agency under the Biden administration to take action against the nation’s largest Christian school over the past few months in what the university says is a coordinated attack. By multiple parties against the institution.

The FTC said in a press release that it has filed a lawsuit in federal court against GCU and its marketer Grand Canyon Education, Inc. and its President and CEO Brian Mueller, alleging that 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 organization, and illegally contacted prospective students who had provided their contact information on the school’s website but requested that. Can’t contact her.

“Grand Canyon deceived students by presenting itself as a nonprofit and misrepresenting the costs and number of courses required for doctoral degrees,” Samuel Levin, 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 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act and telemarketing sales rules, and asks the U.S. District Court in Arizona to force GCU to compensate consumers for the alleged violations and to prevent the university “from committing further violations of the law.”

A GCU spokesperson did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment on the lawsuit, but Mueller told Fox News Digital in late October that he believed the university was being unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, saying multiple federal agencies were involved in a coordinated attack on… the school.

Shortly thereafter, on October 31, the Department of Education (DOE) fined GCU $37.7 million, saying an investigation by the federal Office of Student Aid found that the university had “lied” to more than 7,500 former and current students about the cost of its programs. PhD programs over several years.

Glasgow Callon University “falsely advertised” a lower cost for its PhD programmes, the Department of Energy said in a press release, adding that around 98% of students ended up paying more than the advertised cost.

Mueller argued that the federal investigation is linked to the Department of Education’s denial of GCU’s efforts to become a nonprofit 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.

At a news conference last month, Muller pledged that Glasgow Caledonia University would appeal the fine imposed by the Department for Education – the largest fine ever issued by the agency – and said the school was not misleading or deceiving students in any way.

FOX News Digital’s Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.