The largest Christian university in America is charging the Department of Education with undue political persecution over the school’s non-profit status.
On Thursday, Grand Canyon University released a statement outlining how the Education Department is colluding with partner federal agencies to “bring harm” to the private institution.
“Government officials associated with the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and under the authority of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are coordinating efforts to unjustly target GCU in what appears to be retaliation for the university filing an ongoing lawsuit against ED regarding its nonprofit status,” read a university press release. “While such accusations may sound extraordinary, the facts in this document make clear that this is occurring at an alarming level for government agencies to be taking against the largest Christian university in the country.”
A spokesman for the Department of Veterans Affairs declined to comment citing ongoing litigation. Neither the Department of Education or the FTC responded to Federalist inquiries Thursday afternoon.
The university claims the Education Department denied the institution’s application to return to non-profit status just before the FTC announced efforts to crack down on for-profit schools.
Grand Canyon University opened as a small private university in 1949 and operated as a non-profit until 2004 when faced with $20 million in debt. After hiring a new management team in 2008, the university continued to corral investors to save the school and applied for non-profit status again in 2018. While the school’s efforts to
